Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have contingency plans to ensure the continued operation of the Enterprise Tax Management Platform beyond the scheduled end of vendor support in 2027.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC has established the Enterprise Tax Management Platform Regeneration Programme, with the responsibility of safeguarding the future of HMRC’s Enterprise Tax Management Platform beyond the scheduled end of vendor support in 2027.

This work continues to be funded as a Government Major Project Portfolio programme, with a scheduled live implementation date of May 2029. Extended support will be available from 2027 to 2030 to support the transition to a new platform. HMRC has been preparing for the end of vendor support by ensuring a robust IT strategy and roadmap is in place.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to page 19 of the Government Strategy for Grants Management 2023–2025 published in September 2023, what are (1) the current total budget, (2) staffing level, and (3) key performance indicators, for the Government Grants Managed Service; and which government departments and arm’s-length bodies currently use the Government Grants Managed Service.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The current year budget is cost-neutral to the Cabinet Office. Operational costs depend upon the value of grants which go through the pilot, as resources are flexed according to demand. Customer departments and ALBs pay for the administration of these pilot grants.

There is currently a central programme team of 7 FTE, with operations staff numbers variable, according to demand.

A monitoring and evaluation approach and plan was developed in December 2023 and agreed with the Evaluation Task Force (ETF). A set of KPIs was agreed, focused on the cost to serve of grant administration in GGMS, versus departments’ usual approaches to grant and the median baseline cost. There are also KPIs related to the identification of fraud and error through the Spotlight due diligence tool.

Eight departments, arm’s-length bodies or other public bodies are participating in the pilot: the Home Office, the Department for Transport, the Department for Science, Innovation, & Technology, the Money & Pensions Service, the Department for Education, the Northern Ireland Office, UK Space Agency and UK Atomic Energy Authority.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 27 May (HL7225), who authorises exemptions that allow newly created arm's-length bodies to be headquartered in London; what criteria apply to those exemptions; and which bodies have received exemptions in the past 12 months.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Places for Growth is supporting thriving civil service communities in locations across the UK. As part of that, no new ALBs will be created in London unless by exception. Cabinet Office Ministers are able to grant exemptions for new ALBs to be headquartered in London based on their workforce and operational requirements and these requests are dealt with on a case by case basis. In the last 12 months no exemptions have been issued to allow new ALBs to be based in London.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the net cash requirement for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme in each year since 2013–14.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The net cash requirement for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme in each year since 2013–14 is available within The Civil Superannuation Annual Report and Accounts which can be found on the Civil Service Pensions website. The information is as follows:

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of eligible grant schemes were advertised on (1) Find a Grant, and (3) Apply for a Grant, in the past financial year; and whether they set adoption targets for each of those services.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

In the previous financial year (2024-25), 69 (64%) eligible grant schemes from central government departments were listed on Find a Grant, which translated to 409 separate grant advertisements, as some schemes are disaggregated into smaller funds. Apply for a Grant hosted 25 applications related to 9 schemes or 8% of those eligible.

Adoption targets have been set to drive uptake for both services. Find a Grant is mandated for all central government departments and arm's length bodies for eligible, competed or criteria-based grant schemes, with a target of 100% compliance. While Apply for a Grant is not mandated, it has an adoption target of 30%. The Cabinet Office is working with all departments to increase uptake of these services.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 22 May (HL7362), whether they will publish (1) a full list of each individual grant scheme operated by the Department for Business and Trade, and (2) the total expenditure allocated under each of those schemes in the most recent financial period for which figures are available.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

DBT publishes information on grants that it delivers annually through its published annual report and accounts. There is a section included within that report on grants and subsidies which lists the grants delivered and the amounts expended for each. The 23/24 annual report is online, with the 24/25 annual report due to be published in September.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the service cost for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme as a percentage of pensionable pay in each year since 2013–14 .

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Civil Superannuation Report discloses the service cost for the Scheme, but we do not calculate the pensionable pay for active members of the Scheme. The Civil Superannuation reports are in the public domain and can be accessed via the Civil Service Pensions website.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 20 May (HL7143), how much they spent in total each year since 2019–20 on (1) digital systems delivered from public cloud, and (2) the entire digital systems estate.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The historical data requested is not held centrally, however the State of Digital Government report, published in January 2025, confirms that the UK public sector spends over £26bn annually on digital technology. Additionally, GDS is currently working with public sector organisations to understand their annual spend on public cloud services.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 20 May (HL7143), whether the Government Digital Service has guidance and policies on cost-effectiveness and value-for-money achieved by reporting departments.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

GDS publishes policy and guidance, including the Technology Code of Practice, Cloud First Policy, and Government Service Standard that departments must adhere to and that support cost-effectiveness and value for money objectives. Where departmental submissions are not deemed cost-effective or value for money GDS can halt further progression using the digital spend controls process that is required for all citizen-facing digital services with a value of more than £100,000, and all technology spend with a value in excess of £1 million.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of interactions with His Majesty's Revenue and Customs customer service lines were classified as ‘failure demand’ resulting from (1) internal administrative errors, (2) unclear or misleading official guidance, or (3) another form of failure demand, in each of the past four financial years; and in each case, what was the total estimated cost.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC publishes its call waiting times here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports

Last year, HMRC received extra funding to deploy additional customer service advisers. They are also investing in new technology which will significantly enhance the customer experience. Improving day-to-day performance is a key priority for HMRC.

Failure demand encompasses a broad spectrum of issues, including customer, employer and HMRC errors. While HMRC classifies some categories of call as failure demand (for example the customer could theoretically find relevant information via online guidance), these calls are essential in helping customers understand their tax obligations and pay the right amount of tax. Therefore, while HMRC is seeking to reduce failure demand and encourage customers to use online services, they recognise the importance of continuing to support those who call for extra help.

The below table provides the total proportion of calls classified as ‘failure demand’. Failure demand data does not exist for 2021/22 (or earlier).

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, based on average hourly earnings, what was the estimated total financial cost incurred by taxpayers because of call waiting times for His Majesty's Revenue and Customs customer helplines in each of the past four financial years.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC publishes its call waiting times here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports

Last year, HMRC received extra funding to deploy additional customer service advisers. They are also investing in new technology which will significantly enhance the customer experience. Improving day-to-day performance is a key priority for HMRC.

Failure demand encompasses a broad spectrum of issues, including customer, employer and HMRC errors. While HMRC classifies some categories of call as failure demand (for example the customer could theoretically find relevant information via online guidance), these calls are essential in helping customers understand their tax obligations and pay the right amount of tax. Therefore, while HMRC is seeking to reduce failure demand and encourage customers to use online services, they recognise the importance of continuing to support those who call for extra help.

The below table provides the total proportion of calls classified as ‘failure demand’. Failure demand data does not exist for 2021/22 (or earlier).

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to page 41 of their policy paper Spending Review 2025: Departmental Efficiency Plans, published on 11 June, what was the average cost per case in 2024–25 for (1) ministerial, and (2) public correspondence in the Treasury; and what is the projected average cost per case under the automated correspondence system.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Due to correspondence being just one role officials have, the potential for multiple officials to be involved, and differing complexity per case, we do not currently attribute precise staff time spent per case. Therefore, we are unable to provide an average cost per case for ministerial or public correspondence in 2024–25.

However, as set out in the Departmental Efficiency Plans, the adoption of AI-driven automation is expected to both speed up casework and reduce overall costs. We anticipate efficiency gains relative to current arrangements. Further detail will be available once the automated tools are fully developed and deployed and the impact assessed in terms of central resource and time savings.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much the Ministry of Justice has spent in each year since 2020 under the RM6141 and RM6302 language services frameworks; and whether the department has used or maintained any separate or competing frameworks, contracts or commercial routes for the procurement of language services during the same period, and, if so, how much has been spent through them.

Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Ministry of Justice has not called off against Crown Commercial Service frameworks RM 6141 (Language Services) or its successor RM 6302 at any point since 2020; spend under both frameworks in every year is therefore £0. The timing of available frameworks did not align with the Department’s needs. Timelines have since been aligned for the following round of tendering.

Instead, the Department has continued to meet its interpretation and translation needs through its MoJ Language-Services Framework, first established in 2012 and re-let in 2016 following open competition. Courts also operate a non-contracted, or “off-contract” process, typically to cover requirements that arise at short notice and those that are more challenging to fulfil, such as the requirement for languages that are rare or scarce. The use of off-contract interpreters allows hearings to go ahead, to continue the delivery of justice. The next generation of contracts, currently being procured, include the use of a secondary supplier of interpreters, specifically to source those short notice bookings, and to bring this spend on-contract, with benefits such as improved data and value for money. Furthermore, we are the only organisation to also utilise an independent quality assurance supplier of these services.

The arrangement is open for other public-sector bodies to use, but is let independently of the CCS frameworks so that the Ministry of Justice can:

• specify specialist justice-sector safeguarding and quality-assurance requirements (for example, security-vetting, enhanced complaints handling and independent quality sampling);
• obtain greater transparency of performance data to support quarterly published statistics; and
• secure competitive pricing based on the Ministry of Justice’s high-volume demand profile.

Expenditure recorded against the MoJ framework since 2020 is below:

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total expenditure by local-authority-maintained schools and academies in England on agency supply teachers in the financial years (1) 2023–24, and (2) 2024–25.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

Supply teachers perform a valuable role and the department is grateful for their important contribution to schools across the country.

Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers.

In the 2023/24 financial year, local authority-maintained schools spent approximately £522 million on agency supply teaching staff. In the 2023/24 academic year, academies spent approximately £898 million on agency supply teaching staff (financial returns data for academies is aligned with academic years). There is no data available for the 2024/25 academic or financial years. This data is from published school financial returns. Note that the two figures cannot be added together directly, due to the different time periods covered and the risk of double counting spend for maintained schools who convert to academy status.

Found: Tuesday 17 June 2025 3 pm Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Wood of Anfield (The Chair); Lord Agnew of Oulton

Found: LORD AGNEW OF OULTON 184_ Clause 27, page 45, line 29, at end insert— “(1A) The Secretary of State