Tag: Louise Haigh

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.

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

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

Jane Ellison

75% of Senior Civil Servants in the Department are based in London. Some Departmental team responsibilities are strictly policy matters and others may include, or exclusively involve, operational or corporate business activities. The Department does not impose an artificial distinction between ‘policy’ teams and operational or business teams as many teams will be active in both aspects of Government to varying degrees. The titles and topics covered by all the teams making up the Department can be found in the most recent Departmental organograms / structure charts at:

http://reference.data.gov.uk/gov-structure/organogram/?dept=dh

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost was of producing single departmental plans for each central government department.

Mr Oliver Letwin

All departments undertake business planning and performance management as part of business-as-usual to ensure the effective delivery of government. Single departmental plans have been introduced in this Parliament to be a common framework by which departments manage this business and the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury tracks progress against its commitments to the public.

The production of plans is part of this routine business planning, rather than an additional activity at additional cost. By rationalising reporting, we expect the process to become more efficient as it embeds.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to paragraphs 1.140 and 1.142 of the Budget 2016, whether it is his policy that apprentices over the age of 25 will be subject to the national living wage or the apprentice rate of the national minimum wage.

Nick Boles

Apprentices under the age of 19 or in the first year of their apprenticeship are entitled to at least the National Minimum Wage apprentice rate – currently set at £3.30 per hour.

All other apprentices are entitled to at least the minimum wage rate appropriate for their age, which for over-25s is the National Living Wage rate of £7.20 per hour.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2016 to Question 32149, on what page in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts the specific costs incurred by the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion are set out.

Matthew Hancock

Overseas travel costs for the Anti-Corruption Champion will be included in the next Cabinet Office annual report and accounts, which will be published on GOV.UK in due course.

There were no costs incurred by the Cabinet Office for the Anti-Corruption Champion in the latest annual report and accounts published. Any costs covered by the Cabinet Office for the Anti-Corruption Champion will be included in the next report which will be published on GOV.UK in due course.

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