Damian Collins

Requesting data from social media platforms for use in criminal investigations – which may of course lead to the CPS bringing charges – is an investigative matter for the police, who will have to decide if that’s an appropriate line of inquiry.

Where investigators are unable to obtain data held overseas themselves, CPS prosecutors may draft and issue requests for Mutual Legal Assistance from international counterparts. That capability is further enhanced by powers created by the Government in the Crime (Overseas Production Order) Act 2019.

The Defending Democracy programme coordinates work and expertise across government work to safeguard the integrity and security of our democratic processes.

Through the Online Harms legislative proposals, the programme is making good progress against two of its strategic objectives: to encourage respect for open, fair and safe democratic participation; and to promote fact-based discourse.

The transition period will end on 31 December, and the Government made extensive preparations for the changes and opportunities that will come. We have set out a package of support for border infrastructure and the customs intermediaries sector, and provided extensive guidance to business at gov.uk/transition.

The Government has also intensified engagement with businesses, including through the Brexit Business Taskforce, and is running a major public information campaign which tells businesses and citizens the steps they need to take to prepare.

The Government is reviewing the opportunities of a mobile alerting capability to issue alerts to mobile devices. The Government recognises the need for messages to be easily understood by everyone receiving them.

The consultation closed in October. We are carefully considering the responses we received and will publish our response in due course.

The Government is currently considering the recommendations of the Competition and Market Authority’s market study and will respond in due course.

The consultation closed in October. We are carefully considering the responses we received and will publish our response in due course.

The department has regular conversations with Ofcom at both ministerial and official level about its work to regulate the telecoms market, including the Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review. Ofcom has set out its findings and proposed regulatory approach from the review in its published consultation documents, which are available on its website.

The Age Appropriate Design Code will play an important role in protecting children’s personal data online. The Data Protection Act requires that the Code is laid in Parliament as soon as reasonably practicable. Ministers are taking the necessary steps to lay the Code as soon as possible.

Whilst this cross-government counter-disinformation capability was recently stood up to support COVID-19 response efforts, existing structures have been monitoring for disinformation related to the disease as part of their ongoing work.

The capability is resourced full time through existing cross-government teams and there are no additional costs associated with it.

There are a number of organisations that have relevant capabilities and responsibilities which are brought together through this work. This includes existing teams in DCMS, the Home Office, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the Cabinet Office and No10.

It would not be appropriate to provide a running commentary on instances of misinformation or disinformation. We will address instances of misinformation or disinformation using the most appropriate mechanism. We are grateful for the work civil society and academica are doing to highlight and correct misinformation.

As Government one of the best things we can do is make sure that everyone has access to the correct information about the virus. As such, we are working with industry to support the introduction of systems and processes that promote authoritative sources of information. The Government’s public information campaign provides the latest and most accurate information about Covid-19.

During this period, we are asking schools to support children who are eligible for and claiming benefits-related free school meals at home by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. Schools have continued to receive all their funding for benefits-related and universal infant free school meals. However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education.

Schools are best placed to make decisions about the most appropriate arrangements for eligible pupils, and this can include food parcel arrangements, alternative voucher arrangements or provision through the national voucher scheme.

Edenred has reported that over £154 million worth of voucher codes has been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the national voucher scheme as of Monday 15 June. Edenred has also reported that over 17,500 schools had placed orders for the scheme as of Tuesday 26 May. We do not collect data on the scheme at pupil level.

The number and proportion of students who qualify for free school meals is published in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication and its underlying data files. We do not collect data at constituency level.

The 2019 publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2019.

In accordance with Reservoirs Act 1975 (Capacity, Registration, Prescribed Forms, etc) (England) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1677) and subsequent guidance produced by the UK Reservoir Safety Liaison Group (the National Protocol for the Handling, Transmission and Storage of Reservoir Information and Flood Maps), we are unable to publish the full content of the section 10 report and section 12 statement. I recognise the level of local interest in this matter, and the Environment Agency (EA) will disclose information regarding the planned works that it considers will be of benefit to interested members of the public.

The EA has heard from the community that redacted documents are unhelpful and do not contribute to building trust and cooperation. The EA will be visiting the site in mid-September and intends to openly communicate the legally required work proposed for the site.

The United Kingdom is committed to maintaining high standards of protection for personal data, including when it is transferred across borders. Data provisions in Free Trade Agreements including the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) are separate but complementary to the United Kingdom’s adequacy process and international data protection frameworks.

Through CEPA, we have agreed to avoid unjustified restrictions on the free flow of data between the United Kingdom and Japan, and committed to maintaining a legal framework that provides for the protection of personal information. CEPA only addresses data flows between the United Kingdom and Japan and does not address onward transfers to other jurisdictions. The United Kingdom has not endorsed the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Cross Border Privacy Rules System (APEC CBPR).

Separately, the United Kingdom has preserved the effect of the EU's adequacy decision for Japan on a transitional basis. This does not permit the onward transfer of EU data using APEC CBPR.

The United Kingdom is committed to maintaining high standards of protection for personal data, including when it is transferred across borders. Data provisions in Free Trade Agreements including the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) are separate but complementary to the United Kingdom’s adequacy process and international data protection frameworks.

Through CEPA, we have agreed to avoid unjustified restrictions on the free flow of data between the United Kingdom and Japan, and committed to maintaining a legal framework that provides for the protection of personal information. CEPA only addresses data flows between the United Kingdom and Japan and does not address onward transfers to other jurisdictions. The United Kingdom has not endorsed the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Cross Border Privacy Rules System (APEC CBPR).

Separately, the United Kingdom has preserved the effect of the EU's adequacy decision for Japan on a transitional basis. This does not permit the onward transfer of EU data using APEC CBPR.

The United Kingdom is committed to maintaining high standards of protection for personal data, including when it is transferred across borders. Data provisions in Free Trade Agreements including the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) are separate but complementary to the United Kingdom’s adequacy process and international data protection frameworks.

Through CEPA, we have agreed to avoid unjustified restrictions on the free flow of data between the United Kingdom and Japan, and committed to maintaining a legal framework that provides for the protection of personal information. CEPA only addresses data flows between the United Kingdom and Japan and does not address onward transfers to other jurisdictions. The United Kingdom has not endorsed the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Cross Border Privacy Rules System (APEC CBPR).

Separately, the United Kingdom has preserved the effect of the EU's adequacy decision for Japan on a transitional basis. This does not permit the onward transfer of EU data using APEC CBPR.

The United Kingdom is committed to maintaining high standards of protection for personal data, including when it is transferred across borders. Data provisions in Free Trade Agreements including the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) are separate but complementary to the United Kingdom’s adequacy process and international data protection frameworks.

Through CEPA, we have agreed to avoid unjustified restrictions on the free flow of data between the United Kingdom and Japan, and committed to maintaining a legal framework that provides for the protection of personal information. CEPA only addresses data flows between the United Kingdom and Japan and does not address onward transfers to other jurisdictions. The United Kingdom has not endorsed the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Cross Border Privacy Rules System (APEC CBPR).

Separately, the United Kingdom has preserved the effect of the EU's adequacy decision for Japan on a transitional basis. This does not permit the onward transfer of EU data using APEC CBPR.

There have been multiple replies sent regarding Mrs Old in the past twelve months. The Department will contact the Hon Member’s office and provide copies of any replies that you have not received. The Department has no record of any correspondence being received on 25^th June; if a copy can be provided, a response will be sent as soon as possible.

We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold Government to account. We are working rapidly to provide all hon. Members with accurate answers to their questions, as well as supporting the Government’s response to the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hon. Member’s questions will be answered as soon as possible.

As between the parties, the Government retains legal responsibility for any data breaches or loss of data under its contract with Amazon for data storage.

This is the main data storage contract for NHS Test and Trace. Any other data storage is acquired using Government frameworks which set out standard positions in relation to legal and financial remedies.

The contract was released on 5 June 2020 and will be formally published in due course.

NHS England will be publishing the contract for the NHS Data Store with Palantir in due course.

NHS England is the data controller for data processed in the NHS Data Store. Palantir is engaged by NHS England under contract as a data processor. As a data processor, the organisation only processes data under instruction from NHS England.

The NHS Data Store data list is found at the following link:

https://data.england.nhs.uk/covid-19/.

Data is Processed on the Foundry Platform which is hosted in the UK Region of Amazon Web Services.

The UK is supporting life-saving assistance for people affected by the conflict in Tigray, including health and malnutrition treatment and water and sanitation delivered through UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and NGO partners. We continue to work closely with the UN and partners, in calling for sustained, free and unfettered humanitarian access across Tigray, in line with the guiding principles laid down by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Since the Foreign Secretary met the Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister in London on 25th November we have continued to press the Government of Ethiopia for a political solution to restore peace, including in my call with the Ethiopian Finance Minister on 16 December.

Across the English Football League, including the Championship, League 1 and League 2, the total debt is £110,437,964 excluding VAT which was deferred from spring 2020 and is not due until 31 March 2021. The breakdown by league is:

The total of overdue taxes is £77,612,777 excluding VAT which is auto-deferred to 31 March 2021 and Month 6 PAYE payments.

This is broken down by league as:

Employees on fixed-term contracts, regardless of industry, can be claimed for under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme if otherwise eligible.

From 1 July an employee is eligible to be claimed for under the scheme, if their employer has previously submitted a claim for them in relation to a furlough period of at least three consecutive weeks taking place any time between 1 March 2020 and 30 June.

For an employee on a fixed term contract, the employer would have been able to re-employ them and put them on furlough as long as they did this by 10 June, and if either the employee’s contract expired on or after 28 February 2020 and an RTI payment submission for the employee was notified to HMRC on or before 28 February 2020, or the employee’s contract expired on or after 19 March 2020 and an RTI payment submission for the employee was notified to HMRC on or before 19 March 2020.

If the employee’s fixed term contract has not already expired, it can be extended, or renewed. Employers can claim for these employees as long as an RTI payment submission for the employee was notified to HMRC on or before 19 March 2020.

Employees that started and ended the same contract between 28 February 2020 and 19 March 2020 will not qualify for this scheme. This is not specific to employees on fixed-term contracts; the same would apply to employees on all other contracts.

Frauds that are committed online are pernicious crimes. They can cause terrible financial and emotional harm to victims. The Government has been working with partners in the public and private sectors to keep the public safe and bring these fraudsters to justice.

DCMS are leading ground-breaking work on the Online Safety Bill. The Bill will require regulated companies to take action to tackle user-generated fraud on their platforms. This will impact some of the most harmful online fraud types such as investment and romance scams. DCMS are also leading work through the Online Advertising Programme that will consider, amongst other things, the role online advertising plays in enabling online fraud.

We have also been working closely alongside the National Cyber Security Centre who launched their Suspicious Email Reporting Service last year. This has already led to over 8.1 million reports received and the removal of over 67,000 scams and 124,000 harmful websites, since its inception in April 2020.

However, Government and the public sector cannot tackle online fraud alone. That is why, on the 21 October 2021, the Joint Fraud Taskforce was relaunched under my [Security Minister] chairmanship. The JFT brings together leaders from across the Government, private sector, regulators, law enforcement and victim groups to encourage collaboration to keep the public safe from these crimes. Alongside the relaunch, we published voluntary agreement with the retail banking, telecommunications and accountancy sectors outlining innovative measures to reduce fraud facilitated through these industries (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/joint-fraud-taskforce). We are also engaging the tech sector specifically through the Online Fraud Steering Group.

We continue to encourage the public to report fraud to Action fraud and to forward any suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and suspicious texts to 7726, free of charge.

Under the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement a requested person cannot be surrendered if their fundamental rights are at risk, if extradition would be disproportionate or if they are likely to face long periods of pre-trial detention.   

Some EU Member States operate on the fundamental principle that they cannot extradite their citizens outside of the EU. In this context the provisions of the agreement provide for a path to justice in each case.

For example, where someone has been convicted in the UK, if they are arrested in their state of nationality, the authorities there can decide to enforce the sentence at home.

We are working closely with our providers, and with Public Health England, to ensure that all individuals who have to self-isolate can do so and are following all medical advice closely.

We take the welfare of those in our care extremely seriously and asylum seekers can contact the 24/7 helpline run by Migrant Help if they have any issues.

We do not publish the information requested, although the number of asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-support

At present the Home Office will continue to regularly move small numbers of people out of Napier barracks into Dispersal Accommodation in line with business as usual processes and will continue to route new people into Napier in line with public health guidance.

Those asylum seekers being moved to Dispersal Accommodation will not be moved to the other Ministry of Defence site currently in use (Penally Training Camp). This site is also providing temporary contingency accommodation for asylum seekers.

We are working closely with our providers, and with Public Health England, to ensure that all individuals who have to self-isolate can do so and are following all medical advice closely.

We take the welfare of those in our care extremely seriously and asylum seekers can contact the 24/7 helpline run by Migrant Help if they have any issues.

We do not publish the information requested, although the number of asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/asylum-and-resettlement-datasets#asylum-support

At present the Home Office will continue to regularly move small numbers of people out of Napier barracks into Dispersal Accommodation in line with business as usual processes and will continue to route new people into Napier in line with public health guidance.

Those asylum seekers being moved to Dispersal Accommodation will not be moved to the other Ministry of Defence site currently in use (Penally Training Camp). This site is also providing temporary contingency accommodation for asylum seekers.

Further to the answer provided to the Hon Member’s PQ 125990 on 10 December, the Home Office has searched its own holdings and files held by the CCRC are being transferred. These will be examined as soon as practicable and the Home Office will provide the Hon Member with an update on next steps. It would not be appropriate to comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing.

The Ministry of Defence has funded programmes to mitigate cyber risks against our platforms, weapon systems and core digital infrastructure. And building on the National Offensive Cyber Programme, the new National Cyber Force will design and deliver cyber operations, from supporting warfighting operations to countering serious crime and combatting terrorism.

We are developing a cyber-aware workforce to embed cyber security into our business and operations, and establishing a dedicated career stream for our most highly-skilled military cyber professionals for which various possible remunerative options are being explored.

The Government has announced an unprecedented package of support for businesses to help with their ongoing business costs in recognition of the disruption caused by COVID-19. This package of support includes the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF).

Businesses in England that would have been in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount (which covers retail, hospitality and leisure) on 11 March?with?a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be eligible for a RHLGF cash grant per property of either £10,000 or £25,000 depending on the rateable value of the property.

Guidance on the types of businesses covered by the Expanded Retail Discount can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-rates-retail-discount-guidance. It is for individual local billing authorities to adopt a local scheme and determine in each individual case when, having regard to this guidance, to grant relief. Any enquiries on eligibility for the Expanded Retail Discount and thus the RHLGF should be directed to the relevant local authority.

For more information on the RHLGF please visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-youre-eligible-for-the-coronavirus-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-grant-fund

In addition, on?1 May,?the Government announced that up to £617 million is being made available to local authorities?in England to allow them to provide discretionary grants. The?Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs but are not liable for business rates or rates reliefs.

Businesses already in receipt of a Small Business grant or a Retail, Hospitality and Leisure grant are not eligible for this fund. Businesses who are eligible for or in receipt of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) are now eligible to apply for this scheme.

Guidance, intended to support local authorities in administering the Discretionary Grants Fund, was published 13 May and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding. Local authorities are responsible for developing their local scheme, having regard to this guidance, and decisions about which businesses to support, and the level of grant to award, are for local authorities to take.

The Law Commission’s Report – Modernising Communications Offences – was sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Recommendations on new offences that fall to the MoJ are being carefully considered. We will set out our position on these matters in due course.

Section 23 of the Criminal Appeals Act 1995 prevents the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) from disclosing any information obtained by the Commission in the exercise of any of their functions (specified exceptions do apply).

In line with legislation, following a Case Review the CCRC will provide all applicants with a Statement of Reasons, as to why the case was referred or not referred to the Court of Appeal.

The Ministry of Justice is not aware of any other reviews undertaken by other public authorities that concerned Mr McCafferty. Mr McCafferty previously worked for the Forensic Science Service (FSS). The FSS was a government owned company, sponsored by the Home Office, which was dissolved in 2012.