Tag: Chi Onwurah

  • Chi Onwurah – 2022 Parliamentary Question on Restoration of the Tyne Railway Bridge

    Chi Onwurah – 2022 Parliamentary Question on Restoration of the Tyne Railway Bridge

    The parliamentary question asked by Chi Onwurah, the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, in the House of Commons on 1 December 2022.

    Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)

    As well as being a global icon of the north-east, the Tyne bridge is a critical part of our transport infrastructure. We are all the more reliant on it given the atrocious levels of service on the railways and buses, and given the lack of investment in our northern infrastructure, such as Northern Powerhouse Rail. The much-needed restoration of the Tyne bridge from its current dilapidated state will lead to further disruption to our transport links, which really cannot get any worse. Will the Minister meet me urgently to see what can be done to mitigate the impact on our transport links of restoring our great Tyne bridge to its full glory in time for its 100th birthday?

    Huw Merriman

    As I said, I am keen to meet as many hon. Members as require it—no doubt my officials will be tearing their hair out—and I am happy to meet the hon. Lady. We certainly know that, because our railways were built by our pioneering Victorians, much of the infrastructure needs renewal, some of which can be particularly complex and expensive to deliver. Ownership can have an impact on that as well. I am keen to meet her to find out more and see what we can do.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Prime Minister

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-27.

    To ask the Prime Minister, when he plans to respond to the letter he received from the charity Memorial 2007 in May 2015 on funding for the Enslaved Africans Memorial in Hyde Park.

    Mr David Cameron

    My office has no record of a letter to me from the charity Memorial 2007 in May 2015.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans to publish (a) a formal response to and (b) the submissions received by his Department concerning the Dual Mandate consultation issued on 24 March 2015.

    Nick Boles

    The consultation document A dual mandate for adult vocational education was published in March 2015 by the previous government.

    A formal response will be published in due course. The Department may, in accordance with the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, make available, on public request, individual responses.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2014-02-27.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2014, Official Report, column 200W, on IT: education, with which groups and organisations his Department has engaged to support the Year of the Code; and what support his Department has so provided.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    Cabinet Office is engaging with groups including e-skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology. This builds on ongoing work across Government to build links with schools, universities and employers.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with (i) telecoms companies, (ii) consumer groups and (iii) other interested parties regarding nuisance calls in the last 12 months.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    It is unacceptable for consumers to be harassed by nuisance calls, and the Government takes this issue very seriously. We have strengthened the law and made it easier for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to take enforcement action, and have removed the fine cap for clamping down on those breaking the rules. We will soon be launching a consultation on proposals to legally mandate Calling Line Identification (CLI) for all direct marketing calls. We are encouraging the development of more innovative products to help consumers block unwanted calls, and have launched a competition fund with Innovate UK to achieve this.

    Over the last 12 months the Secretary of State has had regular meetings with stakeholders covering various issues including nuisance calls. The Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy held a nuisance calls roundtable with a range of stakeholders including telecommunication companies, consumer groups and other interested parties. Officials hold regular meetings with stakeholders including Which?, Ofcom and the ICO.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what data his Department collects on nuisance calls.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The Informaion Commissioner’s Office collects data on nuisance calls and publishes it on its website athttps://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/.

    “

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-26.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of the £840 million funding for his Department’s National Cyber Security Programme has been disbursed to projects exclusively for (a) small businesses and (b) consumers.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    The National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) is a comprehensive five-year, £860 million programme which aims to protect and enhance the UK, tackle cyber crime and make the UK one of the safest places in the world to do business online. The cross-Government programme is led by the Cabinet Office, with support from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, the Home Office, the security & intelligence agencies and many other Government departments. As such, investment which provides benefits for small businesses and consumers is spread across a wide range of projects and workstreams, as much of the work in the programme meets multiple objectives. A significant proportion of the £860 million is therefore invested in work to protect small businesses and consumers. This includes, but is not restricted to, approximately £14m for projects exclusively for small businesses and consumers, plus over 10% of the NCSP budget to date to build law enforcement capabilities, which includes supporting businesses and the public to stay safe.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what (a) funding his Department is undertaking and (b) projects his Department has planned as part of the Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy.

    Nick Boles

    a) The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) currently funds a programme through the Tinder Foundation with the aim of equipping up to 1m adults with the basic digital skills, motivation and confidence to go online, be digitally capable and to be safe online. The contract was awarded by open competitive tender in October 2014 and has a maximum value of £15m. This addresses Action 2 of the Digital Inclusion Strategy 2014 (to establish a quality cross-government digital capability programme).

    In addition the adult skills budget managed by the Skills Funding Agency continues to support learners to increase skills, competence and knowledge including basic digital skills and capabilities as called for under Action 1 of the Strategy.

    b) There are no other projects currently planned.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) funding his Department is undertaking and (b) projects his Department has planned as part of the Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy.

    Matthew Hancock

    Cabinet Office and other government departments currently fund the Digital Inclusion team which works across government and with the private, public and voluntary sectors to ensure that everyone in the UK has the basic digital skills needed to benefit from being online.

    The Digital Inclusion Strategy launched in 2014 outlined that by 2016 we will have reduced the number of people who are offline by25% and by 2020 everyone who can be online should be online.

    To date 85 organisations have signed up to the Digital Inclusion Charter and collaborate with government to deliver the Digital Inclusion Strategy. The Digital Inclusion team has worked with these stakeholders to develop products such as the cross-sector Digital Inclusion Outcomes Framework and initiatives like Digital Friends which promotes informal sharing of basic digital skills.

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to address the rise in behavioural scamming.

    Mike Penning

    Fraudsters use a variety of methods to extract personal data from the public. This includes calling or emailing individuals, claiming to be from a trusted authority figure or organisation. Any person who believes they have been affected by telephone or email scams should report to Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. Action Fraud is operated by the City of London Police.

    Through our Cyber Streetwise campaign we are helping the public understand how to protect themselves from fraud and cybercrime. This includes notifying them of the key threats and highlighting simple security measures to take.

    Ofcom, the communications regulator in the UK, has worked closely with the Metropolitan Police Service, Action Fraud and landline providers to prevent criminals exploiting phone lines to trick and defraud members of the public. All landline providers have now reduced the time a call remains open after one party hangs up down to two seconds. This makes it much more difficult for criminals to exploit phone lines in this way.