The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-07-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the cost to the economy of the (a) UK and (b) North East of the UK leaving the EU and British digital industries therefore being unable to access the Digital Single Market.
Mr Edward Vaizey
I refer the hon Member to the answer to her own Parliamentary Question UIN 41682.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) effectiveness of the level of consumer protection against misuse of consumer data in algorithm-driven applications; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ensuring that consumers are able to see how their data is used by such applications.
Matt Hancock
The Government Office for Science published an evaluation report on Distributed Ledger Technology: beyond block chain on 19 January 2016, which provides an assessment. In addition, the report recommends 8 actions for government to maximise the opportunities and reduce the risks of this new technology. A copy of the report is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492972/gs-16-1-distributed-ledger-technology.pdf
Consumers’ rights with regard to the collection, processing and disclosure of their personal data are governed by the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). The DPA provides rights for individuals in respect of their personal data, including rights in relation to automated decision-making, the right of subject access, the right to prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress compensation for failure to comply with certain of the Act’s requirements, and the right to have data rectified, blocked, erased or otherwise destroyed in certain circumstances.
There have been significant advances in digital technology since the DPA came into force nearly 20 years ago. The Government is reviewing the current regulatory framework to ensure it is fit for purpose for the digital age.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the future role of open source software in industrial strategy (a) for the digital economy and (b) as an enabling platform; and what steps he is taking to support that software in relation to public sector procurement.
Mr Nick Hurd
The Government’s Open Standards Principles are helping to level the playing field for open source and proprietary software, and disaggregating government IT into smaller, more manageable components.
The Government IT Strategy states ‘Where appropriate, government will procure open source solutions. When used in conjunction with compulsory open standards, open source presents significant opportunities for the design and delivery of interoperable solutions.’
To support interoperability in the public sector, we have a preference for royalty-free software generated in an open and transparent manner, which is often open source.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2016 to Question 48717, how many customers were interviewed in the small-scale qualitative evaluation of the Warm Home Discount scheme.
Jesse Norman
A total of 41 customers were interviewed as part of the evaluation of the Energy Rebate scheme.
These customers were drawn from four representative sample groups of interest.
The findings of the research can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220145/energy-rebate-scheme-evaluation.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2015 to Question 11786 and the Answer of 12 October 2015 to Question 10360, on universal credit, whether a box for universal credit exists on NHS charges claim forms.
Alistair Burt
Some NHS Help with Health Costs claim forms, for example HC5 refund claim forms, have been amended to include a specific tick box to enable Universal Credit recipients to claim entitlement.
Form HC1 (NHS Low Income Scheme application form) has been amended to include a sentence about Universal Credit, to advise those applying that until 31 October 2015, anyone in receipt of Universal Credit does not need to complete the form, as they will already be entitled to Help with Health Costs.
Other forms, including: NHS prescription forms (FP10); dental treatment claim forms (FP17) and claims for NHS funded sight tests (GOS 1) and for vouchers for glasses or contact lenses (GOS 3) will be amended to include a Universal Credit box in due course.
A patient can make a claim for entitlement by ticking the “gets income based Jobseekers Allowance” on relevant forms. Guidance for both the public and healthcare practitioners (such as pharmacists, dentist and opticians) has been included on NHS Choices with links from the Universal Credit webpages on Gov.uk.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government had with the Angolan government on the case of Luaty Beirão while he was on hunger strike in prison.
James Duddridge
The UK continues to follow the case of Luaty Beirão and 14 other activists under arrest in Angola with concern. On 17 October, a British Embassy representative along with representatives from other EU Member State missions and the EU Delegation in Angola visited Mr Beirão at the Clinica Girassol. We and EU partners are calling for due legal process and will continue to raise cases of concern with the Angolan authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the educational needs of young people in mental health facilities are assessed; and what system is in place to ensure that the needs of those patients are monitored and provided for as they change.
Mr Sam Gyimah
Local authorities have a duty to ensure suitable education is in place for children of compulsory school age who would not otherwise receive it. This includes pupils with medical conditions that prevent them from attending a mainstream school. Where pupils are in-patients in medical facilities, this education would in many cases be provided by the facility itself via an on-site hospital school.
In all cases, decisions on the education required should be based on an assessment of the pupil’s needs and in consultation with the pupil, parents, medical practitioners and other relevant professionals. Providers and the local authority must ensure that the education a pupil receives is of good quality, allows them to take appropriate qualifications, prevents them from slipping behind their peers in school and allows them to reintegrate successfully back into school as soon as possible. Monitoring and assurance processes should be established to ensure this quality education is in place and in all cases, effective collaboration between all relevant services is essential to delivering effective education for children with additional health needs.
The Department for Education’s guidance ‘Ensuring a good education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs’ sets out the legal duties and responsibilities of the local authority with regards education for such pupils. It is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269469/health_needs_guidance__-_revised_may_2013_final.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-11-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish National Lottery income statistics for each region in England.
Tracey Crouch
Information on the derivation of National Lottery Good Cause income by region is not currently collected by Government.
National Lottery good cause money is allocated by expert bodies at arm’s length from Government and information can be found on the National Lottery Grants Database at the following link (http://www.lottery.culture.gov.uk); and from Lottery Distributors’ own websites.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-12-09.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what additional funding allocations have been provided to each local authority as a result of declared claw back from BT under the National Broadband Scheme.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Thanks to the way we have constructed the contracts, BT has announced £129 million of clawback funding. This is available to the local authorities to support further broadband deployment without any additional funding being added to it by either the government or by the local authorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-13.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many (a) homes and (b) businesses have (i) received and (ii) redeemed rural satellite broadband vouchers.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Since the launch of the scheme 2 months ago, 1265 eligible applications have been received and are being processed, and 126 households and businesses have placed orders for installations.