Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) payments are made to affected persons within three months of the passage of the Prisoners and Victims Act 2024 and (b) its compliance with other provisions of that Act.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 required the Government to lay regulations to establish the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme within three months of the passing of the Act. On 23 August, we laid regulations that will give the Infected Blood Compensation Authority the powers necessary to pay compensation through the core route to the infected, both living and deceased. The Government expects the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to begin making payments to people who are infected under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme by the end of this year. Payments to the affected are expected to begin in 2025, following a second set of regulations. Regarding other provisions of the Act, applications for interim payments of £100,000 to the estates of deceased people, whose deaths have not yet been recognised by a previous interim payment, will open in October. The Government takes its responsibilities under the Victims and Prisoners Act seriously and is doing everything possible to deliver compensation in a timely manner.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) non-disclosure and (b) other confidentiality agreements relating to (i) employment, (ii) bullying, (iii) misconduct and (iii) harassment cases have been agreed by their Department in each year since 1 January 2010; and how much money from the public purse has been spent on (A) legal costs and (B) financial settlements for such agreements in each year since 1 January 2010.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Agreement for non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements are devolved to business units; the Cabinet Office does not hold this information centrally. The Cabinet Office is, therefore, not able to respond due to the disproportionate cost of gathering this data.
The Cabinet Office follows the principles laid out in the Cabinet Office Guidance on Settlement Agreements, Special Severance Payments on Termination of Employment and Confidentiality Clauses which is published on the internet, when considering any settlement agreements.
The Government is clear that confidentiality clauses should not be used to prevent staff from raising or discussing allegations of bullying, harassment or discrimination
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse has been of the (a) creation and (b) updating of the Retained EU law dashboard since its inception.
Answered by Jacob Rees-Mogg
There has been no additional cost to the public purse by creating the dashboard. The process was led by the Cabinet Office, who commissioned Government Departments to find REUL within their jurisdiction and compile an authoritative account of where REUL sits on the UK statute book.
The dashboard itself is made by the Government Strategic Management Office and is hosted by Tableau, who allow public dashboards to be hosted for free. The dashboard will continue to be updated at no additional cost.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, when he last had discussions with the Prime Minister of India.
Answered by Boris Johnson
I met Prime Minister Modi on 22 April 2022 during my visit to India. My statement from the joint press conference is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-at-press-conference-with-prime-minister-modi-22-april-2022
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, when he last had a telephone call with the President of Egypt.
Answered by Boris Johnson
I spoke to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on 28 March 2022. A readout is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-call-with-president-al-sisi-of-egypt-28-march-2022.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total value of service sector exports to the EU was in the county of Devon in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020 and (d) 2021.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the hon. Member’s Parliamentary Questions of 8 June is attached.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in the county of Devon, what the total value of goods exports to the EU was in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020 and (d) 2021.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the hon. Member’s Parliamentary Questions of 8 June is attached.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has instructed No. 10 staff to preserve evidence for the inquiry into the Government's handling of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michael Ellis
All departments are aware that the Covid inquiry will bring with it substantial obligations to provide relevant records, information and data, and that preparation for the inquiry includes the need to ensure that no material of potential relevance to the inquiry is destroyed. The Cabinet Office raised this to the attention of all departments across Whitehall in June 2021 and again in February 2022.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, whether he has ever claimed non-domiciled status.
Answered by Boris Johnson
No.
In relation to other Ministers of the Crown, I would add that Section 41 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 provides that all MPs and sitting peers are automatically deemed to be resident and domiciled in the UK for tax purposes.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has purchased Pegasus software from NSO Group since 2016.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
While we cannot comment on operational specifics, the UK’s intelligence agencies are governed by a robust regulatory framework to ensure our capabilities are always used in a way that is legal, necessary and proportionate - something we ask of all nations.
We continue to promote with our international partners the need for tighter export controls to ensure cyber capabilities are used legally and responsibly and do not threaten or undermine human rights.