Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the average length of time taken by Departments to respond to correspondence from hon. Members; and whether his Department monitors the response times of Departments to that correspondence.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from MPs, Peers and members of the public.
In July 2021, the Cabinet Office published data on the timeliness of responses to correspondence from MPs and Peers for 2018, 2019 and 2020 on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers. This data measures performance by the percentage of correspondence from MPs and Peers responded to within the target response time set by each Department - rather than the average length of time taken to respond to correspondence from MPs and Peers. As per the Guide to Handling Correspondence, updated by the Cabinet Office in July 2021, the target response time set by Departments for correspondence must not exceed 20 working days.
The Cabinet Office is now in a position to publish correspondence data in a more timely manner; the data for 2021 will be published in the near future.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the youth unemployment figures are for (a) Suffolk and (b) Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency for each year from 2009-10 to date.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been unemployed in (a) Suffolk and (b) Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency in each year from 2009-10 to date .
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government plans to announce what progress has been made with the compensation framework review in relation to the contaminated blood inquiry.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Work is currently underway across government to address the concerns of people infected and affected by infected blood, and a compensation framework is being explored. Parliament will be updated in due course.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether all deaths recorded within 28 days of a positive Polymerase Chain Reaction test are recorded as covid-19 related regardless of the cause of death.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to reduce the size of the House of Lords.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
As set out in the Conservative manifesto, although comprehensive reform is not a priority, we are committed to ensure that the House of Lords continues to fulfil its constitutional role as a revising and scrutinising chamber which respects the primacy of the House of Commons. We will continue to work to ensure the work of the House of Lords remains relevant and effective by addressing issues such as its size.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has for removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
As set out in the Conservative manifesto, although comprehensive reform is not a priority, we are committed to ensure that the House of Lords continues to fulfil its constitutional role as a revising and scrutinising chamber which respects the primacy of the House of Commons. We will continue to work to ensure the work of the House of Lords remains relevant and effective by addressing issues such as its size.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which government department will have responsibility for the management of the social investment outcomes fund.
Answered by Rob Wilson
In the spending review the Chancellor announced £80m for a new social outcomes fund to support the creation of locally developed social impact bonds tackling a range of social problems. The Cabinet Office has responsibility for the fund. The detailed criteria for the fund is being developed, but it will provide a portion of outcome payments for locally commissioned social impact bonds where some of the benefits and savings generated fall to central government.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the funding criteria will be for the social investment outcomes fund; and whether NHS providers of alcohol and drug addiction services will be able to apply for that funding.
Answered by Rob Wilson
In the spending review the Chancellor announced £80m for a new social outcomes fund to support the creation of locally developed social impact bonds tackling a range of social problems. The Cabinet Office has responsibility for the fund. The detailed criteria for the fund is being developed, but it will provide a portion of outcome payments for locally commissioned social impact bonds where some of the benefits and savings generated fall to central government.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in what ways his Department is supporting the mediation of a standardised pre-qualification questionnaire to help businesses access public sector contracts.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Public Contracts Regulations, which came into force in February of this year, mandate a standardised approach to Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQs) across the public sector.
Cabinet Office has issued guidance on qualitative selection for procurement above EU threshold. This guidance, and a standard PQQ template, can be found at: