Greg Knight

The annunciator system was replaced with a new system on 14 December 2018. The replacement provides an improved platform from which to implement further service enhancements. In parallel in 2018 we prototyped some tools to explore how we might provide the annunciator plus additional extended information in a mobile app. A key learning was that to provide Members with a smartphone app with the timeliness and accuracy of the annunciator service required further feasibility work. Funding for this feasibility work is available in the new financial year and also for some user research with Members to confirm what other new features related to the Annunciator would be of most benefit. No explicit timing for this work has yet been defined but it is hoped to have completed the feasibility review by the autumn.

The House authorities, in conjunction with the police, assess all Parliamentary activity each week. This assessment is based on risk and considers all events, including banqueting, committees, meetings and other Parliamentary business. Security provision is based on risk and threat and comprises many different actions which we cannot disclose in full.

Unaccompanied non-passholders accessing the Parliamentary estate in order to use refreshment facilities are restricted to a limited number of areas. These areas, and routes to and from the entrances and exits to the estate, are carefully controlled by security and other House staff to minimise the risk of non-passholders accessing other parts of the estate. We encourage all Members and staff to challenge any unaccompanied non-passholders who are found in a restricted area and to alert security staff to their presence.

All non-passholders are subject to search and screening measures before entering the estate and may not bring onto the estate prohibited items. Further information about these measures can be found on the Parliamentary website: https://www.parliament.uk/visiting/access/security/.

In April 2018, the average weekly number of visitors entering the Parliamentary estate from the three main visitor entrances (Cromwell Green Entrance, Portcullis House and Black Rod’s Garden Entrance) was approximately 17,000. This period comprised both sitting and recess dates. These figures are taken from readings on the security archways that visitors pass through as part of the search and screening process.

Visitors to Parliament access the estate for many reasons. It is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of the number of non-passholders who are admitted without being accompanied or sponsored by a Member.

Visitors access the estate to meet with a Member or a member of staff; to attend a Member-sponsored meeting (including APPGs) or meetings at official level; to give evidence to a Committee; to lobby; to attend debates in both Houses (in the Chambers and Committees); to attend functions and banqueting events; to take a tour (both paid-for and democratic free tours); or as part of an Education Service visit.

Some of the activities listed require sponsorship by a Member. Other visits will not be directly linked to a Member of either House; such as those attending House or committee proceedings, or attendees at organised functions.

All non-passholders are subject to search and screening measures before entering the estate and must visibly display their visitor pass throughout their time on the estate.

Controls are in place to allow visitors to access certain areas of the building without being escorted by a passholder, including Westminster Hall, St Stephen’s Hall, Central Lobby and certain refreshment facilities.

The House Service is currently developing proposals with suppliers for making improvements to the mobile phone signal across the whole estate. This partly relies on the support of the mobile networks, and so far discussions have been held with one of the four mobile networks and Airwave.

Surveys of the estate have already been completed and a network supplier has started to design a system to improve the cover. Work will start shortly.

The Digital Service is delivering a major investment programme for Parliament’s network. The programme will make improvements to Parliament’s ICT network, including internet access and email system. The delivery will address issues around speed, resilience and most importantly security when accessing internet based services. A tranche of improvements will be completed in September 2017, in particular:

• Speed of access – Network design simplification, increase in throughput of security devices and increase of internet circuit bandwidth;
• Resilience – dynamic routing with fast failover times with multiple routes out to the internet.

The programme will provide further resilience and security enhancements for the network (Campus LAN) operating within the Parliamentary estate by the end of December 2017. The final tranche in the first half of 2018 will see performance and security enhancements for the WiFi network infrastructure within the estate. The Digital Service will continue to work to improve the security and protections in place around email, which in turn supports the reliability of email by reducing the impact that malicious email can have.

The improvements are primarily focused on the reliability and security of Parliament's network. However, the changes will provide Members with a more consistent user experience and speed of access when using the network, including access to the Internet. Responsiveness of Internet sites is also dependent upon factors outside of Parliament's network.

The temporary galvanised barriers outside Carriage Gates will be replaced via the New Palace Yard security enhancement project. The detailed design for the permanent replacement will be developed once an outline business case has been approved in early February 2017. It is envisaged that a solution sympathetic to the existing local architecture will be adopted. This will be subject to obtaining the necessary consents and permissions from Westminster City Council. We plan to start these works by the end of 2017.

In January of this year the Director of the Digital Service commissioned Deloitte to conduct an independent efficiency review of the Digital Service 10 months after its formation. The top level finding of the review was that: “Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) is not failing in terms of efficiency for the budget it is allocated and systems it operates, however, it is failing to meet its potential.”

The review identified eight key themes to improve efficiency and effectiveness: benefits & outcomes, culture, governance, asset management, talent, infrastructure, contracts and strategy. The Digital Service has fully accepted that these are areas for improvement and senior Digital Service staff are taking ownership of these areas.

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills does not intend to bring the Easter Act 1928 into force in the near future. The Easter Act 1928 would set the date for Easter to fall on a Sunday between 9 and 15 April each year. The Easter Act 1928 remains on the Statute Book, but has not been brought into force. To do so would require an Order in Council, with the approval of both Houses of Parliament. The Act also requires that, before the Order is made, "regard shall be had to any opinion officially expressed by any Church or other Christian Body." There is no indication that the Churches are keen to move to a date for Easter fixed in accordance with the Easter Act 1928.

On 31 July last year the UK Statement of Principles on Parcel Deliveries, developed through collaboration between Citizens Advice and the British Retail Consortium, was published. The Principles set out best practice for businesses, such as parcel delivery firms, on how they can ensure fair delivery prices, consumers can obtain delivery cost information upfront and get clear directions to the terms and conditions. This will help consumers to be better informed about online retailers’ pricing policies in particular with regard to delivering to consumers in remote communities. The Statement of Principles is available on the Citizens Advice website: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/scotland/news/whats_new_sep14_statement_of_principles_for_parcel_deliveries_now_covers_the_uk.htm.

If a consumer has a problem with a parcel delivery firm they can contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 08454 04 05 06 or through their website (https://www.adviceguide.org.uk) which offers a free service on how consumers can proceed with their complaints.

Citizens Advice provides guidance on what consumers can do if they suffer delivery problems. This advice can be found on their website: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_common_problems_with_products_e/consumer_problems_with_delivery_e.htm.

In addition, the Consumer Rights Bill which is currently before Parliament, will clarify and enhance consumer rights and remedies when contracting with traders for the provision of services, such as parcel delivery firms. This will make it clear for the first time that if traders breach the rights set out in the Bill, the trader is required to re-perform the service to bring it up to scratch or failing that offers a reduction in price. We have been working closely with consumer groups, including Citizens Advice, to develop an effective publicity campaign, including the use of social media to raise consumers’ awareness of these new rights. The Citizens Advice website will be updated by 1 October 2015 when the Bill is anticipated to come into force.

This Government takes IP crime very seriously and is working closely with law enforcers and rights holders to tackle criminality, including the sale of counterfeit goods online. We have provided an additional £3 million investment in the Police IP Crime Unit (PIPCU), securing its future until 2017. PIPCU is working to remove payment provisions from infringing websites using money laundering legislation, and in 2014 removed 4,650 offending sites with a ‘.co.uk’ address. The Intellectual Property Office continues to share intelligence with relevant enforcement bodies and in the last two weeks contributed to the seizure of a £1m shipment of counterfeit goods, thought to be bound for the online market, by the UK Border Force. This activity is supplemented by education programmes and a government/private industry partnership to provide IP training to enforcement officers and brand representatives to help stem the demand for counterfeit products.

The basic salary payable to Members was £66,396 per annum as at 1 January 2014. At that date 78 staff in the House of Commons Service were paid an annual salary above this figure. A list of the posts that have pay band maxima higher than Members’ current salary is attached, together with individual pay of SCS2 and SCS3 staff in £5,000 bands. Details of the current pay ranges are attached. The salaries of Members of the Management Board are disclosed in the House of Commons: Administration annual accounts which are available on the Parliament website.

It is not the practice of the Commission to comment on security matters in any detail.

However, Parliamentary ICT does not use the iCloud System and was not impacted by recent reported security breaches of this system.

We use a Government accredited Cloud service for emails and files.

Parliamentary ICT took advice from Legal Services and the Director of Parliamentary Security, scrutinising the agreement with the Cloud service supplier to confirm that safeguards are in place to protect the security of data when it entered into these arrangements.

Further advice and guidance for Members can be found on the ICT security pages on the Parliamentary Intranet.

No applications have been received for hydraulic fracturing of shale gas in East Yorkshire. However, small scale testing to determine rock characteristics is planned; these are a routine part of oil and gas operations.

It is a criminal offence under UK law for a person to vote more than once in a European Parliamentary election. This is clearly stated on polling cards.

In addition, UK citizens resident in another EU member state are required by European law to complete a declaration if they wish to vote in their member state of residence at European Parliamentary elections.

The EU Council Directive 93/109/EC places an obligation on all EU member states in the run-up to a European election to share information on other member states' citizens residing within their boundaries who have completed such a declaration.

Direct UK funding of the European Space Agency (ESA) has been as follows:

2009/10: £242.8m

2010/11: £231.1m

2011/12: £232.0m

2012/13: £207.6m

2013/14: £267.5m

In addition, national expenditure averaging £20M a year has been expended within the UK to build and operate scientific instruments carried on spacecraft of ESA. The funding to ESA has been used to contribute to missions and technology in the fields of space science and exploration, Earth observation for science and applications, telecommunications and broadband delivery, access to microgravity facilities for life and physical sciences, space weather, navigation technologies, human spaceflight and weather monitoring. As well as resulting expenditure in the UK due to the just retour principle, wider benefits have accrued in new scientific knowledge; and improved delivery of public services.

ESA is the primary route for Government R&D space investment. Several economic analyses of investment impact have been undertaken, drawn together in BIS Economics Paper No3[1]. The UK Space Agency (part of BIS) undertakes a biennial survey of the size and health of the UK space industry[2] showing growth from £3.4B turnover in 1999/2000 to £9.5B in 2011, reflecting the results of sustained investment as well as the growth of the market.

The UK Space Agency monitors contracts that return back to UK industry from our ESA subscriptions and also monitors where R&D work has positioned UK industry for success in larger operational contracts.

A UK R&D investment of £15M for the Astrium E3000 Spacecraft through the ESA telecoms programme (‘ARTES') was more than matched by industry and resulted in the award of 41 spacecraft contracts worth over £600M to UK industry, an un-discounted ROI of over thirty. Analysis has shown that the return on investment from UK ARTES programmes ranges from 2 to 30 with an average of 6:1. The UK Space Agency also works with the OECD to pool analysis of benefits from space funding as reflected in the OECD Handbook on Measuring the Space Economy[3].

The scientific programmes of ESA directly contribute to UK academic excellence. The ‘Wakeham Review of Physics'[4] reported to government that in terms of impact (citations) in the space sciences, the UK “is second to the USA and well separated from the following pack”. Data from satellites such as ESA's Cryosat 2 have directly informed the IPCC 5^th Assessment on climate change[5].

An example of a public service benefit space investment is the weather forecast. The MetOffice (also part of BIS) has undertaken analysis showing that satellites have made the greatest impact in improving weather prediction among available observing techniques[6] “accounting for 64% of short-range global forecast error reduction”. Of all the nine data sources used, the new European Metop satellite has made the largest single impact: “about 25% of the total impact on global forecast error reduction”.

[1]http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file54519.PDF

[2] http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/ukspaceagency/docs/industry/size-and-health-report-oct-2012.pdf

[3] http://www.oecd.org/futures/oecdhandbookonmeasuringthespaceeconomy.htm

[4] http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/RCUK-prod/assets/documents/reviews/physics/review.pdf

[5] https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/

[6] http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/media/pdf/9/m/FRTR562.pdf

The construction and use of oil and gas wells in the UK is subject to stringent regulation by the HSE to ensure the integrity of the well in all phases of its life. Recognised industry design and construction processes must be followed, and the operator's work and plans are subject to scrutiny by an independent well examiner as well as the HSE. Monitoring and inspections are be carried out by the Environment Agency, the HSE and the independent well examiner as appropriate. Oil and gas wells which have no further usefulness are plugged and capped to ensure the retention of any fluids in the well.

We seek to improve this robust regulatory system further wherever practicable. Further consideration is being given to control and monitoring of methane emissions in the light of the recommendations of the report by Prof David Mackay and Dr Tim Stone on potential greenhouse gas emissions associated with shale gas production and use, published in September 2013.

A recently published paper by the ReFINE research consortium estimates that there are between fifty and a hundred historic wells in the UK for which no responsible person can be identified.

Oil and gas wells in the UK which have no further usefulness are treated to ensure the retention of any fluids within the well. The bore is sealed with concrete plugs, while the well head it cut off below ground level and a steel cap welded to the top. The abandonment operations are subject to scrutiny by the HSE and the independent well examiner, and must comply with relevant industry standards. The site will then be restored to the appropriate standard prescribed by planning conditions.

Wells are not monitored after the completion of the abandonment and site restoration operations. The ReFINE paper confirms that there are no pollution issues associated with historic oil and gas wells in the UK.

To date the Cabinet Office have used a range of paid-for and no-cost channels to direct citizens and businesses to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at Gov.uk/euexit.

The Cabinet Office has undertaken to publish information relating to ongoing expenditure on the public information campaign as part of the department’s regular data transparency releases.

In conjunction, Cabinet Office will disclose full costs regarding future advertising as part of these data sets in due course.

The Cabinet Office is leading and coordinating the cross-departmental Prepare for EU Exit public information campaign to help fulfil the Government’s duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise them on the steps they may need to take to prepare. To date we have used a range of paid-for and no-cost channels to direct citizens and businesses to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at Gov.uk/euexit.

The Cabinet Office has undertaken to publish information relating to ongoing expenditure on the public information campaign as part of the department’s regular data transparency releases. For maximum economies of scale, media for all Government campaigns is bought centrally through a new Crown Commercial Service framework. The framework maximises value for UK taxpayers through robust pricing guarantees that are defined for the life of the contract and rates that are benchmarked against other public and private sector organisations.

I refer the Right Honourable Member to the answer given by Lord Young of Cookham to Lord Haskel on Wednesday 21 November, Official Report, HL column 238.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to the Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood to PQ148915 on 7 June 2018.

There are no plans to trial electronic voting. The selection of elected representatives for Parliament is regarded as requiring the highest possible level of integrity and, at present, there are concerns that e-Voting, by any means, is not seen by many to be suitably rigorous and secure, and could be vulnerable to attack or fraud. The Government has stated in its manifesto that it will retain the traditional method of voting by pencil and paper, and tackle every aspect of electoral fraud.

The law provides for the checking of the integrity of completed postal ballots prior to them being included in the count. Returning Officers are required to check 100% of postal vote identifiers (signatures and dates of birth) returned with completed postal votes against those supplied by the elector when they applied for a postal vote. Any that do not match will not be counted in order to prevent any attempt at electoral fraud. The law requires that postal ballot papers are mixed with ballot papers from a ballot box before they can be counted as a necessary step in order to help protect the secrecy of the ballot.

The Government is committed to the introduction of electronic invoicing across the public sector. The Small Business Enterprise and Employment Bill includes clauses that will enable Ministers to make regulations on the acceptance of e-invoices by public bodies.