Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to improve the Government’s response rate to Freedom of Information requests.
Answered by Chloe Smith
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ 120952 on 30 November 2020.
In a three month period between July and September 2020, departments received around 8,000 freedom of information requests and responded to almost 90% of them within 20 working days or with a permitted extension. This reflects the Government’s commitment to fulfill its freedom of information obligations despite the pressures of responding to COVID-19.
The FOI statistics for October to November 2020, and the annual statistics for 2020, will be published in April 2021, at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the census.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) have kept ministers up-to-date on their Census preparations throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ONS have recently published an update on how everyone can be safely counted in Census 2021.
For more information please see:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/statementsandletters/census2021andcoronavirus.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government is making on the publication of the Dunlop Review on the UK Government's Union capability.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Lord Dunlop’s review will be published in due course, alongside a full response from the Government.
Ministers and officials are in discussion regularly with the Welsh Government on a range of topics so we can work together to the benefit of all citizens of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on the Dunlop Review on the UK Government's Union capability.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Lord Dunlop’s review will be published in due course, alongside a full response from the Government.
Ministers and officials are in discussion regularly with the Welsh Government on a range of topics so we can work together to the benefit of all citizens of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including representatives of the (a) Senedd Cymru, (b) Scottish Parliament and (c) Northern Ireland Assembly in the membership of a potential Parliamentary Partnership Assembly with the European Parliament.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement states that the European Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom may, if they so choose, establish a Parliamentary Partnership Assembly consisting of Members of the European Parliament and of Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The exact membership of this Assembly would be for the European Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom to determine. The UK Government is committed to continue working closely with the devolved administrations to ensure that our relationship with the EU works in the interests of citizens and businesses across the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to develop a Parliamentary Partnership Assembly with the European Parliament as outlined in Article INST.5 of the UK-EU Trade Cooperation Agreement.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement states that the European Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom may, if they so choose, establish a Parliamentary Partnership Assembly consisting of Members of the European Parliament and of Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The exact membership of this Assembly would be for the European Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom to determine. The UK Government is committed to continue working closely with the devolved administrations to ensure that our relationship with the EU works in the interests of citizens and businesses across the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Minister of State for the Constitution and Devolution's statement on 13 January, what is the definition of a high bar for a potential delay to the May 2021 elections.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Primary legislation states that the elections will go ahead in May 2021. Many of these elections have already been delayed by a year. Voters have a right to be heard and to decide who governs them.
Such a policy intention should rightly be reviewed in light of the changing public health situation and we are taking steps to assure ourselves that polls can be delivered. The Government is continuing to work closely with the electoral sector, public health bodies and political parties to identify and resolve challenges in the successful delivery of the polls this May. Indeed, proper preparedness is the very thing that opposition parties have called for – and this is precisely what we are undertaking.
As I stated to the House, I will ensure Hon. Members are kept updated once we have completed this work.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
If he will bring forward proposals to amend Schedule 2, Part 1 of The Census (England) Regulations 2020 to include Welsh as an option to census questions on (a) main language and (b) language proficiency.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Census questions to be used in England and Wales follow recommendations from the Office for National Statistics, based on an extensive three-year programme of consultation and research which included consideration of Welsh language skills questions. With Census Day around three months away, preparations are now well underway and it is not possible to change any questions at this late stage.
The UK government supports the ambition of the Welsh government to have one million Welsh speakers by 2050 and Census 2021 will provide valuable information on progress towards this objective.