Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to prohibit (a) Government agencies and (b) Departments from (i) engaging and (ii) endorsing commercial intermediaries that charge users for access to otherwise free public services.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
It is for those departments providing services to the public to ensure that third parties do not mislead citizens into making additional or unnecessary payments for accessing those services.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to prevent unofficial websites from charging fees for government services that are otherwise free of charge.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
It is for those departments providing services to the public to ensure that third parties do not mislead citizens into making additional or unnecessary payments for accessing those services.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has considered establishing a regulatory framework for third-party entities that charge for assisting with (a) Government transactions, (b) DVLA licence renewals and (c) passport applications.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
It is for those departments providing services to the public to ensure that third parties do not mislead citizens into making additional or unnecessary payments for accessing those services.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has had recent discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority on tackling misleading advertising by commercial intermediaries offering access to government services.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Minister for the Cabinet Office has not had any recent discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority specifically relating to this topic.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of (a) third-party organisations and (b) quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations that charge for facilitating access to free government services.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Information on third-party organisations and quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations that charge for facilitating access to services provided free of charge is not held by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department holds data on the number of days of strike action by council waste and recycling workers in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 4th October 2024 is attached.