Tag: Louise Haigh

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the cost of using external agencies for recruitment to Senior Civil Service posts in his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Edward Vaizey

As part of its long-term economic plan, this Government has reduced the size of the Civil Service by 22%, adjusting for Machinery of Government changes that moved staff into and out of the Civil Service since the 2010 General Election, representing a significant increase in efficiency and productivity that helped save taxpayers £2.8 billion last year alone.

In the past five years, Department costs for using external agencies in the recruitment of two Senior Civil Service posts are recorded as below:

Financial Year	Recruitment Costs (£)
2011/2012
2012/2013
2013/2014
2014/2015	£33,019.00
2015/2016	£26,300.00

Background Information

We hold no records for years 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014.The Department has used external agencies to recruit for specialist SCS roles. Departments have a number of routes available to them to procure recruitment agency services. These include their own departmental procurement processes and the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), which has been in place since April 2014.

The roles recruited for were Chief Executive of BDUK and Deputy Director of Telecoms Business Intelligence Centre

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 the Home Department, how many civil servants in her Department are in the redeployment pool.

Karen Bradley

There are 104 staff in the redeployment pool. This data is from the Home Office redeployment database.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-12-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans the NHS has to make use of (a) information technology and (b) informatics to improve the delivery of healthcare.

George Freeman

The Government’s policy for using information technology to improve the delivery of healthcare and transform outcomes for patients and citizens was set out in the National Information Board Framework for Action: Personalised Heath and Care 2020, published in November 2014. The document is available from:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personalised-health-and-care-2020

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.