Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what was the cost in pounds of commissioning the joint opinion from Lord Pannick QC and Jason Pobjoy published on 2 September 2022 regarding the Committee of Privileges' inquiry into the Rt. hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Cabinet Office is committed to setting out the final costs of the total legal support in relation to the Privileges Committee in due course after the conclusion of this matter.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department received advice from the Director for Propriety and Ethics before commissioning the opinion relating to the Committee of Privileges' inquiry into the Rt. hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As the Privileges Committee inquiry relates to the conduct of the now former Prime Minister making statements at the despatch box on behalf of the Government as a Minister, the Government is supporting his response to Parliament, as with any Minister, and has instructed legal support.
It has been the practice of successive administrations to preserve a space for the provision of advice from senior officials, which necessarily requires discretion about whether or not that advice has been sought or received in respect of particular matters.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department received legal advice before commissioning the contract with Peters and Peters for a public opinion regarding the Committee of Privileges' inquiry into the Rt. hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Notwithstanding that in the exceptional circumstances the Government determined it was in the public interest for Lord Pannick’s legal opinion to be published, it remains the case that the Government does not comment on legal advice that may or may not have been sought or received. This is in line with the long-standing policy under successive administrations.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much public money has been spent on Border Control Posts, including through the port infrastructure fund, as of 6 September 2022.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Current Ports Infrastructure Fund (PIF) payments either paid (or in the payment system being processed) as of 6th Sept 2022 is £161,039,513.57 and this includes funding for border control posts. The information required to breakdown specific funding for border control posts is not readily available and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much public money has been spent on the construction of the Border Control Post at Portsmouth as of 6 September 2022.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government allocated £17,155,151 to Portsmouth City Council for the construction of the Border Control Post from the Port Infrastructure Fund.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the value for money of the funding provided for border control posts.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The primary objective of the Port Infrastructure Fund was to assess and identify the projects that best ensure that the UK’s borders can more fully facilitate EU trade. In assessing the value for money, amongst other factors, the Government took into consideration the level of benefits the project is expected to deliver in terms of avoiding trade disruption and other areas.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential financial impact on border control posts of the Government's decision to delay physical border checks; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
We continue to analyse the financial impact of the decision to not impose physical borders checks in July and work on a port-by-port basis to address any issues or concerns they may have.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has received correspondence from (a) Ministers and (b) officials in the Department for International Trade on the construction of the border control post in Portsmouth.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Cabinet Office does not have any record of correspondence from the Department for International Trade on the construction of the border control post in Portsmouth.