Tag: Louise Haigh

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2015 to Question 17801, what the evidential basis is for his statement that civil service job satisfaction remains high and wellbeing has increased.

Matthew Hancock

The Civil Service People Survey provides annual data on staff engagement and wellbeing. The survey, which is undertaken each October, had 279,653 individuals in 96 organisations respond in 2015.

The latest results show that we continue to see high scores for questions on whether people are interested in their work (89%), have the skills they need to do their job (88%) and are trusted to do their job effectively (88%). We can also see that measures of life satisfaction, feeling worthwhile and happiness have increased since last year and are now all 3 percentage points above their initial 2012 position.

More information can be found athttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-people-survey-2015-results

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on the Pub Loan Fund; and when he expects that fund to be accessible to community groups.

Mr Marcus Jones

Good progress is being made on the development of the pubs loan fund. We hope to be in a position to make a more formal announcement shortly with communities being able to access the support later in the Spring.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the findings were of the Commercial Capability Review conducted by Bain & Company for the Efficiency and Reform Group.

Matthew Hancock

The Cabinet Office used 4 FTE over a nine month period in 2014 and 2015, to cover 10 Commercial Capability Reviews. Bain & Company supported the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury with providing assurance that departments were on track with clear plans to ensure they have the right commercial capability, both in the short-term and for their future functions.

The findings of the review, along with updates on progress since the Reviews were conducted, can be found within the Cabinet Office’s December 2015 submission to the Public Accounts Committee: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/public-accounts-committee/followup-on-transforming-contract-management/written/27765.pdf

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish equality impact assessments and cost benefit analysis produced as part of the programme of rationalisation of HM Revenue and Customs offices.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Location Programme is the result of an extended period of consultation and deliberation. The Department has taken account of a number of criteria in reaching its decisions, including the quality of local transport links, the local labour market and future workforce supply, the cost of buildings and asset value, and the need to retain the staff and skills it needs to continue its transformation. These changes will reduce HMRC’s estates costs by around £100 million a year by 2025.

HMRC conducted high level People Impact and Equality Assessments to inform its planning. The Department plans to update these once discussions have been held with its staff.

HMRC’s modelling estimates that the majority of staff live within Reasonable Daily Travel of a regional centre. Reasonable Daily Travel is calculated in line with established HR policies and procedures. Every worker at HMRC will have a one-to-one meeting with their manager to discuss their individual circumstances.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the procedures set out in 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 2016-02-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the comment by Peter Wilkinson, Director of Rail Passenger Services at his Department, of 22 February 2016, about future industrial relations between his Department and transport unions is accurate.

Claire Perry

The Department for Transport is committed to continuing to work constructively with the Transport Unions in the coming years to deliver the best possible transport services for all passengers, users and taxpayers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what annual rent his Department paid at (a) 1 Victoria Street, London and (b) St Paul’s Place, Sheffield in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Joseph Johnson

We have committed to making changes to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) by 2020 that will result in a more flexible Department, reduced headcount and far fewer delivery bodies.

Our business needs to be designed in a way that works for this smaller workforce and more streamlined structures.

To support this direction of travel, we are moving towards seven or so centres by 2020, supported by a regional footprint for those whose work needs to be at a local level.

We want each of these centres to focus on a key business activity so that we can bring the relevant expertise together.

We are proposing that one of these centres will be a combined BIS headquarters and policy centre in London, close to our Ministers.

The average cost of floor space at each of the Department’s offices is:

a) £483.64 per sqm at St Paul’s Place

b) £686.20 per sqm at 1 Victoria Street

The annual rent paid by BIS over the last 5 years is:

Year	(a) 1 Victoria Street	(b) St Paul’s Place
2015-16	£11,004,000	£209,304
2014-15	£11,004,000	£209,304
2013-14	£11,004,000	£209,304
2012-13	£11,004,000	£209,304
2011-12	£11,004,000	£209,304

By the end of this reform programme in 2020, we will have fewer employees in London and BIS as a whole, and aim to save £350million in operating expenditure overall. The vast majority of employees within the BIS Group will continue to be based outside London.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of her Department’s (a) Senior Civil Servants and (b) core policy civil servants are based in London.

George Eustice

As of February 2016, 89% of Defra Senior Civil Servants and 82% of core Defra policy civil servants are based in London.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to answer Written Questions 29167 and 29238, tabled on 1 March 2016 and Written Question 29372, tabled on 2 March 2016.

Joseph Johnson

I have replied to the hon Member.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-03-21.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to introduce a civil service wide socio-economic background census.

Matthew Hancock

On 24 March, we published our 2016 Talent Action Plan for the Civil Service. As well as providing a progress update, it sets out how we will increase social mobility in the Civil Service.

We are making a specific commitment that the Civil Service will lead the way, working with major employers and organisations promoting social mobility, to develop a national set of measures of socio-economic background for employers.

The Civil Service will use these to measure the socio-economic background of its workforce, starting with the Senior Civil Service, the Fast Stream, apprenticeship starts and applicants to our corporate talent programmes.

The 2016 Talent Action Plan is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/talent-action-plan-2016-removing-the-barriers-to-success

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