Category: Speeches

Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of Senior Civil Servants in each department in each year since 2010.

Matthew Hancock

The number of Senior Civil Servants serving in each department in each year from 2010 to date, is set out in the table below:

Centrally Managed SCS by Main Department (2010-2015)

Department	Q1 2010	Q1 2011	Q1 2012	Q1 2013	Q1 2014	Q1 2015	Q3 2015
BIS	217	267	254	263	273	265	255
CO	213	233	208	214	238	281	284
DCLG	122	120	99	84	84	90	88
DCMS	41	36	35	24	34	44	46
DECC	66	86	100	105	121	109	111
DEFRA	174	161	145	143	143	133	127
DfE	120	121	168	155	139	139	147
DfID	95	79	79	83	80	81	80
DfT	227	185	173	174	198	174	174
DH	392	370	312	383	393	406	396
DWP	381	325	275	296	258	259	266
FCO	59	54	56	58	67	78	77
HMRC	391	362	360	319	313	325	342
HMT	159	106	105	97	94	94	106
Home Office	237	208	198	199	196	224	220
MoD	275	266	227	227	219	236	248
MoJ	290	241	200	200	199	198	213
SG	270	238	215	225	227	230	222
WG	147	125	118	137	155	155	152
Other	477	329	289	309	370	456	463
Total	4353	3912	3616	3695	3801	3977	4017

Source: SCS Database

Notes: FCO does not include the Diplomatic Service as they are not part of the Centrally Managed Senior Civil Service

Figures also do not include a number of health professionals and military personnel that work at a senior level that are not part of the Centrally Managed Senior Civil Service

Caution is advised when interpreting changes at a departmental level due to the following Machinery of Government changes over the period that have moved into and out of departments:

Office of Government Commerce moved from HMT to Cabinet Office in June 2010

Government Equalities Office moved into Home Office in April 2011 and to DCMS in Q1 2013

Directgov transferred from DWP to Cabinet Office in June 2010

Buying Solutions moved from HMT to Cabinet Office in June 2010

Postcomm (BIS) were abolished in October 2011

The Better Regulation Delivery Office moved from the wider public sector into BIS in Q2 2012

Ordnance Survey moved from DCLG to BIS in July 2011 and left the Civil Service in April 2015

Land Registry moved from MoJ to BIS in July 2011

Met Office moved from MoD to BIS in July 2011

Fire Service College (DCLG) was abolished in February 2013

Standards and Testing Agency (DfE) was created in October 2011

Education Funding Agency and the National College and Teaching Agency (DfE) were created in April 2012

A number of Probation Trusts staff moved from the wider public sector to MoJ in June 2014

Public Health England (DH) was created in April 2013

Legal Aid Agency (MoJ) was created in April 2013

National Crime Agency was created in October 2013

Criminal Records Bureau (Home Office) left the Civil Service in December 2012

The Asset Protection Agency (HMT) was abolished in October 2012

Competition Commission moved from the wider public sector into the Office of Fair Trading in April 2014 to become Competition and Markets Authority

Part of the Defence Support Group (MoD) was privatised and left the Civil Service in April 2015

The Food and Environment Research Agency (DEFRA) left the Civil Service in April 2015

Government Internal Audit Agency (HMT) was established in April 2015

Highways Agency (DfT) left the Civil Service in April 2015

01/01/2023

Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Questions 22933, 22934 and 22935, which individual or organisation sets the rules and regulations on the recognition of honours of Commonwealth Realms and foreign states; who is responsible for the preparation and issue of his Department’s rules governing the acceptance and wearing of foreign orders, decorations and medals by citizens of the UK and her overseas territories; and if he plans to update his Department’s rules to include awards granted by Commonwealth states where the Sovereign is Head of State.

James Duddridge

The Committee on Honours, Decorations and Medals advises Her Majesty The Queen on all matters relating to honours and awards and sets the “rules” governing the acceptance and wearing of Foreign Orders, Decorations and Medals by Citizens of the United Kingdom and Her Overseas Territories. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office administers these rules. There are plans to propose updates to these rules, to the Committee on Honours, Decorations and Medals, so as to include reference to the conventions governing awards granted by Commonwealth realms. There are no plans, however, to change the conventions governing awards granted by Commonwealth realms.

01/01/2023
Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department’s offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.

Justin Tomlinson

Since 1998 the Department for Work and Pensions has outsourced the provision and maintenance for the majority of its estate to Telereal Trillium under a 20 year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract that expires on 31 March 2018.

Under the terms of the contract, Telereal Trillium provides fully-serviced accommodation, including the provision of catering services. Telereal Trillium provide catering through their Service Partners, Compass Group. The Department pays an all-inclusive facility unit price for sites and we are unable to separate the costs for catering.

The amount of food sourced from British producers for DWP was 42% (Jan – Mar 2016). This figure does not include the considerable spend on non-indigenous products purchased for use in the DWP contract with large volumes of coffee as well as rice, pasta, tea, banana’s, citrus, exotic fruits etc. Additionally as this period falls in winter some UK seasonal products are not available so have been procured from the EU.

01/01/2023
Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has taken legal advice on whether the European Communities Act 1972 can be repealed by Royal Prerogative.

Sir Alan Duncan

The process for leaving the EU and determining our future relationship with the EU, including changes to domestic legislation, is likely to be a long and complex one. We now need to work on the detailed arrangements to support that process.

01/01/2023
Baroness Kennedy of Cradley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley on 2016-09-15.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role the Department for International Development plays in monitoring how international aid is spent by other government departments.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Departments are responsible for ensuring their Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget offers high value for money.

DFID is committed to supporting other government departments to help them ensure that all their ODA spend is value for money for the UK tax payer. We provide advice and training to other departments on the international definition of ODA, we co-chair a cross-government senior officials’ group with HM Treasury, whose role is to ensure value for money of all UK ODA, and we work with other government departments to support them in setting up their systems of programme management.

01/01/2023
Baroness Helic – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Helic on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the UN Security Council decisions on Women, Peace and Security, whether they have made representations to the UN that future peace conferences or peace negotiations on the situation in Syria should include a direct role for Syrian women’s groups.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The second meeting of the International Syria Support Group in Vienna on 14 November agreed an outline timetable for Syrian peace negotiations, leading to transitional governance, a new constitution and elections within eighteen months. The International Syria Support Group will now meet on a regular basis, in parallel with Syrian-led discussions facilitated by UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan De Mistura, to take forward this process.

Ministers and senior officials have made regular representations to the UN Special Envoy and other UN officials to impress upon them the importance of the inclusion of Syrian women’s groups in the peace process. We continue to encourage the moderate Syrian opposition to be gender-inclusive and were pleased that a senior female activist accompanied the Syrian National Coalition President, Khaled Khoja, on his official visit to the UK earlier this month. Our programmes of support to grass roots peace-building initiatives and civil society groups inside Syria support this objective, and are designed to ensure that Syrian women’s voices are heard and that they are represented in political negotiations.

01/01/2023
Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of whether there has been a reduction in the number of claims brought to the courts as a result of the provisions of the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Act 2015.

Dominic Raab

The Act only came into force on 13 April 2015. As is normal practice, a formal assessment of its impact may be carried out after three to five years.

01/01/2023
John Healey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the findings of his Department’s right to buy pilots; what recent estimate he has made of the total cost of providing discounts to tenants eligible for that scheme nationwide and the number of council homes which will need to be sold in the course of that scheme; and what recent assessment he has made of the ability of housing associations to provide a like-for-like replacement for homes sold in the area local to those homes.

Brandon Lewis

As set out in the voluntary agreement with the National Housing Federation, tenants of housing associations will be eligible for the equivalent discounts that are available under the Right to Buy (up to £77,900 and £103,900 within London). The Government has been clear that the sale of high value vacant council housing will pay for the cost of compensating housing associations for the discount, so the Right to Buy will be cost neutral. Ahead of full implementation, we have launched the Right to Buy pilot with 5 housing associations.

Overall there will be an ongoing evaluation of the Right to Buy pilot with the pilot informing the design of the full scheme.

We are engaging with local authorities and are in the process of updating data that will be used to help inform the high value threshold. Every home sold under the voluntary Right to Buy will result in a new additional home being built nationally.

01/01/2023
Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-02-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the number of women who become war widows before 6 April 2005 and remarried between 6 April 2005 and 1 April 2015.

Mark Lancaster

Between 6 April 2005 and 1 April 2015, 195 war widow(er)s remarried regardless of when they became a war widow(er).

After becoming a war widow prior to 6 April 2005, 135 women remarried between 6 April 2005 and 1 April 2015.

In line with Defence Statistics’ Rounding Policy for War Pension Scheme data, figures have been rounded to the nearest five.

01/01/2023
Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce annual early-intervention top-ups for local authorities after the revenue support grant has been phased out.

Mr Marcus Jones

My rt. hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (George Osborne) announced that by the end of this Parliament, local government will retain 100% of its business rates. As part of this, existing central government grants to local government, such as Revenue Support Grant, will be phased out and councils will be given new responsibilities and greater powers to shape their local areas.

We have lots of work to do over the coming months to work out the details on this new system, including how to manage the risk to local authorities of changes in their local tax income. We will, therefore, be consulting widely with colleagues and with local government on this as we move towards implementation.

01/01/2023