Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many special advisers are employed by the Government.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As when the noble Lord was a special adviser under the previous administration, the number of special advisers will be published in the Annual Report on Special Advisers.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the portraits of Elizabeth I, Sir Walter Raleigh, William Gladstone, Margaret Thatcher and William Shakespeare, which formerly hung in 10 Downing Street, have either been (1) rehung elsewhere; or (2) moved into storage; and if so, where.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lord to my answer of 23 September 2024, Official Report, PQ HL1035 and the answer of the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, Georgia Gould, 31 October 2024, Official Report, PQ 8943. To note, the portrait of William Gladstone was hung in 11 Downing Street, rather than 10 Downing Street.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish an updated list of ministers' interests.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The List of Ministers’ Interests will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will resume publication of Civil Service office attendance data; and how that data is broken down by department for the period between May and July this year.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The publication of this data was suspended in line with pre-election guidance for the duration of the Pre-Election Period. We will provide an update on future publication plans in due course.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to maintain the Civil Service work-from-home rules, introduced in November 2023, which require Civil Servants to work in the office or face-to-face 60 per cent of the time, and whether they will publish a copy of those rules.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Current Civil Service guidance requires Civil Servants to attend the office or work face-to-face with colleagues at least 60% of the time. There are no plans to change those requirements.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total cost of machinery-of-government changes, including renaming and rebranding of departments, during the recent change of Government, broken down by department.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer Lord Kempsell to the statement made by the Rt Hon Baroness Smith of Basildon about Machinery of Government changes on 24 July 2024, HLWS18.
No additional funding is allocated to departments to implement machinery of government changes.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of proposals to extend a legal duty of candour on public bodies other than healthcare providers.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The Government firmly believes in the benefits of having a bespoke approach to different parts of the public sector and is not persuaded that a single overarching duty would work well in practice.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to eradicate modern slavery from centrally held procurement supply chains.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
Modern slavery has no place in public supply chains.
We have taken action in the Procurement Act to strengthen the rules around excluding suppliers linked to modern slavery. The current rules require the supplier to have been convicted or there to have been a breach of international treaties banning forced labour, or evidence of grave professional misconduct.
We recognise that modern slavery often occurs in countries which are not party to international treaties on forced labour and which are unlikely to prosecute the perpetrators. Our changes will allow authorities to exclude suppliers and disregard their bids where there is sufficient evidence of modern slavery. This will apply whether or not there has been a conviction or a breach of an international treaty.
The Cabinet Office has also published a Procurement Policy Notice which sets out how UK Government departments must take action to ensure modern slavery risks are identified and managed in government supply chains.
Individual procurements and their contract management of course remain the responsibility of government departments.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to expand their GREAT campaign, and whether they have evaluated options for additional or alternative international brand marketing campaigns for the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The GREAT brand has proved to be highly effective. On average for every £1 spent GREAT returns £15 to the UK economy. In the last year we estimate that GREAT has helped to generate over £900 million of foreign direct investment, £548 million of additional expenditure from international students, £210 million of additional expenditure from international tourism and over £90 million of export wins for UK companies.
The GREAT brand was successfully refreshed in Summer 2021 to better reflect the diversity of the UK and update our offer to the world. It is designed to promote the UK as dynamic, outward-looking, confident and collaborative and is used in 164 countries by 26 government departments and ALBs.
The GREAT Ministerial Programme Board meets quarterly to agree the strategic direction of the campaign, including new markets and sectors. As well as continuing to drive economic growth for the UK through existing campaigns, in 2024/25 the GREAT campaign looks forward to delivering new initiatives such as a GREAT FUTURES event in Saudi Arabia and a new marketing campaign in the US.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide an update on their Gov.uk 'One Login' programme; and what is the programme’s plan of work over the next year.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The GOV.UK One Login system is fully operational providing a simple and secure way for people to access government services online.
Users can create an account, login and prove (and then reuse) their identity - through either a web-based journey, smartphone app or in-person route - to access an initial set of 30 government services. This includes important services such as ‘Request a Disclosure and Barring Service Basic Check’ and ‘Apply for an HM Armed Forces Veteran Card’. More than 3.8 million people have so far proven their identity through GOV.UK One Login, while its app has been downloaded more than 5 million times. GOV.UK One Login’s customer contact centre and technical service desk are now live.
Further government services - from HMRC to DWP and DVLA - are due to come on board over the next year. GDS will also continue to optimise GOV.UK One Login’s user journeys, for example by broadening the range of documents and evidence that people can use to prove who they are online.