Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to improve visa requirements for UK citizens with homes in both the UK and in a country in the Schengen Area.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
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 EU allows for travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period; this is standard for third countries travelling visa-free to the EU. Applications for visas to visit or stay for longer periods of time would be processed according to the rules of individual Member States. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he is having discussions with counterparts in the EU on the impact of the Withdrawal Agreement on UK citizens with homes in both the UK and Schengen Area.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
UK nationals lawfully resident in the EU prior to 31 December 2020 are protected under the Withdrawal Agreement and enjoy certain rights, including the right of residence in their host state provided that they maintain continuity of residence.
The Government takes these rights extremely seriously and engages regularly with the European Commission and Member States to resolve difficulties UK nationals face in accessing their rights.
UK nationals not protected under the Withdrawal Agreement should ensure that they comply with the Schengen rules: these allow for certain third country nationals, including UK nationals, to travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to improve mobility arrangements for UK citizens within the Schengen Zone.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
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 EU allows for travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period; this is standard for third countries travelling visa-free to the EU. UK nationals planning to stay longer will need permission from the relevant Member State. This may require a visa and/or permit.The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the news story entitled Cabinet Office Minister writes to councils over spending on Trade Union facility time, published by his Department on 10 April 2024, how many hours of civil servants' time were used on the formulation of the (a) research, (b) letter and (c) associated press release.
Answered by John Glen
The Cabinet Office wrote to 21 local authorities that, according to their self-reported facility time data, spent over 0.2% of their paybill on facility time. This information is available on gov.uk.
The Cabinet Office already publishes the information on facility time spend each year as part of the legislative requirements within the Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017. This means that other than the issuing of the relevant letters, the time taken for which was negligible, there was very little other time spent on this particular exercise.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the news story entitled Cabinet Office Minister writes to councils over spending on Trade Union facility time, published by his Department on 10 April 2024, which local authorities were sent the letter.
Answered by John Glen
The Cabinet Office wrote to 21 local authorities that, according to their self-reported facility time data, spent over 0.2% of their paybill on facility time. This information is available on gov.uk.
The Cabinet Office already publishes the information on facility time spend each year as part of the legislative requirements within the Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017. This means that other than the issuing of the relevant letters, the time taken for which was negligible, there was very little other time spent on this particular exercise.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse is of hanging an official portrait of His Majesty The King in public authorities in the UK.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
As is usual practice following accession, an Official Portrait has been taken of His Majesty The King to mark the start of the new Reign, for use in public buildings and for other official purposes. His Majesty’s Government will use this portrait for the Official Portrait Scheme, announced by the Deputy Prime Minister in April last year.
The ongoing scheme opened in November 2023 to enable certain Public Authorities across the UK to apply for a free, framed official portrait of His Majesty The King for display in their buildings. As always, the Government is ensuring value for money in the contract for the production and distribution of the Official Portrait. By establishing a UK-wide contract for the supply of portraits for this scheme, HMG has achieved a significant cost saving in comparison to comparable commercially available royal portraits thereby benefiting the public-purse as a whole. The supplier will be paid per delivered portrait and as it is a voluntary scheme the final cost will depend on the uptake.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many government contracts have been awarded to Fujitsu since 2010.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
This historic information is not held centrally.
Details of central government contracts where the contract value is above £12,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2023 to Question 4272 on Ministers: Science and Statistics, whether the eight masterclasses are mandatory; and how many Ministers have enrolled to these courses as of 7 December 2023.
Answered by John Glen
The masterclass programme is not mandatory. The programme is delivered with recognition that there are multiple competing demands on ministers' time. To date 39 ministers have attended one or more sessions.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he is taking steps to increase levels of (a) scientific and (b) statistical literacy among ministers.
Answered by John Glen
The Declaration on Government Reform committed to investing in training for ministers, and a ministerial training programme has been developed which includes two half-day induction sessions for new-to-government ministers, and a rolling programme of eight masterclasses open to all ministers. Specifically, the programme includes a masterclass on working with scientific advice led by the Government Chief Scientific Advisor and a masterclass on data led by the Government Chief Statistician.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase access to public procurement contracts for UK-based SMEs.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the UK economy. That is why we are making sure the power of Government spending supports this vital sector.
We are increasing opportunities for SMEs - from transparently publishing contract pipelines to simplifying bidding processes and strengthening prompt payment measures.
I am proud that this Conservative Government is bringing in the new public procurement regime will create a simpler and significantly more transparent system that will further open up public procurement to SMEs so that they can compete for and win more public contracts. SMEs will benefit from a new duty on contracting authorities to have regard to reducing and removing barriers to SME participation. This will include making bidding timescales realistic and prohibiting contracting authorities from requiring audited accounts and insurances to be in place prior to contract award - helping new entrants to the market.