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1524369

registered interest
date	19/10/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Cybersecurity
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the contribution to national security and resilience by the UK’s cyber security industry; what steps his Department is taking to grow the volume and value of that contribution.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	67092
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2022 answer text <p>The Government is delivering an ambitious programme of work through the £2.6 billion National Cyber Strategy, including comprehensive support to the cyber industry to foster the growth of a sustainable, innovative and internationally competitive cyber and information security sector in order to raise the level of cyber resilience across the economy. The need for increased cyber resilience is real. In 2021, the UK ranked third behind the US and Ukraine in terms of incoming malicious cyber-activity linked to nation states (between July 2020 to June 2021).</p><p>The Government is delivering programmes to improve the UK’s cyber resilience, such as investing in protecting public services, enforcing security standards to protect consumers, promoting best practice through Cyber Essentials certification, and raising awareness through the “Cyber Aware” campaign. The proportion of businesses suffering a cyber attack has decreased overall over the past five years, but 39% of businesses still suffered a breach within the past year.</p><p>In 2021, cyber sector revenue exceeded £10 billion for the first time and the sector attracted over £1 billion of investment. To support innovators and entrepreneurs the government funds Cyber Runway, which has already helped over 200 cyber security companies develop and grow. To commercialise academic cyber research, the government funds CyberASAP which has spun out 20 companies and attracted significant investment.</p><p>We work with local partners to drive the growth of the cyber sector across the UK and fund the UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration (UKC3), a network of regional cyber clusters across the UK who help drive local skills and cyber sector innovation programmes linking to local growth opportunities.</p><p>The UK has a number of geographic areas that host world class cyber capabilities, including Cheltenham where the government is supporting the development of the Golden Valley campus led by Cheltenham Borough Council dedicated to supporting the growth of cyber-related technology businesses and resulting wider growth potential.</p><p>We are still considering the proposals put forward to the Call for Information, and we will inform Parliament shortly of the way forward on the review of the Computer Misuse Act.</p> answering member constituency Tonbridge and Malling answering member printed Tom Tugendhat grouped question UIN 67093 question first answered 25/10/2022 15:13:23 answering member 4462 label Biography information for Tom Tugendhat
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

1524370

registered interest
date	19/10/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Computer Misuse Act 1990
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps he has taken to progress his Department’s review of the Computer Misuse Act following the Call for Information his Department concluded in June 2021.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	67093
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2022 answer text <p>The Government is delivering an ambitious programme of work through the £2.6 billion National Cyber Strategy, including comprehensive support to the cyber industry to foster the growth of a sustainable, innovative and internationally competitive cyber and information security sector in order to raise the level of cyber resilience across the economy. The need for increased cyber resilience is real. In 2021, the UK ranked third behind the US and Ukraine in terms of incoming malicious cyber-activity linked to nation states (between July 2020 to June 2021).</p><p>The Government is delivering programmes to improve the UK’s cyber resilience, such as investing in protecting public services, enforcing security standards to protect consumers, promoting best practice through Cyber Essentials certification, and raising awareness through the “Cyber Aware” campaign. The proportion of businesses suffering a cyber attack has decreased overall over the past five years, but 39% of businesses still suffered a breach within the past year.</p><p>In 2021, cyber sector revenue exceeded £10 billion for the first time and the sector attracted over £1 billion of investment. To support innovators and entrepreneurs the government funds Cyber Runway, which has already helped over 200 cyber security companies develop and grow. To commercialise academic cyber research, the government funds CyberASAP which has spun out 20 companies and attracted significant investment.</p><p>We work with local partners to drive the growth of the cyber sector across the UK and fund the UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration (UKC3), a network of regional cyber clusters across the UK who help drive local skills and cyber sector innovation programmes linking to local growth opportunities.</p><p>The UK has a number of geographic areas that host world class cyber capabilities, including Cheltenham where the government is supporting the development of the Golden Valley campus led by Cheltenham Borough Council dedicated to supporting the growth of cyber-related technology businesses and resulting wider growth potential.</p><p>We are still considering the proposals put forward to the Call for Information, and we will inform Parliament shortly of the way forward on the review of the Computer Misuse Act.</p> answering member constituency Tonbridge and Malling answering member printed Tom Tugendhat grouped question UIN 67092 question first answered 25/10/2022 15:13:23 answering member 4462 label Biography information for Tom Tugendhat
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

1523630

registered interest
date	18/10/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Blockchain and Cryptoassets: Regulation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that the regulatory framework for (a) cryptoassets and (b) blockchain technology helps facilitate investment and growth.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	65875
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2022 answer text <p>The Government set out at Fintech Week its firm ambition to make UK a global hub for cryptoasset technology and investment. The Government wants to ensure firms can invest, innovate and scale up in this country. And the Government has announced a number of reforms which will see the regulation and aspects of tax treatment of cryptoassets evolve – our clear message to cryptoasset firms is that the UK is open for business.</p><p /><p>These include committing to consult on a future regulatory regime; legislating to bring stablecoins into payments regulation; setting up a series of ministerial-chaired roundtables, bringing together key figures in industry; and exploring ways of enhancing the competitiveness of the UK tax system to encourage further development of the cryptoasset market in the UK.</p> answering member constituency Arundel and South Downs answering member printed Andrew Griffith question first answered 25/10/2022 13:41:56 answering member 4874 label Biography information for Andrew Griffith
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

1523631

registered interest
date	18/10/2022
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Job Centres: Autism
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to progress the collaboration between the National Autistic Society and Department for Work and Pensions on testing ways to make jobcentres more inclusive of people with autism.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	65876
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2022 answer text <p>Our Autism Accreditation test project, developed with the National Autistic Society (NAS), showed how we could build the knowledge and skills of our work coaches and improve our support for autistic jobseekers. This led to all 15 Jobcentre test sites meeting the standard and achieving accreditation. We are currently considering how we can achieve similar accreditation for all Jobcentres.</p><p>Our Autism Accreditation project is part of wider action to improve employment opportunities for autistic people. We are working with Local Authorities to provide employment support to Learning Disabled and Autistic people through Local Supported Employment (LSE) and started testing Access to Work Plus to help meet the extra costs of workplace adjustments for those with the most profound barriers to employment. This is in addition to our existing Jobcentre Plus support that can be accessed by customers with autism, including priority access to the Work and Health Programme in England and Wales, Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES), our Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs) who have expertise in supporting customers with health conditions into work, and our Youth Offer (for 16-24 year olds) with specialist Youth Employability Coaches for young people with barriers to work.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Surrey answering member printed Claire Coutinho question first answered 26/10/2022 11:06:15 answering member 4806 label Biography information for Claire Coutinho
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

1523633

registered interest
date	18/10/2022
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Applications
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides to people without internet access on applying for jobs that only accept online applications.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	65877
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2022 answer text <p>Claimants can apply for jobs online by using the computers and internet access available in all Jobcentres. Work coaches have discretion to use the Flexible Support Fund to provide claimants with internet access outside of the Jobcentre where the claimant is digitally excluded and where it will help the claimant progress in their labour market journey. Solutions may include appropriate digital devices and connectivity to the internet.</p><p> </p><p>DWP is also working with internet service providers to deliver lower-cost broadband for eligible claimants through the broadband social tariffs. Our staff are raising awareness of this, and wider cost of living support being offered through the government’s Help for Households measures.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 26/10/2022 16:39:33 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

1523635

registered interest
date	18/10/2022
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Social Workers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to increase the amount provided by the social work bursary.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	65878
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2022 answer text <p>The Department has no plans to increase the social work bursary amount for the forthcoming academic year.</p> answering member constituency Harborough answering member printed Neil O'Brien question first answered 26/10/2022 16:49:24 answering member 4679 label Biography information for Neil O'Brien
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

1178765

registered interest
date	12/02/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Infrastructure: Carbon Emissions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to review the compatibility of sections 41 and 42 of the Infrastructure Act 2015 with the Government’s target to meet net zero emissions by 2050.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	15114
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2020 answer text <p>The Petroleum Act 1998 (as amended by the Infrastructure Act 2015, amongst others), places a duty on the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) to produce and give effect to one or more strategies to enable the principal objective of maximising the economic recovery of petroleum from UK waters to be met. The OGA has announced that it will shortly be revising its strategy and will have regard to the need for the oil and gas sector to minimise its own carbon emissions and support the transition to Net Zero.</p><p> </p><p>As we transition to a low carbon economy, there will continue to be a need for oil and gas, which are projected to provide around two-thirds of our total primary energy demand in 2035. All scenarios proposed by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) setting out how we could meet our 2050 emissions target include demand for natural gas.</p> answering member constituency Spelthorne answering member printed Kwasi Kwarteng question first answered 28/02/2020 14:52:02 answering member 4134 label Biography information for Kwasi Kwarteng
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

1177736

registered interest
date	11/02/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Bus Lanes: Ambulance Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward a nationwide exemption to permit ambulances to use bus lanes.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	690
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2020 answer text <p>The Department has made no such assessment.</p><p> </p><p>Ambulances on emergency business are already generally allowed to use bus lanes through an exemption in the underlying Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) which creates a bus lane. Local authorities can extend this to ambulances on non-emergency business if they wish, but will need to consider whether the vehicles are easily identifiable for enforcement purposes, and the impact on the operation of the lane for buses.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities are best placed to judge how best to operate bus lanes on their road networks. Bus lanes are provided to give buses priority over other traffic, particularly at congested times of day, and to provide bus passengers with a more reliable service. Allowing more vehicle types to use a bus lane may start to erode this priority.</p> answering member constituency Welwyn Hatfield answering member printed Grant Shapps question first answered 17/02/2020 15:35:39 answering member 1582 label Biography information for Grant Shapps
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

1176805

registered interest
date	06/02/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his department has to review the (a) Education and Skills Funding Agency and (b) Teachers' Pay grant in relation to increased staff ratios required for schools (i) operating a High Need C&I centre and (ii) with high numbers of pupils with an education and health care plan.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	13512
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>On behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has responsibility to administer funding to deliver education and skills, from early years through to adulthood.</p><p>In 2018, the teachers’ pay grant was introduced to support schools to implement the 2018 teacher pay award. In 2019, the teachers’ pay grant was increased to support schools to implement the 2019 teacher pay award. It is allocated to schools on a per pupil basis, taking into account their phase and geographical area. In 2020-21, the teachers’ pay grant will be worth over £500 million to schools and local authorities.</p><p>In respect of pupils with education, health and care plans, local authorities are responsible for covering the costs of additional provision above the first £6,000. Local authorities retain the flexibility to provide extra funding to schools, based on the schools’ individual needs and where there is a strong local rationale for doing so.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 13/02/2020 10:35:03 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk

1176814

registered interest
date	06/02/2020
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Ground Rent
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his department has to publish a response to the Law Commission report on leasehold enfranchisement with reference to ground rent.
tabling member constituency	Cheltenham
tabling member printed	Alex Chalk
uin	13513
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/02/2020 answer text <p>The Government is looking to standardise the enfranchisement process and asked the Law Commission to review current arrangements to make them easier, faster, fairer and cheaper. The Law Commission has now published its first report to Government, on the valuation aspects of enfranchisement. The report, which follows a consultation by the Law Commission, sets out a number of options relating to valuation, including purchasing a freehold and extending the lease of a house or flat. We expect the Law Commission will report on the remaining aspects of enfranchisement later in the spring.  The Government will carefully consider the proposals outlined in the Law Commission’s report and set out its preferred way forward in due course.</p> answering member constituency Tamworth answering member printed Christopher Pincher question first answered 14/02/2020 14:38:26 answering member 4075 label Biography information for Christopher Pincher
tabling member	4481 label Biography information for Alex Chalk