Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) diary appointments, (b) planned visits and (c) other ministerial activities of the Cabinet Office Minister of State (Minister without Portfolio), the Rt hon. Member for Tatton, for the next six months.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Ministers regularly meet with departmental officials and external stakeholders. Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what means of communication was used to inform of the existence of an expedited route for supplying personal protective equipment during the covid-19 outbreak; which organisations and individuals were made aware of that route; and where any promotion of that route was published.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The High Priority appraisals mailbox was available across government and with Parliamentarians. Email correspondence with ministerial private offices and senior officials in the PPE sourcing programme provided notification that the mailbox had been set up and this was widely known.
The mailbox allowed MPs, ministers and senior officials to directly pass on offers of support which they had received from suppliers and individuals to a dedicated location for triage. The high priority team used the same criteria to assess offers as those used to assess any other offers of PPE. Referral to the mailbox was not a guarantee of a contract.