The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Kirby on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is his policy to encourage civil servants to use video conferencing in order to reduce costs; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Francis Maude
Yes. Video conferencing can be used to reduce costs but specialist equipment can be required. Officials and ministers also make use of telephone conferencing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlie Elphicke on 2014-04-07.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidelines exist for the sale of assets and land belonging to HM Revenue and Customs.
Mr David Gauke
The guidelines for the sales of assets and land belonging to HM Revenue and Customs are contained in “Managing Public Money” published by HM Treasury.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many jobs have been transferred from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing by his Department since May 2010.
Brandon Lewis
The Department has not transferred any departmental jobs from the public to the private sector as a result of privatisations or outsourcing since May 2010.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether recommendations from the Independent Experts Panel on Serious Case Reviews to Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards are advisory.
Mr Edward Timpson
‘Working Together’ states that local safeguarding children boards “should have regard to the panel’s advice when deciding whether or not to initiate a serious case review (SCR), when appointing reviewers and when considering publication of SCR reports.”
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.
Gregory Barker
The Table below details the companies used and the total amounts paid to them in the last financial year. We are unable to identify separately the amounts retained by the companies as fees and the amounts passed on to the temporary worker by the company.
|
Agency |
2013-14 |
|
£k |
|
|
Adecco UK Ltd |
1,162 |
|
Michael Page International Recruitment Ltd |
533 |
|
Methods Consulting Ltd |
517 |
|
Parity Resources Ltd |
461 |
|
Allen Lane Ltd |
406 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the gender balance is of his Department’s management board and its sub-committees.
Hugh Robertson
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Management Board consists of 8 executive (5 male and 3 female) and 2 non-executive members (1 male and 1 female).
The Management Board is supported by the four Sub-Committees which are each chaired by a member of the Board; they are Audit & Risk Committee, Human Resources (HR) Committee, Operations Committee and Health and Safety Committee.
The gender breakdown of the committees is as follows:
Audit & Risk Committee (ARC): 2 male, 1 female;
HR Committee: 9 male, 10 female; and the 20th position is currently filled by two people (1 male, 1 female) in a job-share;
Operations Committee: 9 male and 8 female; and
FCO Health and Safety Committee: 18 male and 8 female members.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by her Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.
Karen Bradley
Information on the 10 consultancy firms that were paid the most by the Home Department for the last financial year and how much each of those firms were paid is set out in the table below:
|
Supplier Name |
Total Cost/Value |
|
1. DETICA LTD |
£7,220,985 |
|
2. PA CONSULTING SERVICES LTD |
£6,084,558 |
|
3. ERNST AND YOUNG LLP |
£2,575,080 |
|
4. KPMG LLP |
£2,259,099 |
|
5. DELOITTE |
£855,360 |
|
6. PRICE WATERHOUSE COOPERS LLP |
£676,871 |
|
7. BROADCASTING SUPPORT SERVICES |
£387,268 |
|
8. X-NET |
£298,407 |
|
9. ROKE MANOR RESEARCH LIMITED |
£94,262 |
|
10. iO1 LTD |
£45,704 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Blunkett on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that the work carried out under the Girls’ Education Challenge Fund is fully inclusive of girls with disabilities.
Lynne Featherstone
The Girls Education Challenge programme has seven projects providing over £9 million to fund disability-focused girls education projects in Uganda, Kenya and Sierra Leone.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Elliott on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps his Department is taking to define and safeguard quality in solar farm developments.
Gregory Barker
In April 2014 we published the Solar PV Strategy [1], which set out the principle that Solar PV should be: appropriately sited, give proper weight to environmental considerations such as landscape and visual impact, heritage and local amenity, and provide opportunities for local communities to influence decisions that affect them and gain some form of community benefit.
The Solar Trade Association has produced “10 Commitments” for solar farm developers [2], and the National Solar Centre has produced its best practice guide for large scale solar PV development [3]. DECC will continue to work with industry through the Strategy Working Group to promote industry best-practice.
[1]
[2] http://www.solar-trade.org.uk/media/STA%2010%20commitments%20v%2010.pdf
[3] http://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/pdf/other_pdfs/KN5524_Planning_Guidance_reduced.pdf
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-05-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people on (a) employment and support allowance and (b) jobseeker’s allowance have moved from the Work Programme to Work Choice since June 2011.
Esther McVey
The information requested is not available.