Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the implications of the Stannington gas flood in Sheffield Hallam constituency for his policies on emergency responses to a major incident; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a single consolidated priority register for all utility providers.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Central Government Concept Of Operations provides clear guidance on the levels of emergencies as well as responsibilities for response and recovery activities. The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 places duties on gas distributors and other utility companies (as Category 2 responders) to cooperate and share information with other local responders with regards to emergency planning and response.
Regarding the priority register, it was announced in the recent Autumn Statement, that the Government will consult on strengthening the economic regulation of the energy, water and telecommunications sectors, with proposals that include a consolidated Priority Services Register so that vulnerable people can be confident their status is recognised by all their utilities providers and support will be provided when needed.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department is taking steps to prevent public contracts being awarded to companies that blacklist workers.rs.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 prohibit the compilation, usage, sale or supply of blacklists. The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 contain exclusion grounds which allow contracting authorities to exclude suppliers from procurements where their tender does not comply with labour law or where the supplier is guilty of grave professional misconduct. A breach of the Blacklists Regulations on a particular tender would render the supplier liable to exclusion and a breach more widely may amount to grave professional misconduct.
In all cases, individual departments and other public sector bodies are responsible for their own decisions on these matters
The Procurement Bill introduced by the Government, currently in the final stages of debate in Parliament, builds on and clarifies the exclusions measures in the existing regime. This includes specific measures enabling the exclusion of suppliers for labour market misconduct and professional misconduct.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were employed in offshore roles in the oil and gas industry in each year since 2010-11.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Questions of 17 May are attached.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were employed in offshore roles in the wind industry in each year since 2015-16.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Questions of 17 May are attached.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's recent announcement that students will not be permitted to return to their term time address until 17 May 2021, what plans he has to ensure that students register for postal votes at their term time accommodation; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the deadline for students to register for postal votes.
Answered by Chloe Smith
There are three ways to vote at elections in the UK: in person at a polling station; by postal vote; or by proxy vote. These will all be available to voters at the elections in May 2021 and it is for individual electors to decide the appropriate method of voting for themselves, depending on their circumstances.
The Government has no plans to change the deadline for postal vote applications. Moving the deadline closer to polling day would reduce the time for postal ballot papers to be issued to and returned by postal voters, and could lead to the votes of some postal voters not being received in time to be counted.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
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 effect on holding local elections in May 2021 of the use of community centres as vaccination centres that are usually used as polling stations.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ 147911 on 9 February 2021.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what representations his Department has received from Sage on the safe holding of local elections in May 2021 during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ 147911 on 9 February 2021.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to communicate covid-19 support and guidance to people whose first language is not English.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Working to ensure that public information on COVID-19 is accessible and reaches all those who need it is a high priority for the Government.
Important health guidance, for example on social distancing and symptoms, has been translated into a range of languages and formats. Key Covid-19 content in alternative formats is available on the Public Health England's Campaign Resource Centre for health bodies, Local Authorities and voluntary sector organisations to access, share and use.