Tag: Baroness Seccombe

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Seccombe on 2014-03-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps the Department for Communities and Local Government has taken to cut spending on Common Purpose leadership courses.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

I confirm that the Secretary of State has given a clear steer that spending on Common Purpose is not appropriate, and no expenditure has been undertaken since 2010. By contrast, the last Administration spent £235,950 on Common Purpose.

In ’50 ways to save’ the Department’s best practice guidance on sensible savings, we recommended councils cancel spending on Common Purpose leadership courses as a practical way of saving money.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Seccombe on 2014-03-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the amount of surplus public land sold so far to support housebuilding and development.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston

The Government has taken action to free up land for productive economic use. At the end of December 2013, the Public Sector Land Programme had sold surplus Government owned land capable of delivering over 68,000 homes in England as part of our ambition to dispose of surplus land with capacity for 100,000 homes by 2015. And through the recently concluded Strategic Land and Property Review the Government has identified scope to release £5 billion from its land and property between 2015 and 2020, creating opportunities for housing and economic development.The Government will look to quantify the housing and growth ambitions for this new programme by the time of the Autumn Statement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Seccombe on 2014-03-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the breakdown of departmental private office spending on Government Procurement Cards between 2005–06 and 2009–10.

Lord Deighton

The breakdown of spend by Ministerial private offices in the departmental on Government Procurement Cards for 2005-06 to 2009-10 is in the table below. There are three types of spend within the definition of GPC, procurement, lodge and corporate cards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Seccombe on 2014-03-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the breakdown of departmental spending in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on catering, hospitality and refreshments in (1) 2008–09, and (2) 2009–10.

Lord De Mauley

This table sets out the information requested, in respect of Core Defra.

The figures for Catering and Hospitality include a subsidy paid to the Department’s providers of in-house catering, hospitality and refreshments. The Department no longer pays such a subsidy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Seccombe on 2014-03-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the breakdown of departmental spending on Government Procurement Cards in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2009–10, including the name, merchant type, purchase date and transaction value.

Lord De Mauley

Officials’ spending on Government Procurement Cards (GPCs) in 2009-10 generated nearly 47,000 transactions totalling £3.9m.

The breakdown requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

However, details of all GPC transactions with a value of £500 or above, incurred from 1 April 2010 onwards, are published online at http://data.gov.uk/dataset/defra-gpc-spend-over-500-pounds.

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