Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what is the structure and membership of the public control taskforce; and what work does it plan to undertake on the public control of water services.
Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)
For too long, over-privatisation of our essential sectors have resulted in higher costs for consumers and poorer services. The Government is clear that the public has a right to expect these services to be affordable and accountable. The Public Control Taskforce is exploring how greater public control can ensure our essential services - housing, water, energy and transport - run in the interest of those who use them. Later this year, we will publish our plan for Britain and set out how, over 10 years, we will make this country work for the public again.
The Taskforce sits within the Office for the Prime Minister & Cabinet, and is being driven forward by First Secretary of State, Louise Haigh. The Taskforce is drawing on expertise across central government, local government, and wider academia, business and civil society.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to help ensure that frontline public sector workers are sufficiently resourced to support the (a) implementation of suicide prevention training and (b) effective provision of support to people at risk of suicide.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given by the Department of Health and Social Care on 16 January 2025, Official Report, PQ 24604
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle regional inequalities in community resilience in the national resilience review.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster committed to undertaking a review of UK national resilience in his statement to the House of Commons on 19 July, in response to the Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 1 report. The review is expected to conclude in Spring 2025. It will be informed by the voices of local leaders, the Four Nations, businesses, voluntary and community sector representatives and academics. It will also consider recommendations from public inquiries into Covid-19 and the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
As part of this review I recently met with representatives of those disproportionately impacted during crises, faith groups, businesses and charities who support a range of communities, and earlier in the year convened a roundtable of 11 Northern Local Resilience Forum representatives during a recent visit to the North East.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to use evidence-based measures of community resilience for funding decisions.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare
The UK’s long standing resilience architecture is based upon the concept of subsidiarity, where local responders are best placed to identify the risks in their areas, understand the needs of their communities and to put appropriate plans and capability in place to respond to those risks.
The Government has commenced a review of resilience, which includes considering how we can help Local Resilience Forums strengthen resilience throughout their communities. Treasury guidance already sets out requirements for policymakers to consider the appraisal and evaluation of policies and programmes.