Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has had recent discussions with the Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry on the impact of the delay to the publication of its final report on people affected.
Answered by John Glen
The Government is committed to responding to the recommendations in the second interim report as quickly as possible following the publication of the final report. The timeline for the publication of the final report is a matter for the independent Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will take steps to implement all the recommendations of the Second Interim Report of the Infected Blood Inquiry, published 5 April 2023.
Answered by John Glen
The Government is committed to responding to the recommendations in the second interim report as quickly as possible following the publication of the final report. The timeline for the publication of the final report is a matter for the independent Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he next plans to update the List of Ministerial responsibilities.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
I refer the Hon Member to HL8961. As set out previously, the Government committed to publishing the List of Ministerial Responsibilities before the Summer Recess. This was deposited in the House on Thursday 20th July 2023, and has been published on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department provides to other Departments on appointing personnel to pay review bodies.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The pay review bodies are listed in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council. Appointments to these bodies are therefore regulated under the Order in Council and should be made in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments published by the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office also provides ad-hoc support and advice to departments on a wide range of public appointment processes. This has been the case under successive administrations.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Department plans to respond to the email of 27 April 2023 from the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton on the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I thank the honourable Member for his continued engagement on this important subject, I would like to reassure the honourable Member that I responded to his email on 24 May 2023.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government plans to respond to the Infected Blood Inquiry's interim report on compensation, published on 5 April 2023.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government welcomes the publication of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s Second Interim report. Sir Brian Langstaff’s interim report will help the UK Government and Devolved Administrations to meet our shared objective to be able to respond quickly when the Inquiry’s final report is published in the autumn.
I refer the honourable member to the statement made on Wednesday 19 April 2023, in response to the publication of the Infected Blood Inquiry’s Second Interim Report.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of placing Local Resilience Forums on a statutory footing.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government considered the status of Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) as part of the Post Implementation Review of the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) published in 2022.
Evidence collected through a public consultation, dedicated engagement with stakeholders and lessons from recent emergencies did not demonstrate a clear need for making LRFs a legal entity.
Legal status could conflict with the duties placed on Categorised responders (such as emergency services, local authorities and utilities) and undermine the existing arrangement set out in the Act.
The review recognised the need to strengthen Local Resilience Forums in England and committed in the UK Government Resilience Framework to working across three key pillars of reform - Leadership, Accountability, and Integration of resilience into the UK’s levelling up mission.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2023 to Question 136766 on Ministers: ICT, if he will publish the Security of Government Business Policy.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Security of Government Business provides summary direction and guidance to ministers on security matters. In line with practices across successive Administrations, the Government does not comment on internal security arrangements for ministers.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2023 to Question 136766 on Ministers: ICT, what assessment he has made of levels of compliance with this guidance across Government departments; and whether he has identified departments where compliance needs improvement.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Security of Government Business provides summary direction and guidance to ministers on security matters. This is expanded upon by Government Departments as relevant to a minister's roles and responsibilities. Expectations around the Security of Government Business are set out in the Ministerial Code.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to reform the Register of Ministers' Interests to require Members to declare offshore holdings.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
As set out in the published List of Ministers' Interests, Ministers are asked to declare their relevant interests in a number of categories. Of the areas Ministers are asked to give information about, this includes:
their financial interests, including both assets and liabilities
any blind trusts or blind management arrangements they have set up
directorships and shareholdings
investment properties
Such declarations are reviewed by the Permanent Secretary and the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Interests, and advice is provided accordingly. This advice includes whether an interest should be included in the public List of Ministerial Interests as part of the process of avoiding or mitigating any conflict of interest.