Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many hours of legal services Peters and Peters has provided in relation to the Privileges Committee investigation of the Rt hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
It would not be appropriate for the Cabinet Office to comment in this level of detail on the contract with Peters and Peters given the commercial and legal sensitivities.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2023 to Question 165342 on Cabinet Office: Legal Opinion, if he will publish details of the competed framework used when tendering the legal services contract to Peters and Peters in relation to the Privileges Committee investigation of the rt Hon. Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Information about the contract between the Cabinet Office and Peters & Peters can be found on ContractsFinder at the following link: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/26bfbb02-7e5b-4500-9746-6513393bfd27.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many ministers have had legal costs relating to inquiries by the House of Commons Privileges Committee funded from the public purse since 2010.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Until the current matter referred to the Privileges Committee on 21 April 2022, since 2010, no Ministers have been the subject of an inquiry by either the Committee of Privileges or the Committee on Standards and Privileges relating to a matter of privilege and their conduct as a minister.
There is an established precedent across multiple administrations that former Ministers may be supported with legal representation after they have left office when matters relate to their time and conduct as a Minister.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will update the document entitled List of Ministerial Responsibilities, last published in December 2022.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
A revised List of Ministerial Responsibilities will be published in due course. In the meantime, departments are updating their ministers' pages on GOV.UK which also include portfolio information.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what basis legal advice was commissioned on the Committee of Privileges investigation into the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Privileges Committee inquiry relates to the conduct of the (now former) Prime Minister making statements at the dispatch box on behalf of HM Government.
There is an established precedent across multiple administrations that former Ministers may be supported with legal representation after they have left office when matters relate to their time and conduct as a Minister.
The Committee’s inquiry also has potential implications for all future statements by Ministers of the Crown in current and future Administrations. The Government has a direct interest in these matters.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the consequences of the choice of date for the covid-19 lockdown in autumn 2020 and how this compared with projected consequences based on the lockdown recommendations of SAGE at that time.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Throughout the pandemic the Government has carefully balanced the economic and social implications of restrictions with the need to protect public health. This has required many difficult judgements.
The Government has always listened carefully to the views of the scientific community when making decisions; in particular, the information from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and its sub-groups.
Advice published in SAGE 66 was that: ‘if well-adhered to, the lockdown measures due to start in England on 5th November are likely to reduce R to less than 1. If this is sustained until 2nd December, the number of hospital admissions and deaths would be expected to fall until at least the second week of December.’
The subsequent data clearly shows that the national measures the Government put in place from 5 November until 2 December 2020 increased precautionary behaviours and reduced prevalence, which in turn reduced rates of hospitalisation and mortality.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to extend the voting franchise for local elections in England to include all resident foreign nationals holding leave to remain under the Immigration Act 1971.
Answered by Chloe Smith
British citizens, qualifying Commonwealth citizens, citizens of the Republic of Ireland, and EU citizens, are entitled to vote in local elections in England (provided they are also resident here and meet other eligibility criteria). The Government has no plans to extend the franchise for local elections to include any other resident foreign nationals.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
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 ensure that Government information on covid-19 is communicated effectively to people with autism.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to PQs 109552, 107140 and 907859.
We have an ongoing programme of engagement designed to reach vulnerable audiences and those who are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 guidance is available across multiple channels in a range of alternative formats, and can be found through the gov.uk accessibility statement. We have supported third parties and local support networks to deliver more detailed information for bespoke enquiries. For example, when the wearing of face coverings became mandatory for certain indoor environments, the Government produced and shared new communications to aid public understanding of groups who might be exempt. These measures were taken to ensure appropriate enforcement of regulations and to mitigate potential abuse of disabled people for perceived non-compliance.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the criteria is for adding an ethnicity to the options in the national census.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of ring-fencing advertising slots bought by Public Health England for use on community radio and for non-profit local TV broadcasters.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Further to the answers given to PQs 37724 and 37725 on 27 April 2020, in light of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Government has developed a national campaign to provide information, guidance and reassurance to the public.
The campaign spans owned, earned and paid-for channels, including local radio and TV, to maximise reach and engagement. We are constantly reviewing our use of each of these channels and amending campaign activity accordingly to ensure our messaging reaches as many people as possible.