Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether voluntary exit or redundancy packages offered to civil servants are subject to a maximum cap; if so, whether that cap includes pension elements or pension-related costs; and what the current limits, eligibility criteria and conditions are for those packages across departments, including the Treasury.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The maximum cap for a Voluntary Exit (VE) or Voluntary Redundancy (VR) scheme relates to a salary cap of £149,820, mandatory for calculating higher value exit payments. There is no overall maximum cap, although exit offers should provide value for money. Pension top-ups are only mandatory for a VR scheme.
For both VE and VR, the minimum qualifying service is two years, although departments may exercise discretion.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which Government departments, Executive Agencies and Arm’s-Length Bodies operate salary sacrifice arrangements; and what categories of benefit are provided under those arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office does not hold information about what salary sacrifice schemes government departments offer.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which Government departments, Executive Agencies and Arm’s-Length Bodies operate optional remuneration arrangements; and what categories of benefit are provided under those arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As individual employers, decisions on remuneration are delegated to individual departments for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS). This information is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Ministerial Pension Scheme or the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund benefit from any optional remuneration arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Ministerial Pension Scheme does not utilise salary sacrifice arrangements.
An active member is required to pay a member contribution rate of 11.2% of pensionable salary to participate in the scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Ministerial Pension Scheme or the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund benefit from any salary sacrifice arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Ministerial Pension Scheme does not utilise salary sacrifice arrangements.
An active member is required to pay a member contribution rate of 11.2% of pensionable salary to participate in the scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Ministers occupying official residences pay the second homes premium on council tax, where that residence is not their primary residence and where the local authority levies such a premium on dwellings; and whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the current guidance given to Ministers on paying council tax on official residences, other than the Ministerial Code.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Ministers who are allocated an official residence are reminded of their responsibility for all personal tax liabilities, including council tax, in line with the principles of the Ministerial Code.
As has been the case for successive administrations, where a minister occupies an official residence as a second home, the responsibility for payment of council tax falls to the responsible Department.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 27 November 2024 (HC14946), which specific department and programme reductions to Government Communication Service spending expect to save £85 million.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the noble Lady to the answer provided to Question HC25685 on 30 January 2025:
PQ25685: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2025, to Question 20957 on Government departments: communication and public consultation, if she will list the (a) Department, (b) theme and (c) estimated saving of each of the campaigns (i) that were cancelled, (ii) continuing with reduced budgets and (iii) aiming to reduce their expenditure by 25%.
Minister Gould’s answer: There are currently no plans to publish this list in detail. The comprehensive communications Spending Review identified 39 campaigns that were cancelled, 46 campaigns continuing with reduced budgets and 46 campaigns aiming to reduce their expenditure by 25%. The combined savings from these measures total £85 million in 2024-25 and up to £96 million in 2025-26.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 21 October (HL1278), what is the most recent estimate of how many days a week Office for National Statistics (ONS) staff attend the office on average, expressed as percentage of staff attending their assigned workplace over an average working week, or closest equivalent metric; and what plans ONS has to increase that average attendance rate.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Baroness Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
1 November 2024
Dear Baroness Neville-Rolfe,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Basildon on 21 October (HL1278), what is the most recent estimate of how many days a week Office for National Statistics (ONS) staff attend the office on average, expressed as percentage of staff attending their assigned workplace over an average working week, or closest equivalent metric; and what plans ONS has to increase that average attendance rate (HL2117).
The ONS collects attendance data for each of our sites on a weekly basis. Table 1 shows the average daily number of individuals as a percentage against our headcount who have attended each office in the last four weeks for which data are available. Individuals who attend regularly will appear in this data on each day they attend an office.
It should be noted that, while our general office attendance expectation is 40% of working time in line with our estate’s capacity, this is currently set at 20% in Manchester and Darlington and has only recently been increased to 40% in Edinburgh. Additional flexibilities have been extended to colleagues where genuinely required, including a period of further adjustment which ended in October.
In addition, PCS has entered into formal dispute with the ONS in relation to these attendance expectations, taking action short of strike in the form of non-compliance with the requirements. There are currently 1161 PCS members employed by the ONS.
The ONS remains committed to office attendance and various initiatives are underway to increase the diversity and value of in-person interactions. Following our announcement in November 2023, we launched events scheduled throughout 2024 with a greater focus on in-person events. This has included an increase in the number of face-to-face ‘in conversation with the National Statistician’ events, leadership events with the Grade 6 and Grade 7 community, and the start of new site-focused events that aim to bring colleagues together and create a better community across our office locations.
With our extended flexibility provisions period ending, we would naturally expect to see some increase in office attendance. However, as trade unions have achieved a mandate to prolong action short of a strike this could continue to impact office attendance for a further period.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Table 1: Average daily ONS office location attendance as a rounded percentage by week, from week beginning 16 September 2024[1].
| Newport | Titchfield | London | Darlington | Manchester | Edinburgh |
Week beginning 16/09/2024 | 17% | 17% | 18% | 8% | 5% | Less than 5% |
Week beginning 23/09/2024 | 16% | 19% | 17% | 7% | Less than 5% | 12% |
Week beginning 30/09/2024 | 17% | 17% | 18% | 7% | 6% | Less than 5% |
Week beginning 07/10/2024 | 16% | 18% | 20% | Less than 5% | 5% | Less than 5% |
Source: Office for National Statistics
[1]Where figures are less than 5% or not available, the specific number has been suppressed to protect the confidentiality of colleagues in line with our data policy.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 20 November (HL2246), whether they intend to discontinue the British Empire Medal.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There are no plans to discontinue the British Empire Medal.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the 2025 UK Border Strategy, published on 17 December 2020, whether they intend to publish a report in 2024 setting out progress against that strategy; and whether they will list the metrics that are being used to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the border.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The 2025 Border Strategy was produced by the previous government. This Government is working to secure the UK’s borders, while reducing trade friction as part of the reset of our relationship with the European Union. The government will continue to provide updates in due course.