Tag: Tom Watson

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department will assess (a) the effect of drone strikes on civilian populations and (b) access to civilian compensation schemes as part of its humanitarian mission in Iraq and Syria.

Justine Greening

We are monitoring the impact of military operations on civilian populations in both Iraq and Syria and ensuring our humanitarian response is targeted to those most in need. To date, the UK has pledged £800 million in response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the region, and a further £39.5 million to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Access to civilian compensation schemes is an MoD lead and therefore does not form part of our humanitarian mission.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, 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.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been able to distinguish between duplicate payments and other types of overpayment made to suppliers from financial year 2013-14. In that year, the total value of duplicate payments identified was £4.1 million, 100% of which has been recovered. Over the first quarter of 2014-15, we have identified duplicate payments to the value of £0.5 million of which 60% has so far been recovered. Prior to 2013-14 we were unable to distinguish duplicate supplier payments from other types of overpayments. However all overpayments have been recovered since 2010.

The MOD processes over four million invoices a year totalling some £26 billion. We review our bill payment processes and controls periodically to ensure that we achieve the required high standards of performance and governance and seek to recover overpayments made to suppliers as quickly as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what research her Department has undertaken on access of civilian victims of drone strikes in Afghanistan to civilian compensation schemes administered by troop contributing nations.

Justine Greening

Access to civilian compensation schemes is a Ministry of Defence lead. There is a system in place for handling all claims for compensation brought against the Ministry of Defence by Afghan civilians.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, 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.

Amber Rudd

The Department has identified and recovered the whole of two duplicate supplier payments totalling £1,000 in this period.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2015 to Question 222429, whether any of the RAF personnel in Afghanistan support RPAS operations.

Mr Mark Francois

No RAF personnel in Afghanistan are supporting Remotely Piloted Air Systems operations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by her Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

Dan Rogerson

Core Defra has controls in place to prevent duplicate payments being made to suppliers. These include careful checking of each invoice against evidence of delivery and against any previous payments in respect of the relevant purchase order. External and internal audit reviews of key financial controls have found no evidence of weakness that would lead to duplicate payments. There are also regular reviews of expenditure against budgets which would quickly bring to light unexpected payments and would lead to immediate action for recovery.

Core Defra is carrying out a Spend Recovery Audit, as part of a Cabinet Office initiative on fraud and error which we expect to conclude by Autumn 2014.