Tag: Jonathan Ashworth

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil law suits have been brought against his Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

Mark Lancaster

The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many (a) publications, (b) consultation documents and (c) circulars his Department has issued since August 2012; and what the title was of each such publication, consultation document or circular.

Mr David Lidington

Over 3,500 Foreign and Commonwealth Office publications since 1 August 2012 are available on the gov.uk website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications

Many of our Posts and Missions overseas publish documents that are relevant to their work. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold information on the full range of documents centrally and it could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department spent from the public purse on industrial tribunals in the last 12 months.

Mr Desmond Swayne

In the last 12 month period DFID has spent £84.30 on Industrial Tribunals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-24.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the Government plans to ensure that any special advisers working part-time for Government and part-time for a campaign do not make use of departmental or government resources in their campaign work.

Matthew Hancock

Special advisers are required to conduct themselves in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers at all times.

Arrangements for special advisers’ involvement in campaign activities are set out in the Cabinet Secretary’s letter of 23 February. This letter is published on www.GOV.UK.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of officials of his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and what proportion of total sick leave that leave was in each such year.

Mr Edward Vaizey

The average days’ sickness absence per full time equivalent employed by DCMS during the last financial year was 2.0 days.

The Civil Service takes a holistic approach to managing sick absence and improving wellbeing and we have focussed on specific actions to reduce the incidence of mental disorders, including stress related absence. This includes

• early referral to occupational health experts, particularly for mental health, stress or musculoskeletal conditions,

• early referral to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) for CBT based counselling support for mental health issues,

• workplace adjustments that help to prevent conditions from developing or worsening, whilst reducing the barriers to work for those affected by mental or physical impairments,

• extensive training for managers and employees including on disability and mental health awareness, well-being, resilience and stress.

Financial Year	Number of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress	Proportion of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress	Proportion of total sick such sick leave was in the department
Apr 14 – Mar 15	1	0.2%	0.5%
Apr 13 – Mar 14	2	0.5%	0.9%
Apr 12 – Mar 13	3	0.8%	1.2%
Apr 11 – Mar 12	5	1.1%	2.1%
Apr 10 – Mar 11	6	1.4%	2.5%

Background

We have reported on the average sickness absence in the annual report (link) and do not specifically report on sickness absence due to stress.

The DCMS sick absence data is low in comparison with the Civil Service average of 7.4 Average Working Days Lost. We do not have any evidence to know why this is. HR continues to remind all staff and managers of the importance of accurate and prompt recording on the HR system.

Financial Year	Number of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress	Proportion of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress	Department FTE	Total sickness in department	Percentage of staff who took Stress Related Absence against total staff who recorded a sick absence
Apr 14 – Mar 15	1	0.2%	461	203	0.5%
Apr 13 – Mar 14	2	0.5%	381	234	0.9%
Apr 12 – Mar 13	3	0.8%	376	259	1.2%
Apr 11 – Mar 12	5	1.1%	457	243	2.1%
Apr 10 – Mar 11	6	1.4%	443	242	2.5%

¹Department FTE from DCMS Annual Report & Accounts 2010-11 and 2014-15

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-04-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of the officials of his Department he expects to be made redundant by the end of 2016.

Jane Ellison

The Department has begun its DH2020 programme which, amongst other things, aims to reduce the size of the Department by about one third over the course of this parliament. As a result the Department is anticipating moving from around 2,000 roles to around 1,300-1,400 over this time period.

To deliver the reductions, the Department will offer Voluntary Exits and a three month redeployment period for displaced staff, prior to moving to Voluntary Redundancy and Compulsory Redundancy, if necessary. Taking this into account, numbers of redundancies are expected to be lower than the headline numbers given above.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the Government plans to fund, monitor and report on commitments negotiated at the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.

Matthew Hancock

The delivery of the commitments negotiated at the Anti Corruption Summit will be overseen by the Inter Ministerial Group on Corruption, which is jointly chaired by the Prime Minister’s Anti-Corruption Champion and the Minister for Security in the Home Office.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2016 to Question 36373, which overseas territories and Crown dependencies have declined the invitation to attend the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.

Matthew Hancock

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government’s Anti-Corruption Tsar addressed the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016.

Matthew Hancock

The Anti-Corruption Champion attended the anti-corruption summit on 12 May and hosted a delegate’s breakfast. He also addressed the Tackling Corruption Together conference, organised by civil society and business, and attended a reception for summit delegates at No10 Downing Street the day before. In addition, he had a number of bilateral meetings with some of the delegates.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-06-14.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who is leading the negotiations with the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies on sharing beneficial ownership information.

Matthew Hancock

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office leads on discussions with the Overseas Territories. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the constitutional relationship with the Crown Dependencies.

Discussions on beneficial ownership information-sharing, with both the OTs and CDs, has involved a range of departments, including FCO, MoJ, HM Treasury, Cabinet Office and law enforcement authorities.