Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have signed new contracts or renewed existing contracts with Fujitsu this year.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Details of central government contracts where the contract value is above £12,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search. In addition to extensions available under Fujitsu’s existing contracts, Contracts Finder provides details of five services provided by Fujitsu, that have been extended through direct awards since January. These service extensions ensured continuity of public services, whilst competitive procurements are being set up, as appropriate.
Cabinet Office has reviewed cases for supplier service extensions in line with the commercial spend controls process in order to ensure continuity of public services.
In January 2024, Fujitsu said it would withdraw from bidding for contracts for new work with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes – it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has a contract with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities.
Fujitsu's bid approach is detailed in this letter, deposited in Parliament. For more details, please see here.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which Government Departments have contracts with Fujitsu and what is the value of each contract.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Details of central government contracts where the contract value is above £12,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search. In addition to extensions available under Fujitsu’s existing contracts, Contracts Finder provides details of five services provided by Fujitsu, that have been extended through direct awards since January. These service extensions ensured continuity of public services, whilst competitive procurements are being set up, as appropriate.
Cabinet Office has reviewed cases for supplier service extensions in line with the commercial spend controls process in order to ensure continuity of public services.
In January 2024, Fujitsu said it would withdraw from bidding for contracts for new work with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes – it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has a contract with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities.
Fujitsu's bid approach is detailed in this letter, deposited in Parliament. For more details, please see here.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to expedite compensation for those affected by the infected blood scandal.
Answered by John Glen
The Government will respond in full to Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations on compensation following the publication of the Inquiry’s final report. Additionally, we will bring forward amendments at Report Stage of the Victims and Prisoners Bill in the Other Place with the intention of speeding up the implementation of the Government’s response to the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2024 to Question 18400 on Special Forces: Afghanistan and Iraq, what the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs' planned timetable is for concluding his review.
Answered by John Glen
The Minister for Veterans' Affairs' will await the findings of the Inquiry before assessing the record.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Minister for Veterans plans to correct the record of his oral contribution of 7 January 2020, Official report, column 362.
Answered by John Glen
The Minister for Veterans' Affairs is reviewing the record in light of the Afghanistan Inquiry which is currently underway. The Minister is fully aware of his obligations to Parliament and holds his responsibilities to the House in the highest regard.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether paying a minimum wage equal to that recommended by the Living Wage Foundation is a stipulation in the tendering process for facilities management contracts at the Darlington Economic Campus.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) receives facilities management (FM) services via the "Provision of TFM Services to GPA Sites", and this contract was awarded to ISS Mediclean Ltd under the RM3830 framework.
The Government Property Agency (GPA) ensures that their supply chain is compliant with the relevant employment legislation, including the relevant statutory staff pay rate.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the employment terms and conditions were for subcontracted employees working on the facilities management contract at the Darlington Economic Campus as of 7 February 2024.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) receives facilities management (FM) services via the "Provision of TFM Services to GPA Sites", and this contract was awarded to ISS Mediclean Ltd under the RM3830 framework.
The Government Property Agency (GPA) ensures that their supply chain is compliant with the relevant employment legislation, including the relevant statutory staff pay rate.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a contract has been awarded for facilities management at the Darlington Economic Campus.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) receives facilities management (FM) services via the "Provision of TFM Services to GPA Sites", and this contract was awarded to ISS Mediclean Ltd under the RM3830 framework.
The Government Property Agency (GPA) ensures that their supply chain is compliant with the relevant employment legislation, including the relevant statutory staff pay rate.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of clearances were processed by United Kingdom Security Vetting within 95 days in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by John Glen
In December 2023, United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) processed 91.22% of routine initial Developed Vetting cases in 95 days and 8.62% of Developed Vetting review cases. For routine Security Check (SC)/Counter Terrorism Check (CTC) clearances UKSV completed 95.1% of routine cases within 25 days.
In 2023, UKSV implemented a stabilisation programme which included an increase in headcount. Under Ministerial direction, UKSV prioritised the recovery of initial Developed Vetting turnaround times, followed by Security Check and Counter Terrorist Check turnaround times. These first two targets were met on time. UKSV is currently focussing efforts to maintain the performance of these and is making good progress to meet the third target to recover the turnaround times of Developed Vetting review cases by the end of March 2024.
In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
Asked by: Lord Beamish (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 3 October 2023 to Question 197591 on Defence: Buildings, what progress the Office for Government Property has made on collating information on the Defence Estate.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Office for Government Property (OGP) conducted a data capture exercise to bring together the information we hold about the Government estate into one place, which we have since used in conjunction with individual departments to encourage them to conclude their identification stage. This has aided in identifying a list of confirmed Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete across individual department’s estates.
Each department owns the data relating to specific locations, identification and remediation plans within their estate.