Tag: Tom Watson

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-03-14.

To ask the Prime Minister, if he will carry out an investigation into whether there was a breach of Privy Council rules in relation to the story in The Sun of 9 March 2016 relating to HM The Queen and the referendum on EU membership.

Mr David Cameron

I refer the hon. Member to the statement made to the House by the Lord President of the Council on 14 March 2016, Official Report, columns 653-654. and to the Cabinet Secretary’s letter to the hon. Member for Ilford North (Mr Streeting) 11 March 2016. I have placed a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many officials of her Department have applied for special leave to carry out work for non-governmental departments in the last 12 months.

Sir Desmond Swayne

DFID’s policy on special leave is specific and does not extend to working for other organisations. There has only been one exception to this policy in the last 12 months. As this relates to a single individual any further information is being withheld because releasing these details could lead to the individual being identified and would therefore breach the legitimate expectation of an individual’s right to protection of their personal information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-12.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority are employed on temporary contracts.

Ben Gummer

The infrastructure and Projects Authority currently has 37 people within the business on Fixed Term Appointments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what steps he plans to take to ensure cross-party input at each stage of formulating national goals and strategy in negotiating the UK’s exit from the EU.

Mr Robin Walker

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 28 July to Question 43465. The Department for Exiting the EU will lead the UK’s negotiations to leave the European Union and establish the future relationship between the EU and the UK, working closely with the UK Parliament, devolved administrations, and a wide range of other interested parties. Consultation with opposition parties will be an important part of this process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he plans to take to improve performance in his Department of handling correspondence from hon. Members and Peers.

Ben Gummer

The prompt response to correspondence from both Members of Parliament/Peers and the public is of high importance to the Department, and is a personal priority for me. We aim to respond to all correspondence within 15 working days.

Our last published statistics for the calendar year 2015 were at 70%, far below our preferred level of 90%. We are trialling new reforms to improve our response rate, such as more comprehensive statistics per unit within the Department, and board-level scrutiny of monthly statistics.

The Guidance on handling correspondence from Members of Parliament, Peers, MEPs and Members of devolved Administrations was updated in March 2016

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/handling-government-correspondence-guidance

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which former Deputy Prime Ministers have claimed expenses under the Public Duty Cost Allowance after leaving office.

Ben Gummer

The purpose of 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. Exceptionally, the then Prime Minister agreed that the former Deputy Prime Minister , the Rt Hon Member for Sheffield Hallam, should be able to have access to the allowance to recognise the special position he held in the Coalition Government. Other former Deputy Prime Ministers are not eligible for the allowance. The allowance is set at a maximum limit of £115,000 per annum. The amounts paid are a reimbursement of expenses, accounted for in the published Cabinet Office Annual Reports and Accounts. The former Deputy Prime Minister is eligible for the allowance from the date of leaving ministerial office for the duration of this Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-08.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2016 to Question 43066, on Cabinet Office: Ministerial policy advisers, whether his Department has now calculated the information requested in that Question on severance pay.

Ben Gummer

This information will be published in due course, as part of the full and detailed list of special advisers, salary bands and total pay bill costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that parliamentary questions are answered in full where the requested information is already available.

Ben Gummer

Ministers are responsible for the answers they give to Parliamentary questions. The practice of providing links or references to published material is long standing. There are currently no plans to update the Guidance to Departments on drafting answers to Parliamentary questions given it was previously updated in the last Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-02-02.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings Ministers and officials of his Department have had with representatives of Uber in the last 12 months.

Matthew Hancock

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations, including senior media figures, are published routinely and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications on Gov.uk.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials work in his private office.

Matthew Hancock

The government publishes information on the job titles and pay grades of senior civil servants along with the numbers of staff they manage on a twice yearly basis. Information for all my office will be published in the next set of data.