Speeches by Edwards.

“No, because it is run independently by charities.”

“Have you had any discussions with the Government around doing a pilot approach? Would you need to engage central Government, local authorities or both?”

“—of that system, which I think is a very good one. I know I am a lone voice in being supportive of mandatory attendance at a polling station or mandatory voting, where you can just go along and mark. One of the other reasons is that it is quite a cultural event in Australia. I hazard to suggest that barbecues at pollin…”

“I was born in Australia, so I declare having experience—”

“It is a community event. There are definitely no party political votes for sausages or anything like that. I was going to ask about one of the things they do in Australia that you did not mention, in terms of looking at the way that elections are administered and how changes can be made to increase turnout, and that is…”

“Back in July you discussed having a review of the UK National Resilience Strategy, and obviously I am very conscious of the geopolitics situation at the moment, the threat of a major cyber-attack would potentially have a devastating effect on Whitehall. I was wondering what you can tell us about the progress of that re…”

“On achieving the outcomes of those missions, as a Government you can set the missions and you have a huge role in implementing them. As I come from a local government background, I am quite conscious that they are on the pointy end of making a lot of this stuff happen, particularly when you are talking about growing th…”

“Just very briefly.”

“On the outputs for the test and learn, they are described as small projects at six to 12 months. Are you envisioning them being a quick-win approach, or are you expecting them to get deeply into problems like temporary accommodation? Because if you look at that holistically, that can go right back to the problems of ho…”

“I just wanted to pick up on the reset of the EU-UK relationship. I am obviously very aware that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has recently been to Europe to meet with EU finance ministers, which is fantastic. I am just wondering if you can give us an update on progress, or a timetable for the negotiations around that…”

“I completely agree. Are there any timetables for those individual negotiations, for instance, on the veterinary agreement?”

“Yes.”

“Just around the cyber risk particularly, my background is in insurance regulations so I am obviously aware there is a great deal of expertise in that particular industry. Who are the stakeholders that you are engaging with specifically around the cyber risk aspects of that review and that strategy?”

“It is very clear from your answers that you have a strong commitment to having a really strong culture at the Cabinet Office, which is fantastic. You have referenced challenging periods in government when there has been a lot going on; 2022 was mentioned. In your view, to what extent are individual Ministers responsibl…”

“What do you see as their focus over the next six months? What is your direction to them in terms of settling into role?”

“You spoke earlier in your contributions around areas you have lost and gained. I am aware that the EU Relations Secretariat has been created recently and we had about 50 staff come across to the Cabinet Office about a month ago. From your point of view, how are they embedding and how are you making sure they are fittin…”

“It is very focused on how Departments within Whitehall are co-operating around digital. That is helpful. My presumption is that DSIT now has the spending controls in these areas as well. Is that the case?”

“My question is largely around that move of a lot of the AI, data and digital responsibilities to DSIT. I am just wondering what responsibilities the Cabinet Office has retained for those areas?”

“It is helpful knowing that was needed.”

“Did you have any specific advice around the statistics we have been discussing in terms of bullying and harassment? Did you have any advice about what you felt needed to change from the top?”