Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions his Department has had requests for appointments by exception to the Senior Civil Service turned down by the Civil Service Commission since 2010; and who was appointed for each such post.
Answered by Claire Perry
I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question 213040 by my Rt Hon Friend, the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Mr Maude) today.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Instant Rewards of what value were given to his Department's officials in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date.
Answered by Claire Perry
The number of Instant Rewards awarded to employees in the Department for Transport, and the total amount spent in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 is shown in the table below.
| Financial Year | Number of staff | Total Spend |
| 2013/14 | 2,079 | £774,138 |
| 2014/15 | 981 | £404,780 |
In 2013 the Department increased the size of the available pot for Instant Rewards following the decision to only pay end of year non-consolidated performance payments to the top 25% of employees. This has reduced the overall spend on non-consolidated performance payments by c. £1.4m.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what professional development courses are made available to staff of his Department; and what the cost to the public purse is of each such course.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Department makes available to its staff any and all professional development courses from the training market which enable it to ensure that staff have the most relevant knowledge, skills and expertise to do their jobs effectively and so meet the Department's objectives.
It is therefore not possible to provide a complete list of all professional development courses available to staff.
The cost of training is closely monitored to ensure that expenditure is kept within budgetary provisions.
The Department also complies with the appropriate procurement route in order to ensure that professional development training is fit for purpose and offers good value for money.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many senior civil servants appointed to positions in his Department since 2010 were previously (a) political appointees within that Department and (b) employed by a political party.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The department does not hold data relating to political activity prior to appointment, of its Senior Civil Servants. However, all Senior Civil Servants within our department must adhere to section 14 of the Civil Service code relating to Political Impartiality which can be found at
http://resources.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/civil-service-code-2010.pdf
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on legal fees in cases relating to the release of information requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The amount spent by this Department and its Executive Agencies on external legal fees relating to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, namely payments to the Treasury Solicitor's Department and counsel, in each of the last five financial years, is as shown in the table below.
Financial year
| External legal spend (excluding VAT)
|
2009/10
| £17,495
|
2010/11
| £32,404
|
2011/12
| £311
|
2012/13
| £3,068
|
2013/14
| £69
|
2014/15*
| £31,785
|
*Includes figures for payments of fees made to date.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what occasions each Minister within his Department has taken domestic flights on official business since May 2010.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Details of all Ministerial Overseas travel is published on a quarterly basis at the following link: