Tag: Chris Leslie

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

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

    To ask the Attorney General, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by the Law Officers’ Departments in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.

    Oliver Heald

    In 2013-14 Professor Shute was paid £2,286.30 and Dr Tapley was paid £1,735.70 for consultancy services to HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI). There has been no other consultancy spend within that financial year by HMCPSI, the Treasury Solicitor’s Department or the Attorney General’s Office.

    The two companies listed below are the only organisations to have been paid by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for consultancy work during the last financial year.

    SCC £32,316

    CIO Partnership Ltd £2,100

    Inaddition, two individuals carried out consultancy work for the SFO. The total amount paid for this work was £13,812

    The table below details payments made by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consultancy firms during the last financial year.

    Evolve Business Consultancy

    £74,319

    Saville Consulting UK Ltd Surrey

    £22,008

    Triad Group Plc Surrey

    £19,260

    Deloitte LLP Milton Keynes

    £9,661

    Hay Group Management Limited

    £7,200

    LA International Computer Consultants Ltd

    £6,398

    ASE Consulting Ltd Lancashire

    £4,995

    Enquin Enviromental Ltd Cardiff

    £4,110

    HR Lounge Ltd London Total

    £3,180

    Long and Partners Commissioning Consultancy Ltd

    £2,010

    This information has been produced from the CPS accounting system, analysing spend against account codes for consultancy and professional services. Expenditure may include some payments for services not covered by the Crown Commercial Service Consultancy Value Programme definition of consultancy but provided by companies categorised as a consultancy firm. Excluded are payments for professional services supplied by third parties not classified as a consultancy firm such as employment agencies, training providers, solicitors, ICT managed service suppliers and freelance consultants engaged directly by the department.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 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.

    Mr David Lidington

    All contingent labour (provision of temporary workers) procured by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is provided by Hayes Specialist Recruitment. In the last financial year (2013/14) £476,000 was paid to Hays in agency fees.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, 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.

    Jenny Willott

    Under this Government’s transparency programme, details of spend are published on GOV.UK which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills

    To provide the level of detail requested in relation to agency fees would incur disproportionate cost.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, 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.

    Mr David Lidington

    For the past financial year (2013-2014) the 10 organisations paid most by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for consultancy and the associated spend figures were as follows: ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION & DEVELOPMENT (OECD) £285,579.00 DLA PIPER UK LLP £148,283.34 CBRE LTD £103,412.14 FIELD FISHER WATERHOUSE £52,940.75 FONNEGRA GERLEIN S.A £50,745.43 SAMSON AND MCGRATH £34,136.41 ACCENTURE (UK) LTD £29,892.00 DTZ CONSULTING AND RESEARCH £28,700.00 HOGAN LOVELLS INTERNATIONAL LLP £26,153.81 HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS £21,061.27

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, 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.

    Jenny Willott

    Under this Government’s transparency programme, details of spend are published on GOV.UK which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    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

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

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

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, 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.

    Mr Francis Maude

    The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

    Before the last General Election, including for the entire period while the Hon. Member was a minister in this very department, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.

    That’s all changed and ministers – supported by Cabinet Office officials – now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.

    We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.

    We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Leslie on 2014-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many businesses received support through the UK Guarantees Exports Refinancing Facility in 2013-14.

    Michael Fallon

    Following the Chancellor’s announcement in the 2014 Budget UK Export Finance formally launched the Export Refinancing Facility (ERF) on 30 April 2014.

    ERF is aimed at supporting UK bids for projects that require finance above $150m. As these projects typically involve lengthy contract negotiations, it may be sometime before we see a pipeline of deals that benefit from the ERF.

  • Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Leslie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

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

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, 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.

    Mr Francis Maude

    The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

    Before the last General Election, including for the entire period while the Hon. Member was a minister in this very department, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.

    That’s all changed and ministers – supported by Cabinet Office officials – now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.

    We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.

    We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.

  • 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 2014-04-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to improve support for small and medium-sized enterprises which are in need of short-term assistance and flexibility through improved partnership working between the HM Revenue and Custom’s (HMRC) simplified import VAT accounting duty deferment team and the HMRC debt management and time-to-pay teams; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Simplified Import VAT Accounting (SIVA) scheme is a trade facilitation measure that reduces compliance costs for legitimate traders through the removal of the requirement to provide a guarantee to secure import VAT paid through the duty deferment scheme.

    The risk to the tax revenue by traders operating SIVA is potentially very large as the period between the tax due being deferred and being collected by HMRC may result in a failure to pay. The setting of the SIVA approval criteria has to strike a balance between ensuring the trade receive the maximum benefit from the scheme, while at the same time protecting the revenue.

    Businesses have to demonstrate on-going compliance with the SIVA requirements. The SIVA team monitor this through internal systems, including any outstanding debts or Time-to Pay agreements requested. When they identify a business experiencing difficulties, they advise them of the potential impact on their SIVA approval. Warning letters are issued by the team to businesses who fail to comply and only if there is evidence of continued non-compliance is the approval removed.

    The current procedures provide an appropriate balance between trade faciliation and protection of the revenue.