Tag: Louise Haigh

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that all UK Pension schemes are aware of (a) the findings of the Law Commission’s report on Fiduciary Duties of Investment Intermediaries, published in June 2014, HC 368, and (b) related guidance to be issued by the Pensions Regulator.

Justin Tomlinson

The Pensions Regulator has already taken steps to ensure that occupational pension schemes are aware of the findings of the Law Commission’s report on fiduciary duties.

In October 2014 The Pensions Regulator emailed over 37,000 pension scheme trustees to make them aware of the Law Commission’s report, and the guidance produced by the Law Commission on pension trustees’ duties.

The Pensions Regulator has also updated its ‘trustee toolkit’ training materials to reflect the Law Commission’s findings, and is updating its investment guidance with new material with reflects the Law Commission’s conclusions. This includes the revised Code of Practice and guidance for running defined contribution schemes, which is currently published for consultation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many civil servants in her Department are in the redeployment pool.

Mr Desmond Swayne

DFID has 10 staff at present in its redeployment pool of staff who have become surplus due to the role they were filling either having been discontinued, or it having been confirmed to them that their role will be discontinued.

For those whose roles have already been discontinued (5 staff), temporary work has been found whilst we continue to look for more appropriate longer term positions for them.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many cyber attacks have been prevented on government systems in each year from 2010 to date.

Matthew Hancock

For security reasons we do not comment on specific details of cyber security attacks but we are continuously monitoring and managing the security risks to all HMG systems.

We take cyber security very seriously; since 2011 we have invested £860 million in a National Cyber Security Programme to protect the UK from cyber attack.We will invest £1.9b in cyber security over the next five years to protect the UK from cyber attacks. This ambitious level of investment will include: a programme of active cyber defence; creation of a National Cyber Centre and an ambitious skills programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-11.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Autumn Statement and Summer Budget 2015, paragraph 2.172, what estimate he has made of the rent that the Cabinet Office will need to pay to the Government Property Unit for its own buildings.

Matthew Hancock

The Government Property Unit is working with departments to agree a detailed timeline for the transfer of assets and on the detail of implementation, including the finance and charging regime.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to publish its response to its consultation on the use of restrictive covenants for pubs which closed in September 2011.

Mr Marcus Jones

We intend to publish the Government response to the consultation on whether the use of restrictive covenants in the pubs sector was having a negative impact upon communities and will do so in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-01-27.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of savings to his Department as a result of (a) ISSC1 and (b) ISSC2 in each year since 2013.

Matthew Hancock

Cabinet Office does not hold current financial information for Independent Shared Service Centre 1 (ISSC1). As the sole customer receiving services as part of ISSC1, responsibility for the majority of the programme and contract management is now undertaken by DfT.

ISSC2’s Founding customers achieved net savings of £0.9 million in financial year 2013-14 and £8.19 million net savings in financial year 2014-15. There was a 17% reduction in costs of service in 2014-15 compared with the 2012-13 baseline.

The Cabinet Office achieved £0.12 million net savings in 2013-14 and £0.31 million net savings in financial year 2014-15 as a result of receiving services through ISSC2. The figure for 2014-15 represents a 17% reduction in costs compared with the 2012-13 baseline.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when in January 2016 the decision to issue compulsory redundancy notices to 152 HM Revenue and Customs staff was made.

Mr David Gauke

Approval to proceed to compulsory redundancy for 152 HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) staff was received from Civil Service Resourcing and the Cabinet Office following consultation with the departmental trade unions and a period of reflection. It was endorsed by HMRC’s Executive Committee and the final decision was taken by the Chief Executive on 28 January 2016.

The 152 people affected are based in around 50 locations across the UK. HMRC is continuing to seek redeployment solutions for all those who wish it to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many firms have been excluded from bidding for Government contracts since the introduction of the procurement policy note, Measures to promote tax compliance published in February 2014.

Matthew Hancock

These new measures on tax compliance, introduced in 2013, enable government departments to exercise their power to exclude firms bidding for government contracts where they have been non-compliant in meeting their legal tax obligations.

The policy is compatible with the existing procurement process and is being updated to clarify the use of mandatory and discretionary exclusion criteria, contained in the new Public Contracts Regulations 2015, concerning tax compliance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department issues to senior civil servants attending events organised by hon. Members of the Government party.

Matthew Hancock

All civil servants are subject to the requirements of the Civil Service Code and Civil Service Management Code. Further guidance on attendance at external events including those organised by political parties can be found in the Directory of Civil Service Guidance (vol 2).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what declarations under EU procurement guidelines Maximus made in tendering for the Work Capability Assessment contract.

Priti Patel

The Work Capability Assessment contract was awarded to Maximus Health and Human Services Ltd in line with the Government’s EU procurement guidelines. These guidelines include the grounds for the mandatory or discretionary rejection of suppliers and cover areas such as convictions for bribery, fraud, money laundering and debt in the EU under EU/UK Law. Maximus Health and Human Services Ltd made the appropriate declarations.