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Written Question
Electronic Government: Proof of Identity
Monday 15th April 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people verified their identity for GOV.UK One Login by (a) using the GOV.UK ID Check app, (b) answering security questions online and (c) visiting a Post Office in each month between August 2023 and March 2024.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Between 1 August 2023 and 26 March 2024, the number of users who successfully verified their identity through GOV.UK One Login is as follows:

Aug ‘23

Sep ‘23

Oct ‘23

Nov ‘23

Dec ‘23

Jan ‘24

Feb ‘24

Mar ‘24

Total

GOV.UK ID Check App

205,864

204,652

217,962

214,731

183,075

342,315

258,010

217,006

1,843,615

Web browser route, with security questions

7,009

5,938

6,687

9,297

5,944

12,116

4,174

2,636

53,801

In-person at the Post Office

124

511

544

1,008

775

1,700

2,274

1,620

8,556

The public expects quick, secure and user-friendly access to government services. Previously, UK citizens and residents needed to grapple with multiple sign-in methods and identity verification routes when using government services online.

GOV.UK One Login is replacing these duplicative systems across government with a single account and identity checking system. This will make it easier for users to access the services they need, reduce costs to government, and provide stronger protections against fraud.


Written Question
Electronic Government: Proof of Identity
Monday 15th April 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government has spent on in-person identity checks for GOV.UK One Login identity verification as of 26 March 2024.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

GOV.UK One Login’s face-to-face identity verification route went live on 25 July 2023. The Government Digital Service has, as of 26 March 2024, spent £778,064 on the contract with the Post Office to set up and undertake in-person identity checks.

The public expects quick, secure and user-friendly access to government services. Previously, UK citizens and residents needed to grapple with multiple sign-in methods and identity verification routes when using government services online.

GOV.UK One Login is replacing these duplicative systems across government with a single account and identity checking system. This will make it easier for users to access the services they need, reduce costs to government, and provide stronger protections against fraud.


Written Question
Electronic Government
Monday 15th April 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have contacted the gov.uk One Login customer support centre (a) by phone and (b) via the online contact form in the 2023-24 financial year.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The GOV.UK One Login customer support centre went live on 31 October 2023. Between that date and 25 March 2024 (inclusive), it has handled a total of 21,623 support calls and managed 12,585 support requests via online forms and emails.

From 16 April 2024, users will also have the option of using WebChat to seek support.

The public expects quick, secure and user-friendly access to government services. Previously, UK citizens and residents needed to grapple with multiple sign-in methods and identity verification routes when using government services online.

GOV.UK One Login is replacing these duplicative systems across government with a single account and identity checking system. This will make it easier for users to access the services they need, reduce costs to government, and provide stronger protections against fraud.


Written Question
Electronic Government
Monday 15th April 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government has spent on the GOV.UK One Login customer support centre in the 2023-24 financial year, as of 26 March 2024.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

GOV.UK One Login’s customer support centre went live on 31 October 2023. The Government Digital Service has, as of 26 March 2024, spent £926,443 to set up and operate this contact centre.

The public expects quick, secure and user-friendly access to government services. Previously, UK citizens and residents needed to grapple with multiple sign-in methods and identity verification routes when using government services online.

GOV.UK One Login is replacing these duplicative systems across government with a single account and identity checking system. This will make it easier for users to access the services they need, reduce costs to government, and provide stronger protections against fraud.


Written Question
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Press
Friday 12th April 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what subscriptions to (a) newspapers, (b) magazines and (c) online journals his Department has paid for in each of the last three financial years.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The following is a combined list of subscriptions that the Defra Library and Communications have paid for over the last three financial years. Some are in print and some are online. Not everything on the list was purchased in all three years – subscriptions change on demand and to reflect usage. Information on any subscriptions from other team budgets is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

Defra Library purchases magazines and journals for Defra, Animal and Plant Health Agency and Natural England staff to support them in their role. The Communications team purchases newspapers for monitoring the media coverage of issues in Defra’s remit.

Angling Times magazine

Environmental Finance

Lyell Collection

Animal Health Research Reviews

Estates Gazette

Materials Recycling World

Argus Fertilizer Europe

Ethical Consumer

Microbiology Society

Avian Pathology

Executive Support magazine

New Zealand Veterinary

BioOne

Farmers Guardian

Planning Resource

Bird Study Pack

Farmers Weekly

Privacy and Data Protection

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Professional Update

British Archaeology magazine

Fishing News Weekly

Responsible Investor

British Poultry Science

Freedom of Information Journal

Royal Forestry Society

British Wildlife Magazine

Fresh Produce

Sunday Times

Conservation Land Management

Geoheritage

Telegraph

Daily Express

Goat Veterinary Journal

The Economist

Daily Mail

Guardian

The Grocer Magazine

Daily Mirror

Habitats Regulations Assessment

The Sun

Daily Telegraph

Harvard Business Review

The Times

Dairy Industry Newsletter

Horticulture Week

UK Livestock magazine

Dods People and Monitoring

I

Veterinary Pathology

Econlit

ICES Journal of Marine Science

Washington Trade Daily

Elsevier Freedom Collection

iNews

Water Report

Ends Europe

Inside Housing

Wiley STM Collection

Ends Report

Insurance Post

Yorkshire Post

Ends Waste & Bioenergy

Nature.com

Environment Complete

Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation


Written Question
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Domestic Visits
Tuesday 2nd April 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on how many occasions Ministers from his Department have visited (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

Across the UK Government we are committed to delivering the best possible outcomes for all citizens, no matter where in the country they call home. All citizens contribute to the strength of the United Kingdom which is the most successful political and economic union the world has ever seen.


Written Question
Department for Transport: Domestic Visits
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions Ministers from his Department have visited (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

DfT ministers regularly visit places across the UK. In the 2023/24 financial year, DfT ministers made 7 visits to Wales, 6 to Scotland and 2 to Northern Ireland.


Written Question
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Legal Costs
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total cost to the public purse was of legal (a) support and (b) representation to Ministers in his Department in relation to their official conduct in each of the last three years.

Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Such information is not centrally recorded or collated in the form requested. More generally, I would refer the hon. Member to the long-standing policies on legal expenditure, as set out recently by Cabinet Office Ministers on 12 March 2004, Official Report, PQ 17709 and 12 March 2024, Official Report, House of Lords, Cols. 1901-1904.


Written Question
Department for Work and Pensions: Domestic Visits
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many occasions Ministers from his Department have visited (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Information on DWP ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings can be found at: DWP ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings -GOV.UK(www.gov.uk)


Written Question
Department for Education: Fraud and Maladministration
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report entitled Cross-Government Fraud Landscape: Annual Report 2022, published on 21 March 2023, what the basis is of the increase in detected error in her Department from £7.5m in 2019-20 to £29.1m in 2020-21.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The increase in detected error was driven by the department migrating some of its financial services from an external provider to a pre-existing in-house service.

All detected errors were corrected within the financial quarter in which they occurred. No losses were incurred.

Where errors occur, the department operates a robust process to ensure lessons are learned and corrective actions embedded into processes and ways of working. This is reflected in the drop back to zero detected errors in quarter 3 and quarter 4 of the year.