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Written Question
Coronavirus: Scotland
Monday 5th February 2024

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the use of electronic communications during the covid-19 pandemic.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Scottish Government’s use of electronic communications is a matter for the Scottish Government.


Written Question
Government Departments: Sick Leave
Friday 2nd February 2024

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8810 on Cabinet Office: Sick Leave, if he will make an estimate of the total number staff days lost to long term sick absences in each Department in each year since 2015.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The tables below provide the estimates requested, long term sick days lost per department (Table 1), along with our preferred measure, Average Working Days Lost (AWDL) per staff year which accounts for workforce size and composition (Table 2). Data is provided for the main Ministerial Departments and excludes those that have been most impacted by Machinery of Government changes, for which times series comparisons between 2015 and 2022 are not possible.

Table 1: Long Term Sickness Absence by Main Department, Days Lost, 2015-2022

Long Term Sick Days Lost

Department

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Cabinet Office

5,580

6,510

6,400

5,050

10,550

13,250

13,090

20,750

Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities

8,460

9,270

7,840

7,140

6,710

7,310

6,850

7,670

Department Culture Media and Sport

530

1,810

1,490

3,470

3,710

3,630

2,670

4,110

Department for Environment

18,960

16,690

14,890

14,240

15,490

19,880

19,210

27,070

Department for Education

10,940

7,990

7,890

12,370

13,870

13,810

9,580

20,410

Department for Transport

84,920

67,810

64,430

66,560

72,710

70,130

51,950

71,260

Department for Health and Social Care

27,790

26,270

21,140

23,520

24,950

24,300

20,880

27,770

Department for Work and Pensions

261,960

221,470

234,770

239,720

276,110

311,110

243,230

383,320

HM Customers and Revenue

214,960

232,220

225,420

208,810

205,770

233,750

189,360

243,040

HM Treasury

1,500

2,030

2,870

2,150

3,190

3,050

2,770

3,990

Home Office

95,910

103,870

101,740

114,820

119,990

132,200

109,360

148,080

Ministry of Defence

222,240

203,240

197,180

195,440

185,100

219,600

219,380

149,690

Ministry of Justice

442,840

414,460

403,990

372,220

398,510

434,270

435,690

596,420

Scottish Government

83,580

80,990

88,840

97,660

109,990

123,980

111,300

134,510

Welsh Government

23,160

23,980

22,880

22,630

23,840

17,290

14,590

20,110

Table 2 : Long Term Sickness Absence by Main Department, Average Working Days Lost per Staff Year, 2015-2022

Long Term Average Working Days Lost per Staff Year

Department

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Cabinet Office

1.9

2.2

1.9

1.1

1.7

1.7

1.4

1.9

Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities

3.4

3.8

3.6

3.1

2.4

2.3

2.0

2.0

Department Culture Media and Sport

1.0

1.5

1.4

2.7

2.5

2.1

1.3

1.4

Department for Environment

2.5

2.4

2.2

2.0

1.8

2.1

1.9

2.4

Department for Education

3.2

2.6

2.0

2.2

2.4

2.2

1.3

2.6

Department for Transport

5.3

5.3

4.9

5.0

5.3

5.0

3.6

4.9

Department for Health and Social Care

3.4

3.2

3.2

2.8

3.1

3.0

2.2

2.6

Department for Work and Pensions

3.2

2.9

3.1

3.2

3.7

4.4

3.3

4.5

HM Customers and Revenue

3.6

3.7

3.5

3.3

3.4

3.8

3.2

3.9

HM Treasury

1.2

1.3

1.7

1.1

1.6

1.4

1.1

1.5

Home Office

3.6

3.9

4.0

4.4

4.2

4.2

3.4

4.5

Ministry of Defence

4.4

4.1

4.0

3.9

3.8

4.2

4.1

2.8

Ministry of Justice

6.8

6.4

6.4

5.8

5.7

6.1

6.0

7.4

Scottish Government

5.1

5.0

5.5

5.9

6.4

6.3

5.4

5.9

Welsh Government

4.2

4.5

4.4

4.5

4.7

3.3

2.8

3.7

Notes:

  • Annual Data for year ending 31 March 20xx

  • Source – Management Information

  • Days rounded to nearest 10 days, AWDL rounded to 1 decimal place

  • Ministerial Departments which have been most impacted by Machinery of Government changes over the period, and for which, consistent comparisons are not possible, are not shown.

  • For sickness absence publications see https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Sick Leave
Monday 15th January 2024

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the total number staff days lost to long term sick absences in each Department in each year since 2021.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office publishes sickness absence data for the Civil Service on an annual basis on gov.uk. Our preferred measure is Average Working Days Lost (AWDL) per staff year which accounts for workforce size and composition. The table below provides the data requested, days lost per department, along with AWDL for context. Data for 2023 are in production for planned publication by end March 2024.

Table: Long Term Sickness Absence by Department 2021 and 2022

Organisation

2021

2022

Days

AWDL

Days

AWDL

Attorney General's Departments

5,250

2.2

7,190

2.9

Crown Prosecution Service

18,530

3.1

23,570

3.7

Serious Fraud Office

830

1.8

940

2.0

Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

34,010

2.1

47,160

2.5

Cabinet Office

13,090

1.4

20,750

1.9

National Savings and Investments

370

1.9

170

0.9

Charity Commission

1,300

2.7

s

s

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

6,850

2.0

7,670

2.0

Competition and Markets Authority

1,100

1.4

870

1.0

Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport

2,670

1.3

4,110

1.4

Ministry of Defence

219,380

4.1

149,690

2.8

Department for International Trade

3,960

0.8

6,820

1.3

Department for Education

9,580

1.3

20,410

2.6

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

19,210

1.9

27,070

2.4

ESTYN

410

3.9

320

3.1

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

16,750

1.9

18,830

2.3

Food Standards Agency

3,850

2.9

4,500

3.4

The Health and Safety Executive

7,440

3.2

10,520

4.2

Department of Health and Social Care

20,880

2.2

27,770

2.6

HM Revenue and Customs

189,360

3.2

243,040

3.9

HM Treasury

2,770

1.1

3,990

1.5

Home Office

109,360

3.4

148,080

4.5

Ministry of Justice

435,690

6.0

596,420

7.4

National Crime Agency

10,640

2.1

15,180

3.3

Northern Ireland Office

140

0.9

420

2.4

Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services & Skills

6,530

3.6

9,270

5.3

Office of Gas and Electricity Markets

2,260

2.1

2,650

2.1

Office of Rail and Road

590

1.9

290

0.9

Scotland Office (incl. Office Advocate General for Scotland)

320

2.8

490

4.2

Scottish Government

111,300

5.4

134,510

5.9

Department for Transport

51,950

3.6

71,260

4.9

United Kingdom Statistics Authority

9,250

2.4

10,070

2.2

UK Export Finance

250

0.7

340

0.8

UK Supreme Court

*

*

280

5.2

Wales Office

230

4.4

190

4.1

Water Services Regulation Authority

570

2.4

250

1.0

Welsh Government

14,590

2.8

20,110

3.7

Department for Work and Pensions

243,230

3.3

383,320

4.5

Notes:

  • Annual Data for year ending 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2022

  • Source – Management Information

  • Days rounded to nearest 10 days, AWDL rounded to 1 decimal place

  • s = suppressed due to data review, * = suppressed due to low counts

  • For sickness absence publications see https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence


Written Question
9 Downing Street: Media
Friday 20th October 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on how many occasions has the media briefing room at 9 Downing Street been used for (a) media briefings and (b) press conferences since its completion in 2021.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Downing Street Briefing Room is in regular use for media briefings twice a day on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and once a day on Fridays when Parliament is sitting, and once a week during parliamentary recess. There have been more than 30 televised press conferences held in it so far. It is also used for other events such as virtual calls with world leaders. It is also routinely used for internal Cabinet Office events.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Official Hospitality and Travel
Tuesday 9th May 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a breakdown of spending on travel, subsistence and hospitality by his Department in (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

Details of ministerial and senior official travel and hospitality are published on a quarterly basis, and are available on GOV.UK.


Written Question
Government Departments: Catering
Tuesday 9th May 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much each Department spent on food bought for in-house catering in each of the last five years.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

The Cabinet Office does not hold a central list for in-house catering for all departments.

Collecting this data would therefore exceed the disproportionate cost threshold to estimate this figure.


Written Question
Leader of the House of Commons: Recruitment
Wednesday 15th March 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to PQ 136762 – Cabinet Office is unable to provide the full spend for 2022-23 until after the end of the current Financial Year.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Recruitment
Wednesday 1st March 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on headhunters in each of the last three years.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

Cabinet Office will on most occasions procure recruitment consultancy services through Crown Commercial Service (“CCS”) Framework Agreements. Procuring through CCS Framework Agreements delivers consistency and efficiency savings through providing a range of benefits, such as:

  • Access to pre-assessed capable and proven suppliers;

  • Reducing the need for repeat campaigns;

  • Capped maximum costs protecting from market price increases;

  • Notable saving against market rates on average;

  • No hidden costs of service; and

  • Vendors may agree to further discounts for large campaigns.

Venders are also aware of, and must support, government diversity and inclusion requirements when providing their services.

The relevant CCS Framework relating to recruitment consultancy services was established in November 2018 and its first year was a transitional year. Spend incurred by Cabinet Office in the first two full years post-transition are £216,868 for financial year 2020-21 and £206,048 for financial year 2021-22.

The Cabinet Office continues to encourage the use of the CCS Framework across the Department as standard.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Redundancy Pay
Monday 14th November 2022

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse has been of Ministerial severance pay in their Department in each year between 1 January 2016 and 8 November 2022.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

Under the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, eligible Ministers who leave office are entitled to a one off payment equivalent to one quarter of their annual salary at the point at which they leave Government.

This applies only where a Minister is under 65 and is not appointed to a ministerial office within three weeks of leaving government.

Individuals may waive the payment to which they are entitled. That is a matter for their personal discretion, but this approach has been taken in the past.

Details of such payments are published in departmental annual reports and accounts, and ministerial salaries are published on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-salary-data.


Written Question
Former Ministers: Redundancy Pay
Tuesday 8th November 2022

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse has been of Ministerial severance pay in each year since 1 January 2016 to 2 November 2022.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

Individual departments are responsible for the payment of salaries and severance payments to current and former Ministers. As such, the information requested is not held centrally.

Departments are required to publish compensation payments paid to former Ministers as part of their Annual Report & Accounts.