Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of times Capita has made overpayments in relation to (a) tax-free lump sums and (b) regular pension payments for people taking their pension benefits from the Royal Mail Statutory Pensions Scheme following a calculation error in each year since 2018.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Capita, the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme administrator, has made the following overpayments:
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 to 3/3/2025 |
(a)tax-free lump sums | 4 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 906 | 0 |
(b)regular pension payments | 327 | 617 | 137 | 81 | 90 | 92 | 1 |
Capita has carried out several data correction exercises which required member benefits to be rectified. These data exercises account for the increased number of overpayments in certain years.
The earliest data Capita holds is from March 2019.
In terms of support, Capita contacts all impacted members and provides a full update including the reason for the overpayment and the corrective action that will take place. All members are encouraged to contact the Capita team to discuss the error and agree on the appropriate recovery actions. Where possible a repayment timeline will be agreed directly with the member which will consider their personal circumstances and affordability. Members are also guided through the review process that they can follow and are kept informed of any decisions made during this process and the next steps that are available to them.
There is a robust process in place to manage the performance of this contract.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will launch a consultation on extending the eligibility for the Elizabeth Emblem medal to people who are left severely injured and medically retired in the course of undertaking eligible public service.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The government recognises the invaluable contribution of emergency service workers to the people of the United Kingdom. Those that lose their lives as a result of their duties are now rightly honoured with the award of the Elizabeth Emblem.
There are no current plans to alter the eligibility criteria for the Elizabeth Emblem along the lines suggested. The Government is happy to consider the case for any new medal or award, subject to comprehensive assessment across relevant departments. We continue to recognise the outstanding achievements of emergency service colleagues through both our existing honours and gallantry systems, and we would encourage people to make nominations.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to (a) publish on the gov.uk website and (b) keep updated a list of current Parliamentary Private Secretaries.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The list of Parliamentary Private Secretaries as of September 2024 is published on gov.uk and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-parliamentary-private-secretaries-pps-september-2024
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to seek negotiations with the EU on extending the duration of Schengen Area visas for UK citizens travelling to the EU for longer than 90 days.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Both the UK and the EU allow for visa-free short-term travel in line with their arrangements for Third Country Nationals. The UK allows EU citizens short-term visa-free travel for up to six months. Meanwhile, the Schengen Borders Code allows for Third Country Nationals to travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; this is standard for third countries travelling to the EU. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria were used to decide which publishers would be invited to take place in the All in, all together campaign since 2020.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK government partnered with the newspaper industry to launch the “All in, all Together” Covid-19 advertising campaign. The purpose of the partnership was to amplify public information on critical coronavirus messaging to ensure it reached all communities while also delivering demonstrable value for money. The partnership comprised over 600 titles, to ensure messaging is reaching communities throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and includes over 25 multicultural titles. We only hold information about the press partnership as a whole; it is not broken down by publisher, campaign or newspaper.
Cabinet Office publishes expenditure, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on gov.uk.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department paid to each publisher that took part in the All in, all together advertising campaign since 2020.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK government partnered with the newspaper industry to launch the “All in, all Together” Covid-19 advertising campaign. The purpose of the partnership was to amplify public information on critical coronavirus messaging to ensure it reached all communities while also delivering demonstrable value for money. The partnership comprised over 600 titles, to ensure messaging is reaching communities throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and includes over 25 multicultural titles. We only hold information about the press partnership as a whole; it is not broken down by publisher, campaign or newspaper.
Cabinet Office publishes expenditure, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on gov.uk.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether their Department has purchased mobile UV virus irradiation units.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government Property Agency, which manages the Cabinet Office property portfolio, has not purchased any mobile UV virus irradiation units.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse was for the Prime Ministerial visit by private aircraft to Chapel Allerton on 9 January 2023; and for what reason an alternative sustainable form of transport was not used.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
All Ministerial travel is undertaken using efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements.
As a whole, domestic flights within the United Kingdom allow Ministers to visit more parts of the United Kingdom in the time available, particularly areas further away from London, and reduce the need for overnight accommodation for Ministers and accompanying staff. Security considerations are also taken into account.
Details of departmental business travel are published in the Cabinet Office audited annual report and accounts.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy report, Readiness for storms ahead? Critical national infrastructure in an age of climate change, published on 27 October, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of appointing a Minister of State for critical national infrastructure.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster confirmed during Cabinet Office Orals and Topicals on 27 October that both the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and myself are Ministers for resilience. The resilience portfolio includes working with the lead government departments for the Critical National Infrastructure sectors.
We will respond to the JCNSS report in full in due course.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish an updated List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries to replace the most recent version dated June 2022.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
An updated List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries was published on 29 November, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-parliamentary-private-secretaries-pps-november-2022.