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, on what date he expects the inquiry into the covid-19 pandemic to commence.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Prime Minister has appointed the Rt Hon Baroness Heather Hallett as the chair of the inquiry. Draft terms of reference will be published in due course.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, if he will publish details of planned meetings that he has (a) cancelled or (b) been unable to attend in (i) December 2021 and (ii) January 2022.
Answered by Boris Johnson
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk. There are no current plans to change that. Ministerial diaries frequently change to reflect wider government and Parliamentary business. The purpose of such transparency returns is to list what meetings actually take place.
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, for what reason a civil servant rather than a judge is carrying out the inquiry into gatherings at 10 Downing Street during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michael Ellis
These investigations are being carried out by Sue Gray, Second Permanent Secretary. It is a fact finding investigation, and it is facts that will be presented to the Prime Minister.
The investigation has been carried out by civil servants, who are bound by the Civil Service Code, including the values of impartiality and objectivity.
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, on how many occasions Queen's Consent has been denied since 2010.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Queen's consent is a very long-standing convention and a requirement of the Parliamentary process where proposed legislation may affect Crown interests, including personal property and personal interests of the Monarch.
It is for the House Authorities to determine whether a Bill requires Queen’s consent. Where this is determined to be the case, consent is routinely sought by the Government and agreed by the Monarch as a matter of course.
Consent to Bills has never been refused by the Monarch in modern times and legislation is not amended in order to ensure Queen’s Consent.
Once granted, Queen’s Consent will be signified at Third Reading of the bill in each House. The hon. Member can ascertain such occasions from reviewing the Official Report.
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, on how many occasions proposed legislation has been amended to ensure Queen's Consent since 2010.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Queen's consent is a very long-standing convention and a requirement of the Parliamentary process where proposed legislation may affect Crown interests, including personal property and personal interests of the Monarch.
It is for the House Authorities to determine whether a Bill requires Queen’s consent. Where this is determined to be the case, consent is routinely sought by the Government and agreed by the Monarch as a matter of course.
Consent to Bills has never been refused by the Monarch in modern times and legislation is not amended in order to ensure Queen’s Consent.
Once granted, Queen’s Consent will be signified at Third Reading of the bill in each House. The hon. Member can ascertain such occasions from reviewing the Official Report.
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, on how many occasions Queen's Consent has been sought by each Department since 2010.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Queen's consent is a very long-standing convention and a requirement of the Parliamentary process where proposed legislation may affect Crown interests, including personal property and personal interests of the Monarch.
It is for the House Authorities to determine whether a Bill requires Queen’s consent. Where this is determined to be the case, consent is routinely sought by the Government and agreed by the Monarch as a matter of course.
Consent to Bills has never been refused by the Monarch in modern times and legislation is not amended in order to ensure Queen’s Consent.
Once granted, Queen’s Consent will be signified at Third Reading of the bill in each House. The hon. Member can ascertain such occasions from reviewing the Official Report.
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, what assessment he has made of the number of additional children beyond the annual average who have lost a parent since the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician
Charlotte Nichols MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
20 October 2021
Dear Ms Nichols,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the number of additional children beyond the annual average who have lost a parent since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (57430).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes mortality statistics for England and Wales, compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. Death registration figures for Northern Ireland and Scotland are available from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency1 and National Records of Scotland2, respectively.
An ONS report on ‘Excess mortality and mortality displacement in England and Wales: 2020 to mid-20213 showed that between 28 December 2019 and 2 July 2021, the number of deaths registered was 97,981 more than the five-year average for a similar calendar period, an excess of 11.9%.
The information collected at death registration does not include the number of children to whom the deceased was a parent. While family structure is recorded at the decennial census and could in principle throw some light on this question, information from the 2011 Census would be insufficient since it does not include children born since the 2011 census day, and corresponding data from the 2021 Census are not yet available.
It is therefore not possible at present to make any reliable estimate of the number or proportion of people who died who were parents, or of the number of children who sadly lost a parent.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
1https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/births-deaths-and-marriages/deaths
2https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/deaths
3https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/excessmortalityandmortalitydisplacementinenglandandwales/2020tomid2021
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, what progress the Government has made on the independent statutory public inquiry on its handling of the covid-19 pandemic to start in spring 2022.
Answered by Michael Ellis
On 12 May, the Prime Minister confirmed to this House that a public inquiry into COVID-19 would be established on a statutory basis, with full formal powers, and that it will begin its work in spring 2022. Further details - including in respect of the inquiry’s terms of reference - will be set out in due course.
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, what plans he has to have the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Group included in the membership of the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Every death during the pandemic has been a tragic loss, made so much harder for those unable to say goodbye or grieve as they would have wished. It is absolutely right that we come together to mark and remember this period appropriately.
The Prime Minister announced on 12 May that the Government will support these efforts by establishing a UK Commission on Covid Commemoration. The Commission will carefully consider how communities across the country can remember those who have lost their lives and recognise those involved in the response in a fitting and permanent way.
The Government recognises the need for bereaved families to be represented on the Commission and are committed to ensuring this happens. I am grateful to them for all their efforts throughout the pandemic. The Government will set out the Commission membership and terms of reference in due course.