Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to meet the funding shortfall faced by Portsmouth International Port following the Port Infrastructure Fund award on 16 December 2020; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions within Government are not normally disclosed. Cabinet Office officials are in regular contact with ports across the UK as part of their regular engagement. This includes all ports which applied to the fund. This contact is ongoing. There were no discussions between Cabinet Office officials or ministers and the Rt Hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell regarding the Port Infrastructure Fund.
The Port Infrastructure Fund (PIF) team worked with an independent eligibility and assessment team, with specialist experience and technical expertise in rail, air and maritime port infrastructure design and build to assess the funding applications. The Fund Allocation Authority (FAA), which is made up of representatives from across the relevant government departments such as HMRC, Defra and Border Force, subsequently made decisions about allocations based on the recommendations of the PIF Team.
The Fund received 53 applications from a range of sea ports, rail facilities and airports. Of the 53 ports that applied to the fund, 41 were successful in their application and a total of £200M has been provisionally allocated. 12 ports were not considered eligible or were unsuccessful at assessment phase.
It is a commercial decision for ports as to whether to provide these facilities. In normal circumstances, ports would be expected to fund such facilities themselves. However - in recognition of the unique circumstances of EU Exit, and the tight timescales for putting infrastructure in place - Government has made £470m of funding available to support border readiness.
Ports will need to fund the remaining 34% themselves. As the maximum amount of funding available was £200 million, a 66% award was applied across all applications ensuring all successful bids received a fair and proportionate level of taxpayer funded support.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans his Department has to mark remembrance of those who have lost their lives due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
As we have set out previously, the Government's immediate focus is on protecting the lives and livelihoods of the nation, but there is nonetheless the need to mourn those who have died, and to mark and remember this period as one of immense struggle. We will set out the Government’s proposed approach to this important matter in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date the National Space Council last met; when the council plans next to meet; and whether he plans to publish the agendas and minutes of those meetings.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ107708 on 03 November.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 in response to representations from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Resilience Forum on the provision of central Government funding for completion of Operation Transmission; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQs 106475 and 106474 on 28 October 2020.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with the Chief Coroner on the recording of veteran suicide.
Answered by Johnny Mercer
Ministers have regular conversations with interdepartmental colleagues on a range of topics, including the Government’s ongoing commitment to make it as easy as possible to access the clinical and welfare support available to veterans and their families. The Chief Coroner has given coroners clearer guidance so that deaths, including suicide, are recorded more consistently.
The Government continues to invest in mental health support and training whilst individuals are serving in the Armed Forces, as well as significant research to understand and tackle the risks and causes of suicide amongst those who have served. This includes a study commissioned by the MOD to investigate causes of death, including suicide, amongst all those who served in the UK Armed Forces between 2001 and 2014, covering combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2019, we extended this study to include all those who served after 2014, now and into the future. This will be complemented by a new Manchester University study, funded jointly by the MOD and NHS (England), looking at risk factors in the year leading up to a veteran taking their own life. Combined, these studies will provide increasingly robust data, in order to better understand ‘at risk’ groups and support better targeted interventions.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who will act as National Security Adviser in the interim period between the departure of the previous National Security Adviser and the start date of the new post holder in the Autumn.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
I refer the hon. Member to the Urgent Question responded to by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 30 June 2020.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria the Government uses to determine what work is essential during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The position as outlined on gov.uk is that everyone who can work from home should do so.
When that is not possible, people should go into work provided they are not symptomatic, isolating or shielding. Relevant guidance including from Public Health England should be followed.
The Government has placed restrictions on the operations of certain businesses as part of the strategy of enhanced social distancing. Separate guidance has been published on this and is also available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the liquidation of Carillion, whether any services provided by the other 29 strategic suppliers to Government are similarly exposed.
Answered by Oliver Dowden
We monitor the financial health of all of our strategic suppliers. We are in regular discussions with all these companies regarding their financial position. At this time we do not believe that any of our major suppliers are in a comparable position to Carillion.