Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will establish a cross-Government expert group to help (a) innovate responses and (b) devise policy counter-measures to (i) non-traditional and (ii) hard-to-trace grey-zone activities of (A) malign state actors and (B) their proxies who are seeking to undermine UK national (1) economic and (2) security interests.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As set out in the Plan For Change, this Government’s first duty is to make the UK safer, more secure, and resilient against the growing and interconnected threats from state, state-linked and non-state actors. We are committed to working across Government, as well as with partners internationally and in the private sector and academia, to prevent harm; deter and disrupt threats; respond effectively to incidents; and recover swiftly.
Work is already underway across Government to deliver this commitment, and requirements for any new structures or groupings will be kept under review, including in the context of the ongoing development of the National Security Strategy.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of trends in the level of employment in the car manufacturing sector between July and December 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 21st March is attached.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will have discussions with his European Union counterpart on the potential merits of establishing a six months visa waiver scheme for citizens visiting EU Member States in the Schengen area to replace the 90 day rule.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Both the UK and the EU allow for visa-free short-term travel in line with their respective arrangements for third country nationals. The UK allows EU citizens short-term visa-free travel for up to six months. Meanwhile, the Schengen Borders Code allows for certain third country nationals to travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; this is standard for third countries travelling to the EU. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make it a criminal offence to create fake online media accounts for public bodies and organisations where the communication of official and public information is necessary for civic order and resilience.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I apologise to the Rt. Hon. Member for the delayed response to his question of 6 December.
The Online Safety Act, brought forward by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, introduced the false communications offence. This offence captures communications where the individual knows the information to be false and sends it intending to cause harm, without reasonable excuse.
Further legislative proposals on online media usage would fall within the remit of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will install productivity tracking software to monitor work from home employment practices in the Civil Service.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Most office-based civil servants are expected to spend 60% of their working time in the office, setting a consistent balance across the Civil Service. Departments, as individual employers, are responsible for any other measures.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what processes his Department has in place for Parliamentary oversight of Government decisions in (a) a time of war and (b) circumstances where the House of Commons is not functional.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
It is a long-standing convention that the Government notifies the House of Commons of significant military action, either before or after the event, and where appropriate, makes time for a debate on that action. In the event that the House of Commons is unable to meet or conduct its business, the Government is committed to restoring the functioning of democratic institutions at the earliest opportunity. Even in emergency scenarios it is vital that Government decisions are scrutinised appropriately.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to update the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 in the light of the threat from Russia.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 and the associated Regulations deliver a single framework for civil protection in the UK. The legislation is deliberately broad ranging and sets out the requirements to consider all emergencies that threaten serious damage to human welfare in the UK; the environment of a place in the UK; or war, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK.
The Government keeps this legislation under review. The Cabinet Office has a legal obligation to review the CCA every five years. The most recent review was published in March 2022 and concluded that the Act continues to achieve its stated objectives. It did set out recommendations to strengthen the system and its planning which are being considered as part of the Resilience Review.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of commissioning a national memorial to honour Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by public subscription.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Government and Royal Household announced on 3 September the creation of The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee. The Committee will develop proposals for both a permanent memorial, and a national legacy programme that will allow everyone in the UK to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s life of service. The UK Government will support the proposals, and will consider funding options as proposals develop.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will make it its policy to offer interim compensation payments to the (a) estates, (b) parents and (c) children of people who have died as a result of infected blood products.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I refer the hon Member to the statement I made in the House on 15 December in which I set out the work being carried out across government in consideration of the compensation framework study - which included specific reference to those groups who were not able to claim interim compensation.
Since then, Sir Brian Langstaff, the Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry, has announced his intention to produce a further interim report about the Compensation framework study by Sir Robert Francis KC. The Government welcomes this news. The cross-government work that is underway is likely to be significantly assisted by Sir Brian’s further interim report in making preparations to act swiftly in response to his final report.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, if he will bring forward proposals to update the Memorandum of Understanding between Government and the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The Government welcomes the independent and robust oversight of the Security and Intelligence Agencies and wider Intelligence Community that the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament provides.
The role and remit of the Committee is set out in the Justice and Security Act 2013 and accompanying Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), agreed between the Committee and the Prime Minister. The current arrangements set out in the Act and related MoU are sufficient to enable the Committee to discharge its statutory function in respect of the oversight of the UK Intelligence Community. There are therefore no plans to update these arrangements.