Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government to provide a list of government departments that use Fujitsu designed software; and whether any operating errors have been reported.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office does not hold a central register of software being used across Government.
The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, is responsible for supporting departments to build and operate modern, state of the art, highly responsive and cost effective technology that meets the needs of our end users and delivers the cross-government digital strategy.
CDDO operates a delegated assurance process which reviews proposed projects for value for money as well as alignment to standards and policies. Once projects are approved, contracts are awarded by individual departments. Projects meeting specific criteria are also reviewed by CDDO experts. Details of central government contracts where the contract value is above £12,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase participation of young girls in competitive sports (a) at and (b) outside school.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting women and girls’ sport at every opportunity including pushing for greater participation across all sports, at every level. In our new Sport Strategy ‘Get Active’, we set an ambitious target of getting 1 million more active children and 1.25 million more active women by 2030.
We are determined to maximise the potential of women’s sport in the future so we can sustain that pipeline of talent and expand it. We are investing over £600 million in school sport across the next two academic years todrive up the quality of physical education and ensure girls have equal access to opportunities to play sport.
The School Games programme offers children the opportunity to take part in competitions in over 40 sports at local and regional level, including inclusive, modified versions of the sports. In the 2022/23 academic year, the country-wide network of 450 School Games Organisers provided over 2.2 million opportunities for children to take part. The introduction of new equality criteria to the School Games Mark encourages and recognises schools providing equal access to girls and boys.
Outside of school, we are investing over £300 million in grassroots football and multi-sport facilities across the UK by 2025 which will further support women and girls accessing sport. The new £30 million Lioness Futures fund will deliver approximately 30 new state of the art 3G pitches at sites supporting women’s and girls’ teams across England. Projects in England will need to have a clear women and girls plan to receive this funding and will be monitored regularly to ensure the objectives are met.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) adopting the Australian policy of the constitutional right to a portrait of the Sovereign and (b) offering a free portrait of the King to all homes in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government does not have any plans to make an assessment regarding the Australian policy of the constitutional right to a portrait of the Sovereign, or offering a free portrait of the King to all homes in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of requests to receive an official portrait of His Majesty The King by public authorities in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As is usual practice following accession, an Official Portrait has been taken of His Majesty The King to mark the start of the new Reign, for use in public buildings and for other official purposes. His Majesty’s Government will use this portrait for the Official Portrait Scheme, announced by the Deputy Prime Minister in April last year.
The scheme opened in November 2023 to enable certain Public Authorities across the UK to apply for a free, framed official portrait of His Majesty The King for display in their buildings.
The scheme is ongoing and is due for completion by mid year 2024. While the scheme is ongoing, we will not be releasing figures on total uptake but requests have been made by Public Authorities across all four nations of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of helping people travelling from Blackpool to the court complex in Preston.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
HMCTS has put in place temporary arrangements for hearings to take place at Preston and other locations in Lancashire, until the new state-of-the-art courthouse in Blackpool opens in 2026.
These arrangements will enable us to continue to offer effective access to justice, with the overwhelming majority of users being able to travel to Preston and other locations in Lancashire in accordance with our established definition of a reasonable journey. This includes being able to leave at 07:30 to attend court on time, using public transport if necessary.
Should court users anticipate difficulty in travelling to a site within these parameters they are advised to contact their legal representatives or the court at the earliest opportunity, so that the need for alternative arrangements can be considered. This will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and can include varying the start or end times of hearings, subject to judicial approval.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse is of hanging an official portrait of His Majesty The King in public authorities in the UK.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As is usual practice following accession, an Official Portrait has been taken of His Majesty The King to mark the start of the new Reign, for use in public buildings and for other official purposes. His Majesty’s Government will use this portrait for the Official Portrait Scheme, announced by the Deputy Prime Minister in April last year.
The ongoing scheme opened in November 2023 to enable certain Public Authorities across the UK to apply for a free, framed official portrait of His Majesty The King for display in their buildings. As always, the Government is ensuring value for money in the contract for the production and distribution of the Official Portrait. By establishing a UK-wide contract for the supply of portraits for this scheme, HMG has achieved a significant cost saving in comparison to comparable commercially available royal portraits thereby benefiting the public-purse as a whole. The supplier will be paid per delivered portrait and as it is a voluntary scheme the final cost will depend on the uptake.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of funding (a) alternative therapy methods, (b) art therapy and (c) music therapy to help the mental wellbeing of children and young people.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have made no such assessment. Integrated care boards and local authorities work with local partners to understand local needs and commission services on that basis.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to provide financial support for (a) art, (b) music, (c) heritage, (d) sport and (e) other local cultural offerings.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
His Majesty’s Government provides funding opportunities for arts, music, heritage, sports and other cultural organisations through a range of sources, including direct Government funding, through arm’s-length bodies like Arts Council England, and indirectly through local authority funding.
We have delivered significant support for heritage, including the High Street Heritage Action Zones, a heritage-led regeneration programme administered by Historic England. With a budget of £95 million, this programme focuses on fostering growth in historic high streets throughout England. HM Government also supports the upkeep of listed places of worship via the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, which allocates up to £42 million per year. This scheme provides grants for the reimbursement of VAT incurred during the maintenance of the nation's listed churches. Arm’s-length bodies, like Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, provide further support to the heritage sector through various grants, including the Repair Grants for Heritage at Risk programme..
We are committed to supporting the arts, music, and wider cultural sectors, including through our arm’s-length body, Arts Council England. Through its current investment programme, more than £444 million of public money is being invested each year in arts and culture across England. This is an increase from £410 million in the previous portfolio, and will support 985 organisations across England – more than ever before. In addition, through Arts Council England’s National Lottery Project Grant funding, in 2022/23 over £105 million of awards went to individuals and arts organisations across the country.
For sport, Government support is delivered alongside National Lottery funding through the UK Sports Councils, and UK Sport provides funding to support potential Olympic and Paralympic athletes. We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s-length body, Sport England, which receives over £100 million in public funding each year. In addition, direct Government financial support worth over £350 million is being delivered through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, Swimming Pool Support Fund, and the tennis court refurbishment programme.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ring-fence future public funding for the (a) art, (b) culture and (c) heritage sectors.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Future decisions on public funding are a matter for the Chancellor.
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 assessment she has made of the adequacy of the support for victims of intellectual property theft provided by Action Fraud.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In 2023 the Government published a Fraud Strategy, setting out plans to reduce fraud by 10% by December 2024.
Action Fraud is the UK’s national information and reporting centre for fraud and financially motivated internet crime, including intellectual property theft. As part of the national fraud strategy, the government is committed to replacing Action Fraud with a new state-of-the-art reporting service, making it easier for victims to report crime, and for law enforcement to take action on victims’ reports.