Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Defending Democracy Taskforce has had discussions with the Electoral Commission on enhanced information sharing between (a) political parties and (b) public bodies.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As set out previously, the Government will consult the relevant authorities with the aim of finding ways to improve information sharing to facilitate enforcement of existing electoral law and report its conclusions to Parliament by the end of 2024.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of including a representative of the Electoral Commission on the defending democracy taskforce.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce is an enduring government function which seeks to protect the democratic integrity of the UK by reducing the threat of foreign interference.
It is a cross-departmental and inter-agency initiative and has been engaging, and will continue to engage, with the Electoral Commission as a key partner and the independent body in ensuring safe and secure elections. This engagement is at Ministerial and official level.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2024 to Question 8779 on Artificial Intelligence: Elections, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the use of deepfakes during recent elections in Bangladesh.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We noted the results of the Bangladesh Election on 7 January. As democratic elections depend on credible, open, and fair competition, we are concerned by the reported use of deepfakes and AI generated disinformation to undermine the democratic process in Bangladesh. The UK Government works continuously to understand, assess and address the risks presented by emerging and critical technologies. In the lead up to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit, a suite of products was published by the Government to help inform the public and Summit participants of our assessment of the risks and opportunities associated with the use of AI.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2023 to Question 7211 on Fire and Rescue Services Finance, what Barnett consequentials arise as a result of additional funding support for Fire and Rescue Authorities in England.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Barnett formula applies to all increases or decreases to Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL), including when budgets change in relation to funding for Fire and Rescue Authorities.
Fire and Rescue Authorities in England receive funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement. Part of this funding comes from DEL agreed at the Spending Review and the Barnett formula has been applied in the usual way. Additionally, Fire and Rescue Funding is raised through council tax precepts, which is council tax funding ring-fenced for Fire and Rescue Authorities. The Barnett formula does not apply to spending financed by council tax.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of HMRC response times to enquiries from financial representatives.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Financial representatives such as tax agents are encouraged to use HMRC’s free online services wherever possible. Agents can save time by using online services specifically designed to help them manage their client’s tax affairs. Online information and tools are also available, this includes the agent dashboard where agents can check HMRC’s current processing times and service levels for post and online requests.
Agents are also directed to use HMRCs webchat for simple enquiries so we can free up our advisers time to help those agents with more complex queries.
HMRC performance data is published on a monthly and quarterly basis and can be found on the GOV.UK Website here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2023 to Question 199302 on Biofuels: Vegetable Oils, what recent progress her Department has made on publishing its planned consultation on the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil for domestic fuel use.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government has begun developing a consultation on the potential use of renewable liquid heating fuels and intends to issue the consultation later this year.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to provide additional financial support to foodbanks in winter 2023-2024.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government does not have any role in the operation of foodbanks. Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations which bring people in local communities together to support one another. This is a great example of the generosity of spirit of communities across the country.
The Government is providing over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England to support the impacts of the increase in cost of living. This funding is supporting charities and community organisations right now through the £76 million Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund. This fund is awarding funding to frontline organisations supporting vulnerable households, including those which deliver food.
The second strand of the package, the £25.5 million VCSE Energy Efficiency Scheme, was opened in December 2023. This scheme will support frontline charities, community organisations and social enterprises across England to improve energy efficiency and sustainability.
The scheme has two main components:
Organisations can first apply for an Independent Energy Assessment. Having completed the IEA, they can then apply, if they are eligible, for a capital grant between £2,000 and £150,000 to install capital energy measures. Applications for IEAs opened in December 2023 and applications for capital funding will be open through three rounds, starting from the second half of January 2024. All capital projects will need to be completed by March 2025.
Taken together, total support over 2022/23-2024/25 to help households with the high cost of living amounts to £104 billion – an average of £3,700 per UK household.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that AI generated misinformation and disinformation does not impact elections in the UK.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government works continuously to understand, assess and address the risks presented by emerging and critical technologies. To date, the Cabinet Office has drawn on a significant range of analysis to inform Government understanding of the risks associated with Artificial Intelligence and the UK elections; we continue to coordinate with other Lead Government Departments.
We keep our assessments of these issues under constant review. For example, in the lead up to the AI Safety Summit, a suite of products was published by the Government to help inform the public and Summit participants of our assessment of the risks and opportunities associated with the use of AI. The risk to the information environment was included within this: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frontier-ai-capabilities-and-risks-discussion-paper.
More broadly, the security of elections is considered a priority task across HMG and touches on work being undertaken by the Defending Democracy Task Force, DSIT and within the National Security Secretariat in Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of AI generated misinformation and disinformation on elections in the UK.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government works continuously to understand, assess and address the risks presented by emerging and critical technologies. To date, the Cabinet Office has drawn on a significant range of analysis to inform Government understanding of the risks associated with Artificial Intelligence and the UK elections; we continue to coordinate with other Lead Government Departments.
We keep our assessments of these issues under constant review. For example, in the lead up to the AI Safety Summit, a suite of products was published by the Government to help inform the public and Summit participants of our assessment of the risks and opportunities associated with the use of AI. The risk to the information environment was included within this: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frontier-ai-capabilities-and-risks-discussion-paper.
More broadly, the security of elections is considered a priority task across HMG and touches on work being undertaken by the Defending Democracy Task Force, DSIT and within the National Security Secretariat in Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that AI generated deepfakes do not impact elections in the UK.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government works continuously to understand, assess and address the risks presented by emerging and critical technologies. To date, the Cabinet Office has drawn on a significant range of analysis to inform Government understanding of the risks associated with Artificial Intelligence and the UK elections; we continue to coordinate with other Lead Government Departments.
We keep our assessments of these issues under constant review. For example, in the lead up to the AI Safety Summit, a suite of products was published by the Government to help inform the public and Summit participants of our assessment of the risks and opportunities associated with the use of AI. The risk to the information environment was included within this: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/frontier-ai-capabilities-and-risks-discussion-paper.
More broadly, the security of elections is considered a priority task across HMG and touches on work being undertaken by the Defending Democracy Task Force, DSIT and within the National Security Secretariat in Cabinet Office.