Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department will publish its response to the call for information on the effectiveness of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which closed in August 2021.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Shadow Minister (Home Office) (Security)
The Computer Misuse Act 1990 is the main legislation relating to cybercrime, and it is essential that we ensure that it continues to be effective. We are still considering the proposals put forward to the Call for Information, and we will inform Parliament shortly of the way forward on the review of the Computer Misuse Act.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the special licenses granted by his Department to the law firm undertaking work on behalf of Yevgeny Prigozhin required Ministerial approval.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
HM Treasury does not comment on individual licensing cases.
HM Treasury’s Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) takes operational decisions relating to the implementation of financial sanctions in line with the relevant regulations. OFSI has not considered it appropriate for the Treasury to effectively decide on whether a case has sufficient merit to be permitted to proceed by deciding whether to license legal fees. Rather, OFSI's position has been that the merits should be decided by the appropriate court. OFSI assesses cases on a costs-basis only, ensuring that the fees requested are reasonable in accordance with the derogations available under the sanctions regimes.
We need to carefully balance the right to legal representation - which is a fundamental one - with wider issues, including the aim and purpose of the sanctions. It is right therefore that Ministers are examining whether there are any changes that can be made to this policy.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the The National Police Chiefs Council's letter to Chief Constables requiring all pre-2006 officers to be vetted against national databases, dated 20 January 2023, what estimate she has made of the number of officers who will need to be vetted in line with that letter; and how many of those officers will require vetting by the Cabinet Office in all categories of vetting.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The National Police Chiefs’ Council have asked all police forces to check their officers and staff against the police national database (PND) to identify any intelligence or allegations that need further investigation.
This will help identify anyone who has slipped through the net before vetting standards were toughened, and ensure those who are unfit to serve can be rooted out. Further details of the NPCC’s commission can be found on their website: https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/all-police-staff-records-to-be-checked-for-allegations-and-intelligence-by-march
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the list of stakeholders which responded to the Protect Duty consultation.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Shadow Minister (Home Office) (Security)
The Protect Duty consultation closed in July 2021. The consultation response was published in January 2022. As a result, the Home Secretary was pleased to announce the policy proposals for the Duty, now known as Martyn’s Law, in Parliament on the 19th December.
The department will publish a list of organisations who responded to the Protect Duty consultation at the earliest opportunity on gov.uk.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to assist councils in cases where they have been allocated funding from the Levelling Up Fund for specific projects, but where due to increases in inflation and borrowing costs since funding was allocated that funding is no longer sufficient to meet the cost of those approved projects.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department continues to monitor the impact of inflation closely through formal reporting mechanisms and on the ground relationships.
As we have set out previously, the Levelling Up Fund has in place a proportionate project adjustment process. Through this, we can work with places to make sensible adjustments to the scope and phasing of projects to mitigate delivery challenges including cost inflation whilst also maintaining value for money.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to create the Protect Duty.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Shadow Minister (Home Office) (Security)
The first duty of the Government is to protect the public, and we are committed to improving the security of public places, to ensure the public can go about their lives freely and with confidence.
The commitment made to the ‘Protect Duty’ in the Queen’s Speech and the 2019 manifesto remains, and we are working hard to bring forward this important piece of legislation as soon as possible.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on appointing a new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) as set out in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act is to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences and the identification of victims.
The process to recruit a new IASC follows the principles set out within the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments.
A decision on the appointment is under consideration.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with Royal Mail Group on six-day letter deliveries.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Department has regular discussions with Royal Mail on a wide range of issues.
The Government’s objective continues to be ensuring the provision of a sustainable, accessible, and affordable universal postal service. The Government has no current plans to change the statutory minimum requirements of the universal postal service which are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with Royal Mail Group on the Universal Service Obligation.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Department has regular discussions with Royal Mail on a wide range of issues.
The Government has no current plan to change the minimum requirements of the universal postal service that are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011.
Ofcom has been given the powers and tools to protect the universal service and it has in place an effective monitoring regime that is able to identify any threats to it.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of work stations available for people employed by his Department on departmental premises.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The estimated total number of workspace/desks is 19,800. This includes all sites including Weybridge, council offices (where we have some desks) and labs. This includes Defra or any of the arm’s length bodies (Environment Agency/Rural Payments Agency/Natural England/etc).