Question
Last month, it was reported that money from the Department’s community recovery fund had been funnelled to explicitly partisan groups, and had been used to train activists in how to influence the public to make them pro-migration and against the Conservative party, which was named in training materials. Can the Secretary of State please explain how on earth taxpayer money was spent on this kind of partisan political activity?
Answer
I am not aware of the Government spending money on that type of partisan material, but I am happy for the hon. Lady to send it to me. I think she might have written to me about this recently, and I will be happy to respond.
Verdict: RED (14/100) DEFERRED
The question asked how money came to be spent on partisan material. The reply says the department is not aware of any such spending, but it gives no explanation of how the spending happened. Instead, it asks the Member to send the material and promises a later response, so the substantive question is deferred and left unanswered. A member of the public would likely conclude that the question has not yet been answered and would probably need to ask again.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is the Secretary of State's explanation of how money from the Department's community recovery fund came to be spent on partisan political activity, including funding of groups and training that referred to the Conservative party. | Deferred | Hedged | The reply disputes awareness of any such spending (seq 1) but gives no explanation of how money came to be spent on partisan activity, and it defers the substantive answer by asking the Member to send the material and promising a later response (seqs 2-4). It engages with the subject of partisan material without committing to any concrete fact, mechanism, or account. |