Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government spent on lawyers contesting the case put forward by deaf viewers that Downing Street press conferences should include a British Sign Language interpreter; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Government has been committed to supporting disabled people through every stage of the pandemic, including D/deaf BSL signers. BSL interpretation was available for No.10 press conferences via the BBC News channel (available on Freeview) and iPlayer. The BBC made their video feed for the BSL interpreter available to all other broadcasters and for use on No10 social channels. For the rare occasions when the BBC chooses not to have BSL, an agreement was reached for RedBee Media to provide an interpreter service to No. 10 for use on government social media channels.
The court ruled that the Government’s policy of using on-screen BSL interpreters was lawful during the pandemic.
More broadly, the Government has actively supported the British Sign Language Act 2022 to build a more inclusive and accessible society.
Cabinet Office spend on external legal services is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, when he was first made aware of a formal complaint of inappropriate behaviour by the Right hon. Member for Tamworth while serving as a Foreign Office Minister between 2019 and 2020.
Answered by Boris Johnson
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the right Hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras during Prime Minister’s Questions on 6 July 2022.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, what discussions he has had with his Independent Adviser on Ministerial Interests on the Chancellor of the Exchequer receiving a fixed-penalty notice for breaching covid-19 regulations; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Boris Johnson
I refer the Hon. Member to the statement issued by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 12 March; this has been placed in the Library.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will confirm that the compensation study for the victims of the contaminated blood scandal will be published in full on the 14 March 2022; and whether the Government has plans to publish a timeline for the response to that report.
Answered by Michael Ellis
I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave on 24 February to PQ 125060.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Minister in his Department has responsibility for fraud and corruption following the resignation of Lord Agnew of Oulton.
Answered by Jacob Rees-Mogg
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, as the senior Minister in the Cabinet Office, continues to have oversight of fraud against the public sector.
Policies on fraud against the public and business, as well as corruption, remain with the Home Office and the Minister of State for Security and Borders, assisted by the Prime Minister’s Anti-Corruption Champion, John Penrose MP.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to publish the infected blood compensation framework report by Sir Robert Francis QC on or by 14 March 2022.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The study will report to the Paymaster General no later than 14 March 2022. The Government will give full consideration to Sir Robert's study - which is separate from the independent public inquiry. The Government's response and Sir Robert's study will be published.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, for what reason the telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 31 January 2022 was cancelled.
Answered by Boris Johnson
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to the Hon Member for Lewisham East during my oral statement. The call was rescheduled for 2 February. A readout from the call is available on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, what estimate he has made of the cost of creating an Office of the Prime Minister.
Answered by Boris Johnson
I refer the Hon Member to my answer given to 114642.