The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-21.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Directors General in his Department have a private office.
Ben Gummer
Cabinet Office employs 14 Director Generals to deliver a wide range of policy, delivery, legal and national security objectives. Of these, seven have a private office to support them. The size and the responsibilities of the private office depend on the nature of work undertaken within that group.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people are currently claiming expenses from the public purse under the Public Duty Cost Allowance.
Ben Gummer
The Public Duties Cost Allowance is to assist former Prime Ministers with the costs of continuing to fulfil duties associated with their previous position in public life. A copy of the policy and guidance on the allowance is in the Library of the House. The costs are a reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary office costs and secretarial costs arising from their special position in public life. The allowance is not paid to support private or parliamentary duties. Civil servants are not entitled to claim this allowance.
Current recipients of the allowance are published in the Cabinet Office Annual Reports and Accounts. Previous recipients have included Lady Thatcher; the current recipients who are former Prime Ministers are Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. I also refer the Hon. Member to my answers to him of 9 September 2016 to (UIN 44045, 44048, 44049, 44053, 44054, 44055, 44056).
The Public Duties Cost Allowance rate is currently set at a limit of £115,000 per annum. When originally introduced, the Government stated that it would be the equivalent in amount to the Parliamentary Office Costs Allowance. I would note that that allowance is now known as the Parliamentary Staffing Allowance, determined by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and that is currently set at the rate of £148,500 per annum.”
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-12.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2016 to Question 43473, when he plans to publish Ministerial responsibilities held by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Ben Gummer
Further to the question asked by the Hon Member of 7 September 2016, Official Report, Column 321, I would add that my Rt Hon Friend, the Member for Derbyshire Dales, is a Minister of the Crown and a member of the Cabinet. He will attend a number of Cabinet Committees, which will be published in due course, and has duties directly related to the Duchy of Lancaster. The List of Ministerial Responsibilities will also be published in due course. He does not receive a Ministerial salary from public funds. Details of Private Office staff will be accounted for as part of the regular transparency data on gov.uk. The Government publishes on a quarterly basis details of Ministerial visits overseas. All Ministers have access to the Government Car Service for official travel.
My Rt Hon Friend also serves as the Party Chairman of the Conservative Party. Such arrangements are no different from the likes of Charles Clarke, Ian McCartney and Hazel Blears, all of whom held the posts of Minister Without Portfolio and Labour Party Chair under the last Labour Government.
I would also observe that under the Thatcher and Major Governments, senior figures such as Norman Tebbit, Kenneth Baker and Chris Patten served as both Chairman of the Conservative Party and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-13.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff have been seconded into his Department from outside the Civil Service in the last 12 months.
Ben Gummer
In the last 12 months, 15 individuals have been seconded into my Department from outside the Civil Service.
Secondments bring in external expertise and a fresh perspective across the department’s responsibilities, and include secondees from the private, public and voluntary sector.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Written Answer of 12 January 2015 to Question 219725, which UK officials will attend the MQ-9 Users Group meeting.
Mr Mark Francois
Five members of the Royal Air Force (RAF) will attend the MQ-9 Users Group meeting in Paris in January 2015. The party will be made up of representatives from the RAF’s ISTAR HQ, which is located at RAF Waddington, HQ Air Command and the Air Staff.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.
Andrea Leadsom
Moore Stephens undertook a Spend Recovery Analysis on five years’ worth of HM Treasury data between June 2013 and March 2014. The outcome of the analysis was that there were no duplicate supplier payments identified.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-01-14.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2014 to Question 213733, if he will seek the agreement of the US administration to release a copy of the current revised Reaper Agreement.
Mr Mark Francois
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 November 2014 to Question 213733. We will discuss possible release with the US once the Memorandum Of Understanding has been agreed and finalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.
Kris Hopkins
In my Department’s publication “50 ways to save”, we asserted that councils could save money by conducting audits of potential duplicate payments and reforming accounts payable processes. This was based on research by Experian of both local and central government bodies.
In the answer by my hon. Friend, the Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis) of 5 November 2013, Official Report, Column 145W, it was noted how our Department has itself undertaken such best practice, and had duly recovered £61,301 of taxpayers’ money from twenty duplicate payments for the period May 2010 to October 2013, apart from a sum of £257 which was not recoverable from three payments. A further £32,000 was recovered from historic duplicate payments made between 2006 and 2009. I also would note there were £7,018 of duplicate payments from January to April 2010.
Since that answer, our ongoing internal processes have identified a further £7,492 from four transactions from November 2013 to March 2014, all of which have been recovered thanks to our strengthened checks.
We have previously commissioned business analytics and information services firm, PRGX, to carry out a full spend-recovery audit on our accounts payable system and help us further improve and reform administrative practices. PRGX’s audit report has subsequently noted that 99.999% of the transaction value reviewed was processed correctly, and that: "DCLG have been effective in limiting supplier overpayments. The low rate of errors identified by the audit and statement request process indicates the current processes and controls continue to limit supplier overpayments."
This sizeable saving endorses what we said in “50 ways to save”: regularly checking for duplicate payments and putting systematic checks in place is a common-sense way of saving taxpayers’ money in both local and central government.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether any staff of her Department are engaged in considering the effects of drone strikes on civilian populations as part of her Department’s work in the Middle East and North Africa.
Mr Desmond Swayne
In countries where DFID has humanitarian programmes, we monitor the general humanitarian situation in close communication with partners on the ground.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.
Mrs Helen Grant
The value of duplicate supplier payments detected by the Department in each financial year since 2010 was:
Financial Year £
2010-11 £38,815.22
2011-12 £17,976.00
2012-13 NIL
2013-14 £26,481.10
All of these duplicate payments were detected by the Departments own financial control processes and recovered in full in the same financial year at no cost to the Department.