Economic operators are responsible for ensuring that they have the necessary software capability to comply with the track and trace obligations. As these are contractual relationships between economic operators and their software providers, HMRC has no plans to make any assessment of their capability.

Since the track and trace system came into force on 20 May, over 38,000 businesses have registered as an economic operator, and over 61,000 premises. Following engagement with the tobacco industry, HMRC assess this represents good coverage of the number of businesses expected to register. As there is a 12-month sell through period for old stock, marked stock that needs tracking and tracing is only just appearing in the UK. During this period, HMRC’s priority has been to educate and support businesses as they familiarise themselves and adapt to the new requirements.

Guidance on the tracking and tracing requirements is available on www.gov.uk. The mechanics of how businesses scan movements and record sales is not prescribed as this will depend on the type of equipment used and the systems operated by individual businesses.

Probate Services provided by Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) have been designed and developed incorporating user feedback. The user satisfaction rate measured at the time the customer submits their application (the point at which they finish their interaction with our online process) remains consistent at 92%.

HMCTS welcomes customer views throughout their interaction with its services, including after the application has been made. The agency’s formal complaints and praise procedure is available for this purpose and customers can engage with it at the court, on the phone, or online at GOV.UK. Feedback is used to inform ongoing service improvement. In respect of probate HMCTS received feedback from applicants on their concerns in a number of ways. The agency has recruited more staff to address a peak of workload and is now issuing in excess of 1,000 grants a day, which has led to reductions in waiting times.

Individual technology choices and volumes purchased rest with individual departments

The Cabinet Office will soon start work on an audit to allow for a more comprehensive and consistent approach to reviewing legacy IT in government and will support departments to understand their legacy systems and any risks associated with those systems.

EU citizens make a huge contribution to our economy and society, and we want them to stay. The EU Settlement Scheme enables them to do so. The ‘EU Exit: Identity Document Check’ app is an optional aspect of the service which allows applicants to prove their identity remotely using their biometric identity document and an android smartphone device.

We have been working closely with Apple over a number of months and expect the first IOS version of the EU Settlement Scheme app to be available in October.

Despite this there are numerous ways in which those eligible can apply, including by post.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The Government has no plans to assess the compatibility of software used by local
authorities for electoral registration and that used by the Cabinet Office and Electoral
Commission.

When Individual Electoral Registration (IER) was introduced in 2014, the Cabinet Office
worked with the Electoral Management Systems (EMS) providers to ensure they were
compatible with the Government’s IER Digital Service. Compatibility with the IER Digital
Service means that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) can manage registration data
through their EMS by downloading applications submitted through the Register to Vote
website, uploading applications to be verified with the Department of Work and Pensions,
and notifying other EROs about electors who have moved from their area.

We continue to work with the suppliers to ensure any changes to the IER Digital Service
retain compatibility with the EMSs. In addition, the Cabinet Office is also working closely
with EMS providers to ensure that all systems used by EROs are fully prepared to manage
the changes required as part of the reforms to the annual canvass.

The Government does not hold any information on the compatibility of software used by
the Electoral Commission with that used by local authorities.

The department does not allocate any specific funding to local authorities to facilitate the use of Xantura and other predictive algorithm technologies in children’s social care. It also does not collect information on which local authorities use Xantura or other predictive algorithm technologies in children’s social care.

The department has commissioned a consortium led by Nesta to set up the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care. The centre is currently conducting a project that looks at the use of predictive analytics in local authorities. The report is due for publication in spring 2020.

The department does not allocate any specific funding to local authorities to facilitate the use of Xantura and other predictive algorithm technologies in children’s social care. It also does not collect information on which local authorities use Xantura or other predictive algorithm technologies in children’s social care.

The department has commissioned a consortium led by Nesta to set up the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care. The centre is currently conducting a project that looks at the use of predictive analytics in local authorities. The report is due for publication in spring 2020.

The major power outage on 9 August 2019 caused significant disruption to rail services and customers. The industry is reviewing what happened, to learn lessons from how the incident was managed so that their response can be improved for passengers in any future disruption, irrespective of the cause.

I am happy to update the Honourable Member on the findings of this review once it is complete.

We estimate there are approximately 2,300 machines in the National Health Service currently still operating on Windows XP which is no longer supported by Microsoft. To be compliant with the mandatory Data Security and Protection Toolkit, NHS organisations must operate on supported systems or have plans in place to mitigate the risk such as segregating those machines from the network. There are valid reasons why some machines cannot be upgraded from Windows XP, primarily where they run essential locally developed clinical systems that cannot be upgraded or replaced.

We are supporting NHS organisations to upgrade their existing Microsoft Windows operating systems, allowing them to reduce potential vulnerabilities and increase cyber resilience.

We signed a multi-million pound contract with Microsoft in 2018 to support the NHS to upgrade their existing Microsoft Windows operating systems onto Windows 10.

All health and care organisations that have access to NHS patient data must annually complete NHS Digital’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit. This details the standards we expect them to adhere to and Data Security Standard 8 advocates that no unsupported operating systems, software or internet browsers are used within the IT estate.

To release any information may assist in determining the effectiveness of a future cyber attack and could compromise measures to protect government systems. If those systems are attacked it could lead to the loss of confidentiality, integrity and availability of government information and/or personal data.

Providing information which could lead to a crime being committed and/or the disruption to the delivery of justice services is not in the public interest.

Yes.

The Government Digital Service (GDS) provides government departments with guidance on selecting technology through the Technology Code of Practice. Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technology-code-of-practice/technology-code-of-practice

Individual technology choices and volumes purchased rest with individual departments. As such, GDS does not provide guidance to departments on specific operating systems, such as Windows 7 and the Government does not hold information concerning departments choice to use Windows 7 machines centrally. Microsoft provides guidance for its operating systems should departments need specific information.

Additionally, the National Cyber Security Centre published information on their blog on the upcoming removal of Windows 7 Support. The blog post can be found here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/one-year-left-windows-7-support

The 93% user satisfaction figure for the online probate service is obtained via an exit survey once an application has been submitted.

The recent, temporary increase in waiting times was caused by a combination of an increased volume of incoming work and the transition to a new case management system. The move to the new system meant that staff had to spend time being trained and familiarising themselves with it. There were also some initial performance issues which have now been resolved.

At the end of June 2019, 93% of users indicated, from five feedback options, that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the online application service provided.

Urgent action has been taken to address the delays which have been experienced in the probate service. Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is increasing staffing levels and further improving the digital service to help reduce waiting times.

Official statistics are not published on the average length of time from receipt of the application to the issue of a grant of probate and letters of administration. HMCTS internal management information, which is not subject to the rigorous quality assurance processes of official statistics, has been used to show the following average times from receipt of an application to a grant being issued:

These figures do not include cases which are waiting for a grant to be issued. The data from April 2019 to June 2019 have been extracted from the HMCTS Reform Core Case Data system, which is a new system in active development, and may not be directly comparable with figures for earlier periods. All figures, especially those for April 2019 to June 2019, are provisional and subject to revision.

Some grants are experiencing delays of between four and six weeks outside of our targets as a result of significant increases in work during March and April and some technology issues which have now been resolved. We have recruited more staff and are now issuing in excess of 1,000 grants a day, which is bringing waiting times down further.

The recent, temporary increase in waiting times was caused by a combination of an increased volume of incoming work and the transition to a new case management system. The move to the new system meant that staff had to spend time being trained and familiarising themselves with it. There were also some initial performance issues which have now been resolved.

At the end of June 2019, 93% of users indicated, from five feedback options, that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the online application service provided.

Urgent action has been taken to address the delays which have been experienced in the probate service. Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is increasing staffing levels and further improving the digital service to help reduce waiting times.

Official statistics are not published on the average length of time from receipt of the application to the issue of a grant of probate and letters of administration. HMCTS internal management information, which is not subject to the rigorous quality assurance processes of official statistics, has been used to show the following average times from receipt of an application to a grant being issued:

These figures do not include cases which are waiting for a grant to be issued. The data from April 2019 to June 2019 have been extracted from the HMCTS Reform Core Case Data system, which is a new system in active development, and may not be directly comparable with figures for earlier periods. All figures, especially those for April 2019 to June 2019, are provisional and subject to revision.

Some grants are experiencing delays of between four and six weeks outside of our targets as a result of significant increases in work during March and April and some technology issues which have now been resolved. We have recruited more staff and are now issuing in excess of 1,000 grants a day, which is bringing waiting times down further.

The table below sets out the Department’s spend on software licences as follows:

The increase in 2018/19 is mainly due to the modernisation of key elements of the MHCLG IT services which amounted to £1,322k as part of the roll-out of the IT Modernisation Programme.

HMRC are constantly reviewing the progress of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) service. As at 18 July, over 712,000 businesses have joined the VAT service and over 460,000 VAT submissions have been made successfully.

The VAT Helpline has been performing within the 5 minute target for average waiting time. A small proportion of customers – around 0.5% - have been affected by service issues which HMRC are addressing.

The Government recognises the value of independent assurance. MTD is part of the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio and the VAT service will be reviewed by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) in September.

Software enabling customers to use MTD is provided by a wide range of third-party software providers. This approach has led to a rich choice of products to meet businesses’ different needs, preferences and budgets.