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Tag: Chris Leslie

  • Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Leslie – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2016-03-24.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2016 to Question 30533, for what reasons a separate breakdown for revenue accrued from financial spread betting and other general betting duties is not available; and if he will make a statement.

    Damian Hinds

    Published information on General Betting Duty receipts is not split down into constituent types of bets (such as financial or other types of spread bets).

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2013-11-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many overseas trips, and at what total cost, his Department made in each year since 2010; and what the costs of (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were of each trip.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    The Ministry of Justice has reduced the overall cost of air travel by almost half since 2009, and our total spend on all travel has fallen by more than 40 per cent in the same period – a saving of more than £9m.

    Furthermore, this year, the Justice Secretary toughened up the rules to ban first and business class travel for Ministers and officials in the department other than in exceptional circumstances where this is required to meet business need.

    Overseas travel makes up a small proportion of the Department’s overall travel requirement. Flights and travel by Eurostar are booked through our contracted supplier, and whilst the MoJ records data on transactions, it does not hold details of the cost or destination of individual trips centrally. The cost of breaking down all travel in the ways requested would be disproportionate, as managers across the Department would have to create a breakdown of every trip taken, itemised by the different kinds of expenditure.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-01-09.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion and value of his Department’s contracts have been let (a) under the restricted procedure, (b) by the open procedure, (c) via framework agreements and (d) via a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Since January 2011, central government departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the tenders issued and contracts they award with a value over £10,000 (excluding VAT) (www.gov.uk/contractsfinder).

    Public Procurement Regulations require that prescribed procurement procedures are used when procurements exceed the EU contract threshold values. This legal framework helps to ensure that public procurement is conducted in a fair and open manner both within the UK and across the EU.

    Less than two percent of all contracts were let under the restricted procedure in each of the last three years.

    In 2010/11 there was one contract let under the restricted procedure. This was for actuarial support to the independent commission on Equitable Life Payments that was set up by this government to recommend how best to fairly allocate funds provided for the Equitable Life Payments Scheme (ELPS) and had a contract value of £1million.

    In 2011/12 there were two contracts let under the restricted procedure. They were (i) Corporate Financial Advice framework contract (estimated contract value of £5 million over the 2 years but no guaranteed spend)and (ii) a contract for actuarial support for (ELPS) in making fair and transparent payments to Equitable Life policyholders who suffered financial losses as a result of Government maladministration which occurred in the regulation of Equitable Life. The contract value was £5.4 million.

    The information requested for the proportion and value of HM Treasury contracts that have been let via framework agreements and where a tendering process involving the use of a pre-qualification questionnaire in each of the last three years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2013-11-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many overseas trips, and at what total cost, his Department has made in each year since 2010; and what the costs of (a) flights, (b) internal travel, (c) hotel accommodation and (d) subsistence were of each trip.

    Brandon Lewis

    Role of the Department

    Reflecting our responsibilities for local government, housing, planning and communities across England, the work of the Department involves staff travelling to different parts of the country.

    Improved procurement has reduced our average domestic hotel rate in the UK by 8% between 2009-10 and 2012-13. Moreover, domestic flights for longer journeys can avoid the need for paying for staff to stay in a hotel overnight.

    Since 2011-12, the Department accepted responsibility for some new functions outside of London, including residual functions following the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions and then oversight of the European Regional Development Fund following the abolition of the Regional Development Agencies. As these business functions relate to work in areas outside of London and to the European Commission, this has therefore increased our travel spend compared to the base of 2010-11. However, this is far more than offset by the very significant savings to taxpayers of the abolition of these regional bodies.

    Based on current estimates (which reflect accounting consequences from machinery of government changes) the DCLG Group is reducing its annual running costs by around 40% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2014-15. This equates to net savings of at least £532 million over this spending review period and includes savings of around £420 million from the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions.

    In addition to this, I note that the Regional Development Agencies were spending in the region of £246 million a year on administration (as cited in 11 March 2009, Official Report, Column 592W).

    Spending data

    The tables below list spending on travel by financial year. Figures for 2009-10 are from July 2009, as this is when the department’s current approved travel agent contract commenced; those figures are therefore only for three-quarters of the financial year, and the full year is likely to be proportionately higher.

    Overseas Travel

    Overseas Accommodation

    Overseas Subsistence

    Total

    July 2009 – March 10

    £408,621

    £19,847

    £79,574

    £508,042 (part-year)

    2010-11

    £56,304

    £21,759

    £27,798

    £105,861

    2011-12

    £69,463

    £21,204

    £19,946

    £110,613

    2012-13

    £78,474

    £29,224

    £21,911

    £129,609

    UK Travel

    UK Accommodation

    UK Subsistence

    Total

    July 2009 – March 10

    £621,028

    £309,260

    £174,888

    £1,105,176 (part-year)

    2010-11

    £434,467

    £199,563

    £81,315

    £715,345

    2011-12

    £980,307

    £162,544

    £71,913

    £1,214,764

    2012-13

    £1,030,710

    £166,149

    £74,424

    £1,271,283

    Explanatory notes:

    – Overseas subsistence costs can include accommodation, meals and travel tickets purchased locally.

    – The costs of internal travel abroad are not routinely recorded in the form requested and this information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

    – Data on cost per trip is not centrally held in the form requested.

    – For car hire, the data from our finance systems do not separate out expenditure for domestic and international car hire and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

    – For helicopter hire, our records show that the Department has incurred no expenditure on this since 2010-11.

    – Figures contained in this answer may differ from previous answers to Parliamentary Questions, as the data extracts have been re-run and reflect ongoing accruals and data. Delays in billing or crediting transactions can sometimes have an effect on the spend data between the financial years.

    Taken in the whole, we have reduced overall travel spending compared to the last Administration, and delivered substantive savings for taxpayers’ from the abolition of regional government in England.

  • Chris Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2015-10-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will meet representatives of the British Muslim charities sector to discuss concerns about the level of prejudice and unfair stigmatisation they may encounter in the course of their work; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations and individuals. Details of these meetings are published on the Cabinet Office website on a quarterly basis.

    I would be happy to consider further engagement as appropriate.

  • Chris Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what progress his Department has made on the merger of further education colleges in Nottingham; and what options are under consideration for broadening and improving the governance of that new institution.

    Nick Boles

    Following a city-wide review of further education provision in Nottingham by the Further Education Commissioner, the Boards of Governors of New College Nottingham and Central College Nottingham have agreed to pursue a merger of their colleges to take effect from September 2016.

    Colleges are independent corporations and responsible for their own decision making, including the governance arrangements that will apply to the merged entity.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2015-01-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what types of offence resulted in confiscation orders being made in 2012-13; and how much was collected as a result of those orders.

    Mike Penning

    The table below shows the primary offence type for all confiscation orders made between 01/04/2012 and 31/03/2013 and the current amount paid against those impositions as of 16/01/2015. The ‘Amount Paid’ does not include any sums of interest that may have been collected on those orders.

    Primary Offence Type

    Amount Paid

    Arms Trafficking

    £ 2,274.00

    Bribery and Corruption

    £ 724.00

    Burglary / Theft

    £ 5,178,518.99

    Counterfeiting / Intellectual Property / Forgery

    £ 3,482,693.99

    Drug Trafficking

    £ 27,142,467.06

    Excise Duty Fraud

    £ 1,250,612.62

    Handling Stolen Goods

    £ 778,521.81

    Intellectual Property Crime

    £ 390,863.43

    Money Laundering – Drugs

    £ 8,183,885.75

    Money Laundering – Other

    £ 18,291,592.71

    Other Crime

    £ 8,045,149.97

    Other Fraud / Embezzlement / Deception / Crimes of dishonesty

    £ 22,650,449.84

    People Trafficking

    £ 281,589.31

    Pimps and Brothels / Prostitution / Pornography

    £ 965,260.92

    Robbery

    £ 167,503.53

    Tax and Benefit Fraud

    £ 9,078,615.86

    Terrorism

    £ 39,945.15

    Trading Standards Offences

    £ 435,591.73

    Unknown

    £ 125,986.91

    VAT Fraud

    £ 10,548,046.91

    Vehicle Offences

    £ 917,892.02

    Grand Total

    £ 117,958,186.51

    Confiscation orders are one of the key mechanisms available to the Government to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crimes. They are based on the notional benefit attributed to the crime and may, therefore, exceed the value of realisable assets that are known to the Court at the time of imposition. Crucially, an order that is outstanding stops the criminal benefitting from the proceeds of crime and ensures that, if assets are discovered in the future, they can be seized.

    HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and other agencies involved in confiscation order enforcement take the recovery of criminal assets very seriously and are working to ensure that clamping down on defaulters is a continued priority.

    The amount defendants repaid from their criminal activity across all agencies has increased for the last five consecutive years and we are currently on course to have another highly effective year. £137.2million was collected in 2013/14 (which represented a 4% increase on the total recovered during 2012/13); as at the end of December 2014, £113 million had been recovered, which is an increase of 10% on the same period last year.

  • Chris Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chris Leslie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2015-02-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to page 77 of the British Council’s Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, what the value is of each tangible fixed asset worth more than £250,000.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The net book value of the British Council’s tangible fixed assets as at 31 March 2014 was £165,850,000. Individual valuations per asset cannot be provided as this information is commercially sensitive.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, 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.

    Brandon Lewis

    In answering this question, we have used the Cabinet Office definition for contingent labour (temporary staff) which includes admin and clerical agency staff, interim managers and specialist contractors: use of such staff for short-term or specialist work can be better value for money than hiring staff on permanent contracts.

    Details of the five companies that my Department has used most often in the last financial year for the provision of contingent labour are set out below:

    Financial Year 2013-14

    Organisation

    Total Expenditure (excluding VAT)

    Capita Resourcing Ltd

    £1,736,580

    Reed Employment Services

    £172,702

    Reed Specialist Recruitment Ltd

    £136,335

    Manpower UK Ltd

    £40,423

    Premier Employment Group Ltd

    £22,677

    To put this in context, my Department has cut spending on contingent labour from £14.4 million in 2009-10 to £3.3 million in 2013-14 as a result of the tightening of its internal management controls, institutionalising these in its systems and adhering to Treasury and Cabinet Office spending rules. This represents a saving of £11.1 million a year (2013-14 compared to 2009-10)

    In addition to the savings on temporary workers, our departmental audited annual accounts for the core Department show that staff costs fell from £216 million in 2009-10 to £99 million in 2012-13, a reduction of 54% in cash terms, or a further saving of £117 million a year.

    These savings also reflect the Coalition Government’s agenda of decentralisation, ending the micromanagement of local government, the abolition of regional government, and the broader need to tackle the deficit left by the last Administration.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

    Brandon Lewis

    The table below sets out the ten consultancy firms that were paid the most by my Department in the last financial year

    The data complies with definitions on Consultancy laid down by the Cabinet Office which excludes agency staff and interim (contingent) labour.

    Financial Year 2013-14

    Organisation

    Total Expenditure (excluding VAT)

    Local Partnership LLP*

    £150,918

    PricewaterhouseCoopers

    £108,516

    Ove Arup & Partners

    £66,790

    Amec Environment & Infrastructure

    £62,509

    Ernest & Young LLP

    £20,000

    Capgemini UK Plc

    £17,000

    Grant Thornton UK LLP

    £8,815

    Giant Professional Limited

    £6,400

    Oakleigh Consulting Ltd

    £4,950

    Land Use Consultants

    £1,345

    * Local Partnerships is a company that is jointly owned by HM Treasury and the Local Government Association; it provides commercial expertise on matters of infrastructure, legal and contractual complexity and acts for the benefit of the public sector.

    My Department has cut spending on consultancy from £36.6 million in 2009-10 to £0.5 million in 2013-14. This represents a saving of £36.1 million a year (2013-14 compared to 2009-10) and has been achieved through contract renegotiations, terminations and adherence to Cabinet Office controls on consultancy spending.

    To put this in context, based on current estimates (which reflect accounting consequences from machinery of government changes) the DCLG Group is reducing its annual running costs by around 40% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2014-15. This equates to net savings of at least £532 million over this spending review period and includes savings of around £420 million from the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions.