Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government plans to establish an inquiry on its response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
COVID-19 is the biggest challenge the UK, together with nations around the world, has faced in decades. Throughout the pandemic, we have consistently adapted our response as we have learnt more about the virus and how best to tackle it. As stated by the Prime Minister on 15 July 2020 'we will seek to learn the lessons of the pandemic in the future, and certainly we will have an independent inquiry into what happened.' Any further updates will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will ensure that what is guidance and what is law in relation to covid-19 restrictions is clearly determined on the Gov.uk website.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Both legislation and Government guidance is set out online, and both are important.
The guidance on how best to stay safe and help control the spread of Coronavirus is set out at: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus. Where applicable, you should also refer to the relevant websites for guidance published by the Governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK Government Coronavirus legislation is set out at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/coronavirus.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will issue guidance to the general public on the implementation of covid-19 restrictions for the 2020-21 New Year period.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The UK Government continues to make every effort to communicate any policy changes as clearly and simply as possible to the public via our public information campaign. All updated guidance is published on gov.uk. Other guidance is produced by the devolved administrations.
Once the five-day Christmas window ends, normal rules on social contact in each tier or region will apply.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the Government defines rurality.
Answered by Chloe Smith
There is an official statistical rural urban classification, based on the 2011 Census, which determines settlements with populations of 10,000 or more as urban. Further details of the rural urban classification can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/rural-urban-classification
The rural urban classification is intended to support statistical analysis. Other definitions of rural could be more appropriate in some policy or analytical contexts.
Asked by: Anne Marie Morris (Conservative - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he had discussions with the Honours committees in advance of the OBE appointment of Vijay Patel in the New Year’s Honours list 2019.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The honours system is independent. Recommendations are made by one of ten independent expert committees, with independent chairs and a majority of independent members, who assess the merits of all nominations. More details about the process can be found at www.gov.uk/honours.