The Parliamentary Security Department manages the contract for provision of security personnel at constituency surgeries. Assurance on satisfactory terms and conditions has been provided through the procurement process and ongoing regular contract meetings.

All security personnel working at constituency surgeries by agencies contracted by the Parliamentary Security Department are paid above the Real Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage. These personnel work within their local area and are therefore not required to travel as part of their role beyond an ordinary commute. If travel expenses are required, these are fully paid by the security provider.

All security personnel working at constituency surgeries by agencies contracted by the Parliamentary Security Department are paid above the Real Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage. These employees work within the local area and are therefore not required to travel as part of their role beyond an ordinary commute.

We are aware of supply issues with three pancreatic enzyme replacement therapies: Creon 10,000 gastro-resistant capsules; Creon 25,000 gastro-resistant capsules; and Nutrizym 22 gastro-resistant capsules. We understand that these are due to limited availability of active pharmaceutical ingredients, and manufacturing constraints in producing the volumes required to meet demand. The Department has issued guidance to healthcare professionals regarding treatment of patients while there is a disruption to the supply of these pancreatic enzyme replacement therapies. We are having regular conversations with the suppliers of these products to ask that they expedite deliveries and increase production forecasts, and to confirm that they are taking action to address the root causes of the issues, to ensure continuity of supply. We are also working with specialist importers to source unlicensed imports from abroad.

Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, so they can advise and support their patients.

To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what recent progress the Commission has made on using digital tools to support the work of hon. Members.

Mr Speaker, I echo your tribute to the hon. Member for Broxbourne (Sir Charles Walker), and thank him for his service on the House of Commons Commission and his engagement with me on this subject on many occasions.

During the dark days of covid, Mr Speaker, when many did not believe that a digital Parliament was possible and some did not want the continued scrutiny, you and I, and the House officials and the Digital Service, worked together to move Parliament online over the course of just one recess. That was an immense achievement, and I pay tribute to you and to the Digital Service for that. Does the hon. Member for Broxbourne agree that while Labour will be campaigning for the change that Britain so desperately needs, the Digital Service will be working to ensure that AI, open source, cloud and all the other digital innovations are at the disposal of Members of the new Parliament to support them in their work?

Thank you for that, Mr Speaker. It has been a great privilege to serve with you on the Commission, and it has been such an honour to be in this amazing institution and to serve my country in the way I have, with the wonderful people here. Gosh, I wasn’t going to get sentimental.

Since my last answer on this issue in February 2024, the Parliamentary Digital Service has been assessing Microsoft’s generative AI toolset, Copilot, which includes artificial intelligence for mailboxes. That tool will aid Members and staff in their management of day-to-day administrative activities across Microsoft 365 applications. PDS is conducting further necessary technical work, and it is expected that a trial of the new capability will start with Members before the end of the year. I am not sure if it is Nokia compatible, but if it is, I hope it can be put on my Nokia.

HMCTS remains focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness on all types of applications. Management information published by HMCTS shows the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate (following receipt of the documents required) reduced by 3 weeks in March 2024 compared to February 2024. The average timeliness in March was 9 weeks.

The first quarter of 2024 (January to March 2024) saw the highest quarterly number of grants issued on record.

A full time series of Official Statistics back to Q3 2019 is published in the Family Court Statistics Quarterly https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly and currently covers the period up to December 2023.

More recent management information published by HMCTS (which does not go through the same level of quality assurance and analysis as the Family Court Statistics Quarterly) provides waiting time information up to March 2023 https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmcts-management-information.

My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has written to Royal Mail regarding proposed reforms to the universal postal service, to ask what consideration has been given to patients and National Health Service impacts. A meeting with the Group Chief Executive of Royal Mail is currently being considered.

Landlords are required by law to protect a deposit in relation to most Assured Shorthold Tenancies and are free to choose with which government-authorised scheme they protect a tenant’s deposit.

The TDP providers are private companies that are operationally independent of Government. TDP providers are contractually obliged to avoid any conflict of interest arising which prejudices the independence and objectivity of the service provided.

The House of Commons complies with UK legislative standards when procuring food and drinks from suppliers. Its procurement approach supports and where possible prioritises the purchase of food and drink produced in Britain. For example:

• The Strangers’ Bar offers Members the opportunity to request that a specific cask ale from an independent, regional brewer from their constituency be offered for sale.
• As much as possible, most fresh products purchased by Catering Services are sourced within the UK. This includes meat, poultry, dairy, bread, eggs and most fruit and vegetables (when in season). Bought-in sandwiches use British chicken and cheese boards feature only British cheese. Milk is sourced locally from a British dairy.
• There is a mandatory inclusion of wines from England and Wales on wine lists.
• Speciality cakes and dairy ice cream are only UK-made.
• Bottled water is from British source.
• Promotional activity in catering outlets highlights British food by showcasing a rolling programme of regional goods.

Certain regulations, such as the Government’s Procurement Policy Note of December 2020 and increased use of the UK-based Catering Framework, have allowed for additional freedom for spend on goods and services below certain price thresholds. Within the limits of these regulations, the House where possible seeks to hold competitions which only target producers within the UK.

The Commission does not control or regulate All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs).

The Committee on Standards put forward recommendations which were approved by the House on 19 July 2023. These included the following provisions which are now contained within the APPG rules:

a) groups are not permitted to have a secretariat either provided or funded by a foreign government.

b) a group’s officers must undertake due diligence as to whether a foreign government is the eventual funder of a secretariat or other benefit. If a group receives a benefit (other than a secretariat) from a foreign government, this is permissible but must be registered.

c) for groups receiving over £1500 in benefits in a calendar year, the group shall publish an annual report explaining its work and a due diligence statement in relation to foreign government funding.

As the Committee recommended, the Parliamentary Security Department and the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on 20 September 2023 issued guidance on due diligence. That guidance was emailed to all APPG Chairs and is available here: Guide to the rules on All-Party Parliamentary Groups - UK Parliament

There is no ban on the receipt of benefits from foreign governments, but such benefits must be registered.

The Commission does not control or regulate All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs).

The rules for APPGs are approved by the House. The Guide to the APPG Rules by the Committee on Standards makes clear that each group’s Chair and Registered Contact is responsible for ensuring that if any person or organisation provides a secretariat or support service, that person or organisation is aware of and complies with the rules of the House. Members of the House are subject to the provision in the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament that “Members must only use information which they have received in confidence in the course of their parliamentary activities in connection with those activities, and never for other purposes”.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards may investigate allegations of a breach of the Code of Conduct and the associated APPG Rules, and he may report to the Committee on Standards any findings from such an investigation.

The Commission does not control or regulate All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs).

The Committee on Standards put forward recommendations which were approved by the House on 19 July 2023. This included the provision that groups are not permitted to have a secretariat either provided or funded by a foreign government. The Committee made no recommendations about the role of former Ambassadors or High Commissioners.

The Commission does not control or regulate All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs).

The Committee on Standards put forward recommendations which were approved by the House on 19 July 2023. These included the following provisions which are now contained within the APPG rules:

a) groups are not permitted to have a secretariat either provided or funded by a foreign government.

b) a group’s officers must undertake due diligence as to whether a foreign government is the eventual funder of a secretariat or other benefit. If a group receives a benefit (other than a secretariat) from a foreign government, this is permissible but must be registered.

c) for groups receiving over £1500 in benefits in a calendar year, the group shall publish an annual report explaining its work and a due diligence statement in relation to foreign government funding.

As the Committee recommended, the Parliamentary Security Department and the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on 20 September 2023 issued guidance on due diligence. That guidance was emailed to all APPG Chairs and is available here: Guide to the rules on All-Party Parliamentary Groups - UK Parliament

There is no ban on the receipt of benefits from foreign governments, but such benefits must be registered.

I am sorry that the right hon. Member and all colleagues continue to experience inconvenience in telephony services which are currently below standard. The latest issue with handsets underlines the need for the solution which the Parliamentary Digital Service is implementing later this year.

Polycom devices need to communicate with an external supplier to register the device and make/receive calls. Each device communicates with one of two external servers. One of the servers experienced issues on Thursday 9 May and any device that attempted to connect to this server was impacted by the outage. Polycom phones communicating with the working server did not experience an outage.

The first report the Digital Service received of handsets not working was at 12.13pm on Thursday 9 May. The team declared a major incident shortly afterwards and service was restored at 9.46am on 10 May.

The Voice Programme is upgrading and replacing the existing telephony infrastructure and when implemented, handsets will have 99.999% reliability of connecting.