Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent steps the Government has taken to engage with the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Government is fully committed to constructive engagement with the Covid-19 Inquiry and has been since its establishment.
Government officials and lawyers meet with the Inquiry on a regular basis, both as part of a regular series of meetings and on an ad hoc basis to discuss specific issues. We have disclosed over 55,000 documents to the Inquiry to date.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure veterans can access well-paid employment.
Answered by Johnny Mercer
Veterans employment in this country is strong, with 87% securing employment in 6 months after service, helping to deliver on the Government’s priority to grow the economy.
DWP’s 50 Armed Forces Champions across the JobCentre Plus network, a 12-month National Insurance Relief for employers recruiting veterans into their first civilian role, and recruitment pathways for veterans into Civil Service careers, such as Going Forward into Employment and a Great Place to Work, are all making a difference to veterans across the country.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of legal fees for judicial review of the notice from the UK Covid-19 Inquiry to his Department under section 21 of the Inquiries Act 2005.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The government’s work on the Inquiry requires legal support which departments will procure at their own discretion from approved internal and external sources. The Judicial Review is ongoing, and as such the Cabinet Office does not yet have an estimate of the cost of the judicial review in this case.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to require ministers to resign if they are found to have made an minor breach of the ministerial code.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Ministerial Code is clear that graduated sanctions are in place for breaches of the Code; this is set out in paragraph 1.7. This has formally been part of the Code since May 2022 when the Code was amended, but this approach has just reflected actual practice from previous Administrations under successive Prime Ministers.
That formal amendment to the Code followed recommendations from the Committee on Standards in Public Life in 2021. The Chair of the Committee noted: “The current expectation that any breach of the Ministerial Code should lead to resignation is disproportionate. We recommend that there should be a proportionate range of sanctions” (Lord Evans correspondence to the Prime Minister, 15 April 2021).
The (then) Prime Minister agreed with this recommendation in his reply of 28 April 2021, explaining: “I agree with your recommendation... this has always been the case, but over time, an expectation has arisen that any breach should lead automatically to resignation, which I agree is disproportionate.”
The (then) Independent Adviser on Ministerial Interests, Lord Geidt, also concurred in his Annual Report of May 2021, noting: "I believe its [the Code’s] status is likely to be enhanced by a more proportionate approach to sanctions”.
The Committee repeated this recommendation in their ‘Standards Matter 2’ final report published in September 2021.
I would also observe that both Houses of Parliament takes a similar approach to breaches of the Code of Conduct by Parliamentarians, as do employers in their HR processes across the public and private sector.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on (a) marketing and (b) related activities for the Unicorn Kingdom campaign.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Cabinet Office publishes expenditure, including on the GREAT campaign, on a rolling monthly basis on gov.uk as part of routine government transparency arrangements. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has allocated for (a) marketing and (b) related activities for the Unicorn Kingdom campaign in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Cabinet Office publishes expenditure, including on the GREAT campaign, on a rolling monthly basis on gov.uk as part of routine government transparency arrangements. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the processes were for appointing Government contracts to Infosys Limited.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Public sector contracting authorities are required to purchase products and services through competitive tender in accordance with public procurement legislation, and are responsible for their own commercial decisions, including the award of contracts.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Prime Minister will amend the ministerial code to require all new Ministers to publish their tax returns.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Ministerial Code was last updated on 22 December 2022. There are no plans for any further updates.
In submitting their ministerial interest form Ministers are asked to declare their relevant interests in a number of categories. One such area on which information is required is Ministers’ tax affairs. The Prime Minister has recently re-affirmed the importance of ensuring this duty is undertaken conscientiously.
As stated in the answer of 2 February 2023, Official Report, PQ 135428, the Prime Minister has stated his intention to publish his own tax return, which will be published in due course.
However, as has been the case under successive administrations, it is not the intention of the Government to require all Ministers to publish their tax returns. In public life, a balance must be struck between reasonable expectations of privacy and accountability. This reflects that Parliament has previously legislated to maintain the principle of taxpayer confidentiality.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Prime Minister was first made aware of the allegations of bullying made against the Rt hon. Member for Esher and Walton.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by the Prime Minister at Prime Minister’s Questions on 1 February 2023, Official Report, Columns 335-336.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Prime Minister first became aware that the Rt hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon had not (a) declared to his permanent secretary and (b) disclosed in his ministerial declaration of interests the investigation by HMRC.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the Hon Member to the Prime Minister's comments to the House on 25 January (https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2023-01-25/debates/CC1C6066-E0E7-4BF6-84D4-BB5C11BC1EBA/Engagements#contribution-2261E821-4652-4AE6-A3D4-43A2323BE174 )
As the Hon Member will be aware, the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests provided his findings to the Prime Minister in a letter sent on 29 January 2023. The findings detail the relevant facts in relation to the disclosures made by the Rt Hon Member for Stratford-on-Avon. The advice was published in full on GOV.UK on the day it was received by the Prime Minister, and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House. Correspondence relating to the tax affairs of individual taxpayers is subject to statutory requirements on taxpayer confidentiality.