Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, when Doug Gurr will take up his role as an advisor to the Government Digital Service; what his role and responsibilities will be; and whether he will remain in post as head of Amazon UK.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
As part of the wider Civil Service Modernisation and Reform programme, several members of the Digital Economy Council were invited to contribute to a review of HMG's Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Function over the summer. The review was limited to the processes, structures and operations of the DDaT function, and did not consider particular strategies for government. The Cabinet Office will continue to consult members of the Digital Economy Council as it considers how to implement the recommendations. As always, robust measures are in place to manage possible conflicts and the perception of conflicts.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what interests were declared by Doug Gurr as part of his appointment as an advisor to the Government Digital Service; and what plans they have to address any conflicts of interest.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
As part of the wider Civil Service Modernisation and Reform programme, several members of the Digital Economy Council were invited to contribute to a review of HMG's Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Function over the summer. The review was limited to the processes, structures and operations of the DDaT function, and did not consider particular strategies for government. The Cabinet Office will continue to consult members of the Digital Economy Council as it considers how to implement the recommendations. As always, robust measures are in place to manage possible conflicts and the perception of conflicts.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Doug Gurr will advise on their cloud computing strategy in his role as advisor to the Government Digital Service.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
As part of the wider Civil Service Modernisation and Reform programme, several members of the Digital Economy Council were invited to contribute to a review of HMG's Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Function over the summer. The review was limited to the processes, structures and operations of the DDaT function, and did not consider particular strategies for government. The Cabinet Office will continue to consult members of the Digital Economy Council as it considers how to implement the recommendations. As always, robust measures are in place to manage possible conflicts and the perception of conflicts.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they took following the conclusion of Exercise Cygnus to ensure that the potential for staff absences to reach 50 per cent was built into business continuity planning in the event of a pandemic.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to published documents, including for example the modelling of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling from November 2018, which detailed a reasonable worst case scenario that up to 50% of the population could be ill - not that staff absences could reach 50%.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the G-Cloud 8 call-off contract agreed with Amazon Web Services in 2016 specified that Amazon Web Services had no liability for "direct loss, destruction, corruption, degradation or damage to the Buyer Data or the Buyer Personal Data or any copy of such Buyer Data".
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
It is the responsibility of individual buying authorities to agree terms and conditions with their chosen supplier when calling off from a framework agreement.
Specific terms and conditions agreed between parties when calling off from framework agreements are not reported back centrally to the Cabinet Office or the Crown Commercial Service.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many contracts they have agreed in the last five years with public cloud providers which specify that the server has no liability for direct loss, destruction, corruption, degradation or damage to the Buyer Data or the Buyer Personal Data or any copy of such Buyer Data.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
It is the responsibility of individual buying authorities to agree terms and conditions with their chosen supplier when calling off from a framework agreement.
Specific terms and conditions agreed between parties when calling off from framework agreements are not reported back centrally to the Cabinet Office or the Crown Commercial Service.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of misinformation and disinformation on the last General Election; and what plans they have to mitigate any risks to the UK’s electoral system arising from such misinformation and disinformation.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government has a coordinated structure in place working with relevant organisations to identify and respond to emerging issues, and protect the safety and security of democratic processes. We have worked with a large number of organisations to do this, including social media companies and civil society organisations.
One way to combat the spread of misinformation or disinformation online and limit its potential impact on democratic debate is to ensure that people have the critical literacy skills and digital skills to enable them to assess and analyse the information they read online. In the Online Harms White Paper the Government committed to developing a new online media literacy strategy. This strategy will ensure a coordinated and strategic approach to online media literacy education and awareness for children, young people and adults. The Government is also taking action to increase public awareness with our Don’t Feed The Beast campaign. This aims to educate and empower those who see, inadvertently share and are affected by false and misleading information.
The Government remains committed to the integrity of UK elections and ensuring they are secure and fit for the modern age. We have announced that it will implement an imprints regime for digital election material. This will ensure greater transparency and make it clearer to the electorate who has produced and promoted online political materials.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to review the Cabinet Office's Human Resources policies and procedures relating to the employment of special advisors.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Opposition Deputy Chief Whip (Lords)
A revised model contract for special advisers was published on 19 September. The changes made reflect improvements to align the policies that apply to special advisers including on parental leave rights, clarification of the provisions relating to severance payments, and an explanation of the disciplinary procedure which reflects the longstanding role of the Prime Minister in the appointment of all special advisers.
The last update to the Special Adviser’s Code of Conduct was in December 2016. This document is kept under regular review. In December of last year, the Minister for the Constitution announced work to review how special advisers’ terms can be made clearer and consistent (19 December 2018 Vol. 651, [HCWS1216]). This work is ongoing.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent amendments they have made to the employment contract for special advisors.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Opposition Deputy Chief Whip (Lords)
In December of last year the Government announced work reviewing how special advisers’ terms can be made clearer and more consistent. (19 December 2018 Vol. 651, [HCWS1216])
A revised model contract for special advisers was published on 19 September. The changes made reflect improvements to align the policies that apply to special advisers including on parental leave rights, clarification of the provisions relating to severance payments, and an explanation of the disciplinary procedure which reflects the longstanding role of the Prime Minister in the appointment of all special advisers.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any special advisors have the authority to dismiss other special advisors.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Opposition Deputy Chief Whip (Lords)
In line with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, special advisers operate under the authority of their appointing Minister. Therefore, special advisers in No 10 Act under the authority of the Prime Minister. Section 8 of the 2010 Act also allows special advisers to exercise any power in relation to the management of another special adviser if permitted by the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. The code of conduct does so permit.