Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people aged 66 and over who are in (a) full time employment and (b) part time employment.
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 18th March is attached.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the value was of (a) exports and (b) imports between the UK and Ireland in (i) 2019 and (ii) 2024.
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 or lady Parliamentary Question of 12th March is attached.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will ensure that discussions on the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention include trade between mainland Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We are always looking at ways to reduce barriers to trade - within our clear red lines - because having a smooth trading relationship with European partners is essential to driving growth at home.
This is one of those options we are open to looking at to reduce barriers, and it’s right and responsible that we are looking at it to determine what is in the national interest of the whole of the UK. But we do not currently have any plans to join the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the National Security and Investment Act 2021 to enhance the scrutiny of acquisition of entities that may pose national security risks.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The National Security & Investment Act 2021: Annual Report 2023-2024- published in September shows that the National Security and Investment system is continuing to operate well to protect sensitive sectors whilst continuing to support investment.
The Government is taking a number of steps to ensure the continued effectiveness of the NSI Act.
The previous government published a Call for Evidence in November 2023 and a response in April 2024. The Call for Evidence sought feedback from a wide range of stakeholders on the scope of the regime, the notification process and government guidance and comms. The Government is currently considering its next steps, drawing on responses received.
The Government will also review and produce a report on the Notifiable Acquisition Regulations 2021, which set out the areas of the economy in scope of the National Security and Investment Act’s mandatory notification requirements, as required by section 4 of the Notifiable Acquisitions Regulations.
The Government will complete a Post-Implementation Review, as committed to in the NSI Act Impact Assessment, evaluating the effectiveness of the NSI Act. This is expected to be published in 2026.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to reply to the correspondence of 10 September 2024 from the Hon. Member for East Londonderry on wider availability of Royal portraits.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The letter from Mr Campbell has been responded to. A letter was sent in reply to him on 10 October.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will review the criteria used for the awarding of the Elizabeth Emblem to include those severely injured whilst on emergency services duty.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises the invaluable contribution of emergency service workers to the people of the United Kingdom, and that the nature of that role means those workers will often find themselves in situations that may present a danger to their personal safety.
The Elizabeth Emblem is awarded to the next-of-kin of public servants who have died as a result of their public service. Full details on how to apply for this award, and detailed eligibility criteria, are available on GOV.UK.
While there are no current plans to review the criteria for the Emblem along the lines suggested, the Government is happy to consider the case for any new medal or award, subject to comprehensive assessment across relevant departments.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will hold discussions with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) other Cabinet colleagues on duty-free shopping in Northern Ireland airports when travelling to and from destinations in the EU.
Answered by Steve Baker
The Government is committed to maintaining unfettered access for NI to the whole UK market, as well as full access to the EU market, along with our commitment to avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Enabling duty-free shopping between Northern Ireland and the EU (of which Ireland is a member) without also introducing border controls on the island of Ireland would lead to significant distortions of trade as well as a significant revenue loss for both UK and Ireland, as it would otherwise create a legal route for unlimited amounts of alcohol and tobacco to flow into the UK market duty-free.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will hold discussions with the Public Sector Fraud Authority on the setting of longer term targets for savings.
Answered by John Glen
The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Minister Neville Rolfe, who leads on the counter fraud portfolio, regularly meet with the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) CEO and Senior Leadership Team to discuss their progress - target setting forms part of those discussions.
It is the government’s stated ambition to continue to increase the impact from counter fraud activity. The PSFA exceeded its target of achieving £180 million of savings in its first 12 months by preventing and recovering £311 million of audited savings.
The PSFA CEO works with the PSFA data and analytics delivery teams and Ministers to set the PSFA delivery target on an annual basis. The PSFA’s second year target is to deliver £185m of savings and will report performance against it when the independent audit of savings is complete. The PSFA is working with Ministers to set a financial target for its third year as part of routine business planning.
As the centre of the Government Counter Fraud Function (GCFF), the PSFA also requires, and supports departments to set financial impact targets for their counter fraud work and progress against this is published in the annual Fraud landscape Reports.
Government policy is that setting targets not only improves the transparency of counter fraud spending, but also ensures that we deliver a serious message to fraudsters that the government is making a concerted effort to tackle their ever-evolving crimes.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he is taking steps to counter the potential use of (a) AI and (b) other means to influence the (i) operation and (ii) outcome of the next general election.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Government is committed to safeguarding the UK’s elections and already has established systems and processes in place, to protect the democratic integrity of the UK.
The Government has established the Defending Democracy Taskforce, which has a mandate to safeguard our democratic institutions and processes from the full range of threats, including digitally manipulated content. The Taskforce ensures we have a robust system in place to rapidly respond to any threats during election periods, including novel threats from AI.
The Online Safety Act places new requirements on social media platforms to swiftly remove illegal misinformation and disinformation - including artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes - as soon as they become aware of it.
The new digital imprints regime, introduced by the Elections Act 2022, will also increase the transparency of digital political advertising (including artificial intelligence-generated material).
The threat to democracy from artificial intelligence was discussed at the AI Safety Summit in November 2023, reinforcing the Government’s commitment to international collaboration on this shared challenge.
Additionally, the Elections Act 2022 strengthened financial transparency and controls against foreign spending at elections. Since its introduction, the Government has restricted foreign campaign spending at elections and introduced a new requirement on political parties to declare their assets and liabilities when registering with the Electoral Commission. Foreign donations (and channelling foreign money) are already illegal.
Government passed the National Security Act in 2023 which creates a range of new tools and powers to tackle evolving state threats. Parts 1-3 of the Act came into force in December 2023. This includes a new foreign interference offence which will give our law enforcement and intelligence agencies significant new powers to detect, deter and prosecute those who seek to interfere in our democracy. Part 4 of the Act, containing the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, will come into force later in 2024. This will require the registration of political influence activity conducted at the direction of foreign powers.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Ministers (a) were entitled to participate and (b) took part in the programme of eight masterclasses for new Ministers in the last 12 months.
Answered by John Glen
Since 1 January 2023, three masterclasses have been delivered, all focused on legislating as a minister. All serving ministers have been eligible to participate in the sessions. Seven ministers have attended, representing six different departments.