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Written Question
Written Questions: Government Responses
Monday 17th April 2023

Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average cost to the public purse was of answering Written Parliamentary Questions as of March 2023.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The cost to the public purse of answering written PQs depends on numerous factors, including the size of parliamentary teams, volumes of parliamentary questions submitted, and the complexity of the question asked (and required policy work to answer it), amongst other factors. Across both Houses, there were 61,427 WPQs submitted in 2022, normally each requiring several hours of officials’ time, so the cost is likely to be substantial.


Written Question
Government Departments: Telephone Services
Thursday 16th March 2023

Asked by: Philip Hollobone (Conservative - Kettering)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that Government departments and agencies answer telephones within an adequate period of time.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer my Hon. friend to the answers given to PQ 113291-113292 on 13 January 2023.

Departmental helplines are not managed or run centrally. Therefore, each department is responsible for their own helpline, as well as response and waiting times.


Written Question
Leader of the House of Commons: Recruitment
Wednesday 15th March 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to PQ 136762 – Cabinet Office is unable to provide the full spend for 2022-23 until after the end of the current Financial Year.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Written Questions
Monday 13th March 2023

Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to Question 152308, tabled on 24 February 2023 by the hon. Member for North East Fife.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I tabled an answer to Question 152308 on 9 March.


Written Question
Surveillance
Thursday 9th March 2023

Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment her Department has made of the findings in the recent report published by Big Brother Watch titled Ministry of Truth: The Secretive Government Units Spying On Your Speech.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Hon. member to the answers given to PQs 148800, 148801, 148802 on 28 February 2023.

The Rapid Response Unit was used to understand the spread of information and potential disinformation, and help inform how the Government communicates effectively with the public.

Online disinformation is a serious threat to the UK, which is why we brought together expertise from across government to monitor disinformation, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. These units used publicly available data, including material shared on social media platforms, to assess UK disinformation trends and narratives. They have since been disbanded and the learning and expertise is now being replicated across the wider Government Communications Service.


Written Question
Rapid Response Unit
Thursday 9th March 2023

Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the Cabinet Office Rapid Response Unit (a) collected and (b) stored personal data on the content of each of the interviews given by the hon Member for Christchurch on (a) 3 November 2020 with LBC, (b) 4 February 2021 with Newsnight, (c) 28 June 2021 with Times Radio, (d) 13 September 2021 with the BBC, (e) 1 December 2021 with The Daily Telegraph and (f) 6 December 2021 with Talk Radio.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Hon. member to the answers given to PQs 148800, 148801, 148802 on 28 February 2023.

The Rapid Response Unit was used to understand the spread of information and potential disinformation, and help inform how the Government communicates effectively with the public.

Online disinformation is a serious threat to the UK, which is why we brought together expertise from across government to monitor disinformation, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. These units used publicly available data, including material shared on social media platforms, to assess UK disinformation trends and narratives. They have since been disbanded and the learning and expertise is now being replicated across the wider Government Communications Service.


Written Question
Government Departments: Contracts
Wednesday 8th March 2023

Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government has taken to implement the recommendation of the Boardman review on prohibiting suppliers from referring to government contracts in marketing material without government consent.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement Government Transparency and Accountability, put before the House by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 15 July 2022. The statement sets out action already taken in relation to reports by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and Nigel Boardman and that further work continues.


Written Question
Civil Servants: Pay
Wednesday 8th March 2023

Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps the Government has taken to implement the recommendation in the Boardman review on restricting the use of employer salary advance schemes for civil servants.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement Government Transparency and Accountability, put before the House by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 15 July 2022. The statement sets out action already taken in relation to reports by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and Nigel Boardman and that further work continues.


Written Question
Government Departments: Written Questions
Monday 27th February 2023

Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)

Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, what steps she is taking to help ensure Departments provide substantive and timely answers to written parliamentary questions.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account and, as Leader of the House, I expect Government Ministers to respond quickly and effectively to written parliamentary questions. I will continue to drive that message and I encourage members who get an unsatisfactory response to write to me and I will take this up for any Member who does not get a proper response.

The ​Procedure ​Committee has a strong track record of calling Ministers in to look at​ departmental​ performance where there are issues​ and their regular reporting of performance continues to be an effective tool​. ​I note the Procedure Committee's report from earlier in this session on written parliamentary questions during the 2021-22 session​ and ​I was pleased to read that the number of answers provided on time has improved from the 2019-21 session. ​I hope we will see this improvement continue in the current session. ​However, there remains room for improvement and I hope departments and Ministers will consider how best to ensure resources are adequately deployed to improve performance.

I recognise that my office and I have a role to play in making representations to Government on behalf of the House of Commons, and have taken a number actions in recent months:

  • Over the 2022 Summer recess my office conducted a series of discussions across Whitehall regarding the importance of timely and quality responses to Members.
  • In line with the practice of my predecessors, I have written to all members of Cabinet.
  • I participated in a ‘Leading in Parliament’ session with Senior Civil Servants.
  • I met with the Home Office Permanent Secretary following a number of concerns raised during Business Questions, and I have been pleased to note an improvement in performance in that department’s performance statistics. Changes include regular briefings on PQ performance to Director Generals; a further training offer to civil servants to improve performance and quality of responses; and investment in software to help manage PQ allocation and clearance processes.
  • In November 2022 my office published an updated Guide to Parliamentary Work which is available on Gov.uk and includes guidance for civil servants on answering written parliamentary questions, reflecting concerns raised by the Procedure Committee (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work).
  • My office oversees the Parliamentary Clerks’ Working Group, which brings together all departmental Parliamentary Clerks from across Whitehall to discuss topical issues and share best practice. During its last meeting in December 2022, my office expressed my concerns and reiterated the need for improvements in the timeliness of responses to parliamentary questions to be maintained.
  • The Parliamentary Capability Team in the Cabinet Office also provides training on managing parliamentary work to civil servants of all departments and grades, including blended learning courses on Written Parliamentary Questions and tailored workshops for Senior Civil Servants. Since April 2022, 896 civil servants from across government have attended training provided by the Parliamentary Capability Team on managing Written Parliamentary Questions.
  • I will be meeting with all departmental Permanent Secretaries in the coming weeks where I will reiterate the importance of substantive and timely answers to written parliamentary questions.

Written Question
Government Departments: Advertising
Wednesday 22nd February 2023

Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2023 to Question 135209 Government Departments: Advertising, what percentage of the Government’s advertising budget is spent with local news media.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

I refer the Hon. member to the answer given to PQ 133739 on 3 February 2023.

Additionally, we recognise the enormous trust that the public have in local media and the important role that local media therefore play in spreading our messages. As well as local and regional advertising, Government campaigns also make use of a full range of low and no cost channels in order to reach local communities.