Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his planned timetable is for the rollout of GovPass to all civil servants.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The GovPass project is rationalising the provision of security passes across the government estate; it will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of these arrangements, including in support of interoperability as departments increasingly share space. GovPass has been developed in conjunction with the national technical authorities and the Government Property Agency. Business cases for the project have been taken through appropriate governance, and deployment is being managed incrementally to ensure best value. It would not be appropriate to provide more detail of these protective security arrangements.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been spent on the development of GovPass as of 19 December 2023.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The GovPass project is rationalising the provision of security passes across the government estate; it will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of these arrangements, including in support of interoperability as departments increasingly share space. GovPass has been developed in conjunction with the national technical authorities and the Government Property Agency. Business cases for the project have been taken through appropriate governance, and deployment is being managed incrementally to ensure best value. It would not be appropriate to provide more detail of these protective security arrangements.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the cost effectiveness of GovPass.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The GovPass project is rationalising the provision of security passes across the government estate; it will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of these arrangements, including in support of interoperability as departments increasingly share space. GovPass has been developed in conjunction with the national technical authorities and the Government Property Agency. Business cases for the project have been taken through appropriate governance, and deployment is being managed incrementally to ensure best value. It would not be appropriate to provide more detail of these protective security arrangements.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) current and (b) former government ministers have been interviewed by the (i) National Crime Agency, (ii) Serious Fraud Office and (iii) National Investigation Service as part of investigations relating to covid-19 (A) procurement and (B) fraud as of 29 November 2023.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This information is not held by the Cabinet Office. I can, however, reassure the Honourable Lady that the Government will always assist with any investigations these agencies may be undertaking.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether safety and security declarations will be required for each post and parcel consignment travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland after the transition period.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
As set out in the Command Paper published in May, the UK is committed to implementing the Protocol in a pragmatic and practical way that minimises the impact on both businesses and consumers. Further guidance will be set out in due course on post and parcel movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will list the occasions on which the Devolution and You Steering Board has met during 2020.
Answered by Chloe Smith
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of appointing Senior Responsible Officials as part of the Government’s roll out of the Fusion Doctrine.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The 2018 National Security Capability Review (NSCR) introduced Fusion, a new approach designed to improve our collective approach to national security and ability to use all of the UK’s capabilities and policy levers to tackle complex national security questions. Senior Responsible Owners (SRO) are assigned to each of the National Security Council’s (NSC) priorities, each supported by an NSSIG to develop robust advice to the NSC on both strategy and implementation.
The NSCR also set out the intention to conduct an Annual Posture Review (APR), the first of which took place earlier this year and is the most substantive recent review of Fusion as a whole. A summary of the key findings from the APR can be found at paragraphs 5.11-5.12 of the Third Annual Report on the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the recently established National Security Strategy Implementation Groups in improving cross-departmental working.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The 2018 National Security Capability Review (NSCR) introduced Fusion, a new approach designed to improve our collective approach to national security and ability to use all of the UK’s capabilities and policy levers to tackle complex national security questions. Senior Responsible Owners (SRO) are assigned to each of the National Security Council’s (NSC) priorities, each supported by an NSSIG to develop robust advice to the NSC on both strategy and implementation.
The NSCR also set out the intention to conduct an Annual Posture Review (APR), the first of which took place earlier this year and is the most substantive recent review of Fusion as a whole. A summary of the key findings from the APR can be found at paragraphs 5.11-5.12 of the Third Annual Report on the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what contingencies the Government has put in place to ensure that the roll out of Fusion Doctrine will continue in the event that the current National Security Advisor leaves his post.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Fusion Doctrine was established in the Government’s National Security Capability Review, published in March 2018. It created a more accountable system to support collective Cabinet decision-making, with the introduction of senior responsible owners to deliver each of the National Security Council’s (NSC) priorities. Each senior responsible owner is accountable to the NSC for the development of options and the implementation of the Government’s strategy. The Fusion Doctrine is not dependent on the holder of any post at a particular point in time.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the working relationship between the Whitehall Africa Group and the Africa National Security Strategy Implementation Group; and what recent assessment he has made of the level of risk of duplication of effort of those two groups.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Sub-Saharan Africa National Security Strategy Implementation Group (NSIG) is an internal governance mechanism established to oversee the development of HMG’s strategic policy priorities in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is led by a Senior Responsible Officer at Director General level. The Whitehall Africa Group (WAG) is responsible for implementing the strategic approach set out by the NSSIG for those areas of policy within its remit, including overseeing discrete country and regional strategies and acting as the Regional Board for Sub-Saharan Africa’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund allocation. The WAG is chaired by the FCO Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, who sits as a member of the NSIG. This construct allows for a productive working relationship between the two structures, which ensures that HMG’s engagement is effectively and coherently delivered, without any duplication of effort.