On 24 November 2022, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster published a Written
Ministerial Statement noting that departments had been instructed to take a series of actions relating to surveillance equipment subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People\u2019s Republic of China. This Government Department has been implementing this policy along with other protective security controls.<\/p>
At Report Stage of the Procurement Bill, the Government committed that, within six months of Royal Assent, the Government will set out the timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment supplied by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of China from sensitive sites. This department will be providing information to the Cabinet Office to support this commitment. It is a longstanding Government policy that specific security arrangements regarding Government estates are withheld on security grounds.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4020", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for George Freeman"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Mid Norfolk"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "George Freeman"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-07-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-07-11T12:41:06.193Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "216"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Science, Innovation and Technology"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Science, Innovation and Technology"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2023-07-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Surveillance"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 24 November 2022 on Security Update on Surveillance Equipment, WMS 386, whether they have (a) ceased deployment of visual surveillance systems produced by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People\u2019s Republic of China onto sensitive sites, (b) ensured no such equipment is connected to their departmental core network, (c) considered whether there are sites outside the definition of sensitive sites to which they would wish to extend risk mitigation and (d) put in place any additional controls or taken any further steps.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4638", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Slough"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi"} ], "uin" : "192167"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/43188", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/43188/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government believes that reinvesting savings from the abolition of the Percentage Threshold Scheme to establish the Health and Work Service is the most effective means of targeting public funds to tackle sickness absence. The Health and Work Service will reduce the length of sickness absence and offers a more proactive approach to sickness absence management. Small businesses are least likely to have access to occupational health services, and will benefit from having access to occupational health assessments and advice through the Health and Work Service.<\/p>
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We have considered an alternative approach along the lines of restricting access to a reimbursement scheme to employers with fewer than five employees. However, this was discounted because it resulted in additional burdens on employers and additional Statutory Sick Pay reimbursement costs for the state.<\/em><\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1528", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Mike Penning"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hemel Hempstead"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mike Penning"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-03-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-03-20T12:00:00.00Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-03-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his policy is on alternative models of compensating small businesses for sickness absence after the abolition of the percentage threshold scheme for recovering statutory sick pay.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3952", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Toby Perkins"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Chesterfield"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Toby Perkins"} ], "uin" : "192167"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }