Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of her Department's average response time for priority visa applications.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) are currently processing Priority Visa (PV) applications within published customer service standards for straightforward applications. Information on applicable routes and processing times is available at: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying for a faster decision - GOV.UK
It may however take longer to process an application if:
The UKVI Customer Service Standard performance can be found on the GOV.UK website, including PV applications: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce the average time taken to reach a decision on priority visa applications.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) are currently processing Priority Visa (PV) applications within published customer service standards for straightforward applications. Information on applicable routes and processing times is available at: Get a faster decision on your visa or settlement application: Applying for a faster decision - GOV.UK
It may however take longer to process an application if:
The UKVI Customer Service Standard performance can be found on the GOV.UK website, including PV applications: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to support the deployment of dark fibre for data-intensive businesses in (a) England, (b) London and (c) west London.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on dark fibre in the leased lines market. DSIT regularly engages with Ofcom and industry stakeholders on these and related issues.
DSIT provides steers to Ofcom through our Statement of Strategic Priorities (SSP) for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services. Ofcom must have regard to this when making regulatory decisions, including in the context of the Telecoms Access Review.
In July, DSIT published a consultation on a draft updated SSP that sets out the Government’s view on business connectivity, setting it as a priority for the regulator. Officials are currently reviewing responses to the consultation and DSIT will publish its response in due course.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to increase the reliability of infrastructure for 5G connectivity in London.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government wants all areas of the UK, including London, to benefit from reliable and high-quality mobile coverage, and this is reflected in our ambition for all populated areas to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030.
The department continues to work closely with the mobile network operators to deliver on this ambition, including removing barriers to deployment where they exist. This includes launching a call for evidence as soon as possible to assess the merits of planning reform to support the deployment of mobile infrastructure.
Through the Electronic Response and Resilience Group, DSIT works in partnership with communications providers to promote resilience across the sector.
The Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 amended the Communications Act 2003 to place new security duties on telecoms providers to identify, reduce, and prepare for the risks of security compromises in public telecoms networks or services and to remedy or mitigate their adverse effects. These obligations are overseen by Ofcom, who have powers to enforce compliance. Ofcom publish information on security and resilience of networks in their annual Connected Nations UK Report.
In December 2023, Ofcom launched a public Call for Input on the power back-up at mobile network access sites across the UK. They published an update on their work in February this year, confirming they are completing further analysis to determine the appropriate and proportionate measures that mobile operators should put in place.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to encourage internet network providers to increase the coverage of full fibre broadband in (a) residential flats and (b) commercial properties.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement on 21 July we will consult on policy measures later in the autumn to create a new right for leaseholders to request a gigabit broadband connection and a duty for freeholders to not unreasonably refuse the request. We are working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on the policy proposals and we will seek to legislate for these measures when parliamentary time allows.
Additionally, ‘commercial properties’ are included in Project Gigabit, the government’s programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans. More than £2.4 billion of Project Gigabit contracts have already been signed to connect over one million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband.
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 adequacy of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 for responding to cyber attacks.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 and the associated Regulations deliver a single framework for civil protection in the UK. The Cabinet Office has a legal obligation to review the CCA every five years. The most recent review was published in March 2022 and concluded that the Act continues to achieve its stated objectives. The next review will be by 2027.
The legislation is deliberately broad ranging and sets out the requirements to consider all emergencies that threaten serious damage to human welfare in the UK; the environment of a place in the UK; or war, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK.
We have been clear that cyber security is an absolute necessity to protect the British people, our public services and businesses. The UK has arrangements in place for a range of potential emergencies, including cyber attacks.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to review the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 in response to new threats from (a) state actors and (b) non-state actors.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 and the associated Regulations deliver a single framework for civil protection in the UK. The Cabinet Office has a legal obligation to review the CCA every five years. The most recent review was published in March 2022 and concluded that the Act continues to achieve its stated objectives. The next review will be delivered by 2027.
The legislation is deliberately broad ranging and sets out the requirements to consider all emergencies that threaten serious damage to human welfare in the UK; the environment of a place in the UK; or war, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an equalities impact assessment of the provisions within the (a) Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 and (b) Jews Relief Act 1858 in the context of the appointment of bishops within the Church of England on the advice of (i) Catholic and (ii) Jewish Prime Ministers.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises that there are historical restrictions in statute on Roman Catholic and Jewish people making and advising the Crown on Church appointments. The Government will keep this matter under review but, given other pressing issues, this is not a current priority.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to work with transport operators to mitigate the risks posed by cyber attacks.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport (DfT) works across Government to introduce relevant standards, guidance, and policy to ensure the cyber security and resilience of our essential services.
DfT uses both policy and regulatory levers to support the transport sector to effectively manage cyber risk and assist the sector to secure its networks and systems. We work closely with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), operators across all four modes of transport, and others to continuously assess and mitigate emerging cyber threats to the sector.
As Competent Authority under the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations 2018 for road, rail and maritime and joint Competent Authority for aviation with the Civil Aviation Authority, DfT regulates transport Operators of Essential Services (OES) to ensure that services which are most critical to the British public are compliant with relevant cyber standards. We will use the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (CSRB) to strengthen our regulatory powers, improve incident reporting, and expand the type of entities in scope.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the terms of reference are of her Department’s investigation into the possible use of defeat devices by automotive manufacturers; how many brands and models are in the scope of the investigation; when she expects that investigation to conclude; and what steps her Department is considering taking against manufacturers who have been found to have broken the rules.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The DVSA’s investigations are being conducted under their obligations as the delegated the market surveillance authority within Regulation (EU) 2018/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
There are currently 95 vehicle models from 28 brands under investigation.
Due to the nature of the investigations, it is not possible to say when they are expected to conclude.
The investigations are focused on achieving real-world improvements in air quality. Non-compliant manufacturers will be required to rectify their vehicles and bring them into compliance with the relevant emissions regulations. If enforcement action is required, it will be taken in line with DVSA’s published enforcement policy.