Contributions
920 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEmergency Covid ContractsMy hon. Friend is right that the devolved Administrations also use regulation 32 to procure in an emergency. It is important to note that the Government are dissatisfied with the…29 Jun 2021HANSARDEmergency Covid ContractsBut those are relevant only when officials are asked to take any action, and that is the point at which official process and procedure come into play. I know the hon. Lady does…29 Jun 2021HANSARDEmergency Covid ContractsI thank the hon. Lady, who has done tremendous work through the Public Accounts Committee in scrutinising this area. Sometimes I think she has been leading the opposition—not the…29 Jun 2021HANSARDEmergency Covid ContractsI thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is quite right to point out that we absolutely need commercial expertise in times of pandemic and any similar crises that may come…29 Jun 2021HANSARDEmergency Covid ContractsI thank the right hon. Member for his inquiries. As I say, 47 went through the high priority lane, and discussions are under way on the extent to which we can be transparent about…29 Jun 2021HANSARDEmergency Covid ContractsI thank the right hon. Lady for her question. As I said, we do not use public money for political campaigning purposes.29 Jun 2021HANSARDEmergency Covid ContractsThank you, Mr Speaker; I appreciate your zeal and I think you are right. I thank my hon. Friend for her question. We have tried throughout to be transparent, but I have set out…29 Jun 2021HANSARDEmergency Covid ContractsI have listened over this past year to the criticisms and attacks made by the Opposition and campaign groups on covid contracts, and I take them very seriously. That is why I took…29 Jun 2021HANSARDEmergency Covid ContractsI thank my hon. Friend for pointing out just how fantastic the co-operation has been between all parts of our United Kingdom. The UK Government have provided huge support to the…29 Jun 2021HANSARDEmergency Covid ContractsI thank the right hon. Gentleman for his questions, and I will try to address them with facts, not party political allegation. First, if I may, I would like to provide some…29 Jun 2021HANSARDEmergency Covid ContractsThe Government regularly conduct research in every part of the UK to support policy development. In this case, we were testing public attitudes relating to the covid-19 pandemic.…29 Jun 2021HANSARDSecurity of Ministers’ Offices and CommunicationsI am not suggesting that there is something we should not be looking into. My point is that— [ Interruption. ] Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman could wait for me to finish. Some…28 Jun 2021HANSARDSecurity of Ministers’ Offices and CommunicationsMy understanding is that it is not within the Minister’s power to approve contracts—that goes through the approval of civil servants. I would like to offer the hon. Lady that…28 Jun 2021HANSARDSecurity of Ministers’ Offices and CommunicationsI can provide my hon. Friend with those assurances, as I have provided them to the House this afternoon.28 Jun 2021HANSARDSecurity of Ministers’ Offices and CommunicationsI speak on behalf of the Cabinet Office. I asked questions about my own office today and received assurances, and I imagine that Ministers across the Government estate will be…28 Jun 2021HANSARDSecurity of Ministers’ Offices and CommunicationsAs I suggested, the Cabinet Office already works across Government on the standards we expect when it comes to the security of private offices, and Mr Speaker addressed concerns…28 Jun 2021HANSARDSecurity of Ministers’ Offices and CommunicationsMy understanding is that there have been some reports about whether there is anything to be concerned about in relation to covert surveillance; I think some of that is just…28 Jun 2021HANSARDSecurity of Ministers’ Offices and CommunicationsI have not personally discussed this with the Information Commissioner over the weekend. As I say, a number of issues have come to light that we need to be on top of, and I hope…28 Jun 2021HANSARDSecurity of Ministers’ Offices and CommunicationsI thank my right hon. Friend for those very important questions to which we all want answers. I hope that they will be answered as part of this investigation.28 Jun 2021HANSARDSecurity of Ministers’ Offices and CommunicationsThat is such an important point. We are living in different circumstances where electronic communications mean that we are contacted at all hours of the day on different email…28 Jun 2021