Tag: Louise Haigh

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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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to implement the recommendations of the National Audit Office investigation into the acceptance of gifts and hospitality by government officials (HC 797, 2015-16).

Matthew Hancock

The Government is currently considering the conclusions put forward by the NAO in its recent report on Gifts and Hospitality.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Written Statement to the House of 16 July 2015, HCWS113, on Publication of Learning not Blaming and Review of NHS Leadership, what assessment he has made of the consistency of the abolition of the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s statutory Midwifery Committee with his plan to end the statutory supervision of midwives.

Ben Gummer

In the ‘Learning not blaming: The government response to Freedom to Speak Up, the Public Administration Select Committee report on clinical incidents, and the Morecambe Bay Investigation’, the Government accepted the recommendation to remove the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) current responsibility and accountability for statutory supervision of midwives in the United Kingdom and committed to changing the law as speedily as possible.

The abolition of the statutory Midwifery Committee at the NMC is a consequence of the Law Commission review of professional regulators. The Midwifery Committee does not have a role in the statutory supervision of midwives. The NMC is considering how midwifery advice will be secured by the NMC if the Midwifery Committee is, after consultation, abolished. It has set up a Midwifery Panel of interested parties to do this.

The proposals for a new design of supervision for midwifery, incorporated setting up a task force in each country of the UK under the auspices of each UK Chief Nursing Officer. They are currently working through plans to create new mechanisms and considering what systems and processes will replace the Local Supervising Authorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the gender was of each person who has (a) applied and (b) made the shortlist for each Permanent Secretary appointment since January 2015.

Matthew Hancock

As the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has recently said, we are considering methods by which we may publish information related to Permanent Secretary appointments in a way that doesn’t compromise individuals’ privacy.