Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 42455, what steps his Department is taking to ensure adherence to (a) decent work and (b) human rights throughout the UK and global supply chains used to deliver public services and goods contracts.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office has published extensive risk-based policy and guidance for commercial teams to tackle labour rights abuses in UK and global supply chains. A Procurement Policy Note (PPN), which was recently updated in line with the Procurement Act, sets out instructions to departments on how to tackle modern slavery in supply chains at each stage of the commercial life-cycle. The government has also developed risk assessment tools and promotes e-learning for procurement officials.
The Act provides contracting authorities with stronger powers to exclude suppliers from public procurements where there is compelling evidence of modern slavery within their supply chains.
The Social Value Model has recently been updated to align to the missions, and where relevant and proportionate to do so, authorities can reward suppliers who provide good working conditions for staff working on public contracts
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that only suppliers that (a) offer secure jobs, (b) treat workers fairly, (c) pay a decent wage and (d) recognise trade unions can (i) bid for and (ii) hold public contracts.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This government is committed to creating jobs that provide security, treat workers fairly, and pay a decent wage. The government’s Social Value Model provides an opportunity to reward suppliers who provide good working conditions for staff working on public contracts.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many secondary school-age children migrated to the UK in the last year; and what proportion of those children were girls.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 10 January is attached.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been spent on projects via the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund for projects in (a) Kazakhstan, (b) Belarus, (c) Ukraine and (d) Bosnia and Herzegovina in each of the last five years.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) spend in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan and Ukraine over the last five years is provided in the table below. These figures include discretionary Official Development Assistance and non-Official Development Assessments spend in these countries through the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and the Good Governance Fund portfolios. These totals do not include some cross regional and thematic spend which cannot be disaggregated by country.
Country | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
Belarus | £0 | £67,755 | £320,000 | £367,592 | £2,727,553 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | £8,542,836 | £4,304,129 | £10,101,622 | £10,709,074 | £6,239,830 |
Kazakhstan | £219,150 | £362,739 | £463,952 | £541,038 | £411,162 |
Ukraine | £22,879,996 | £25,473,635 | £22,168,488 | £30,236,049 | £33,386,420 |
Projects have included, election observation, domestic violence response and provision of medical supplies during COVID-19 in Belarus, improving the ability of law enforcement agencies and seeking care, support and justice for survivors of conflict related sexual violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina and election monitoring in Kazakhstan. CSSF Ukraine is a key component of the UK’s commitment to Ukraine's security, encompassing security and defence training, support against disinformation efforts, and to civil society.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 15 December 2021, HCWS487 on Conflict, Stability and Security Fund Allocations 2021-22, which of the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund's programmes for the financial year 2021-22 will encompass projects to tackle hate speech; and what the regional locations are of those projects.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The CSSF is a unique, cross-government fund that tackles conflict, stability and overseas security challenges. The fund supports programmes to tackle the root causes and drivers of conflict and instability, to improve social cohesion, to prevent harm to minority groups and to enable their inclusion in society. This can include - but is not limited to - activities that aim to tackle hate speech. In the financial year 2021/22, this includes a multi-country ‘Gender, Peace and Security’ programme in India, Lebanon, Malta, Mexico and South Africa that aims to create an early warning system that will flag online violence targeted at women journalists.
The fund also supports the ‘Caught in the Web’ project in Sri Lanka which tackles online gender-based hate targeting women in public life. The fund is also piloting new projects jointly with local law enforcement to enhance and prevent hate speech activity in Poland, France and Spain.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2020 to Question 85069 on Blood: Contamination, what the Government's timescale is for publication of the framework for compensation.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Work is currently underway across government to address the concerns of people infected and affected by infected blood, and a compensation framework is being explored. A statement will be made in the House shortly.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to resolve delays to UK exports in reaching their final destination in the EU.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Government has been supporting businesses to follow the new rules and processes which apply now that the UK has left the EU customs union and Single Market. The support available includes helplines, regular webinars with policy experts, and the Brexit Checker Tool on GOV.UK which gives businesses a personalised list of actions that they need to take.
Officials have regular operational contact to identify and resolve technical border issues with Dutch, French, Irish and Spanish counterparts. We also co-operate with Member State officials on events to provide technical awareness and guidance of procedures and systems on key routes for EU and UK audiences.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a limit applies to the number of adults from the same household visiting essential retail venues during the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown period.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
On 4 January 2021, the Prime Minister announced a national lockdown in England. Details and guidance are available on gov.uk, as well as information on restrictions applicable in other parts of the United Kingdom.
Visiting essential retail venues constitutes an essential activity that is legally permitted. The guidance states that you can leave home to buy things at shops or obtain services but that you should stay 2 metres apart from anyone not in your household.
The number of adults from the same household permitted to visit essential retail venues is at the discretion of the store with customers asked to respect the measures essential retailers are putting in place to help manage social distancing in stores.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, when his Department plans to publish the 2019-20 annual reports for the (a) Conflict, Stability and Security Fund and (b) Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Prosperity Fund Annual Report was published on 5 November 2020 and can be found online. The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) Annual Report was delayed as a result of COVID-19 but will be published in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether educational activities for home schooled children are exempt from the requirements of the covid-19 rule of six.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No.2) (England) Regulations 2020 exempt all gatherings reasonably necessary for the purposes of education or training.