Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many government procurement cards were held by staff within (a) his core Department and (b) executive agencies of his Department at the end of calendar years (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are unable to provide data as at the end of the calendar years requested, but in mid-January 2023 and 2024 respectively:
Government Procurement Cards provide an efficient route to enable key staff to procure goods and services, necessary to the promotion of British interests overseas and the maintenance of our embassies and high commissions. All purchases are subject to authorisation by managers and audit checks.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 9621 on Department of Health and Social Care: Ministers' Private Offices, how much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in his Department between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024; and on what items this was spent.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department spent £140,000 in 2023 to remove a suite of individual ministerial offices and replace these with a flexible co-working space. The Department spent £321,000 between January and 4 July 2024 to build new ministerial offices.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 9072 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Ministers' Private Offices, how much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in her Department between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024; and on what items this was spent.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Between 4th July 2022 and 4th July 2024, £12,128.11 was spent on new furniture and fittings in Ministerial Offices and a breakdown of costs is below:
Item/ Place | Cost (£) |
Bookcase | £7,581.41 |
TV Installation | £607.23 |
Supply and install 2 x 2 seater sofa | £3,818.19 |
Supply and install gromet and cable tray | £121.28 |
Total | £12,128.11 |
There were no costs on the refurbishment of these Ministerial office during this period.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2024 to Question 9609 on Department for Business and Trade: Ministers' Private Offices, how much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in his Department and its predecessor Departments between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024; and on what items this was spent.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
All facilities management services, including the procurement of furniture and undertaking of refurbishments, are carried out on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade, by the Government Property Agency (GPA).
The GPA have confirmed that they did not undertake any refurbishment work to Ministers offices in Old Admiralty Building, London, during the period specified.
Any ministerial furniture requests are administered by the GPA on behalf of the department and no central records are maintained by the department of such requests.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2024 to Question 9069 on Department for Education: Ministers' Private Offices, how much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in her Department between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024; and on what items this was spent.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department spent £608,685 on the refurbishment of Ministerial offices during the period 4 July 2022 to 4 July 2024 on new furniture and fittings and other refurbishment. This is broken down as follows:
The department has been undertaking a refurbishment project at Sanctuary Buildings to transform the building from its previous use as the department head office into a Government Property Agency (GPA) hub with multiple government occupants. This is part of the consolidation of buildings in and around Whitehall and will generate cost savings.
This project refurbished all relevant floors that the department occupies including where the Ministerial offices are located. As a result of this wider project, during the timeframe referenced, all Ministerial offices were rebuilt, and furniture replaced. As part of the renovation, the direct costs to create Ministerial rooms (excluding mechanical and engineering plant systems) includes costs for purchase and installation of carpets, wood panelling, paint upgrades and glass partitions.
A list of furniture and fittings purchased are available in the attached document.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 12891 on Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Ministers' Private Offices, how much the Government Property Agency spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and its predecessor Departments between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024; and on what items.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government Property Agency confirmed £24,315.62 excluding VAT was spent during the period 4th July 2022 to 4th July 2024 on new furniture and fittings plus other refurbishment (including moves) This is broken down as follows;
New Furniture and Fittings - £526.87
Other Refurbishment of Ministerial Offices including moves - £23,788.75
The full itemised list can be found below:
(a) new furniture and fittings
Covering the period from the creation of DSIT, as announced by the Prime Minister on 7 February 2023 to 4 July 2024:
Date reference: 01/03/2023
What: Supply and installation of 4x key safe for private offices
How much: £302.89 ex VAT
Note: 1x key safe out of these 4 key safes was for the DSIT Permanent Secretary’s room (not ministerial) - however, we are not able to separate the cost of this from the overall costs for these fittings and works as a whole
Date reference: 02/02/2024
What: Supply and installation of key safe for private office
How much: £68.25 ex VAT
Date reference: 02/04/2024
What: Installation of portrait of HM The King at ministerial offices
How much: £51.91 ex VAT
Note: Portrait was supplied under the government's His Majesty The King's Portrait Scheme
Date reference: 16/04/2024
What: Installation of a heavy duty key safe for private office
How much: £103.82 ex VAT
(b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices
Covering the period from the creation of DSIT, as announced by the Prime Minister on 7 February 2023 to 4 July 2024:
Date reference: 26/7/2023
What: Removal of whiteboards from wall, repair and redecoration (repainting) of damaged wall in ministerial office
How much: £472.98 ex VAT
Date reference: 7/8/2023
What: Churn of furniture (relocation, repositioning, removal of furniture to storeroom and installing furniture from storeroom) in private offices
How much: £311.47 ex VAT
Date reference: 16/11/2023
What: Churn of furniture (removal of furniture to storeroom and installing replacement furniture, reused from separate office) in ministerial office
How much: £415.30 ex VAT
Date reference: 15/12/2023
What: Major churn of furniture (internal movement and relocation of furniture to move ministerial teams to different rooms from previous rooms) of ministerial and private offices
How much: £13,661.92 ex VAT
Date reference: 19/1/2024
Removal of noticeboards and relocation of artwork, repair and redecoration (repainting) of damaged walls in 2x ministerial rooms
How much: £1,855.57 ex VAT
Date reference: 12/04/2024
Removal of whiteboards from 3x walls, repair and redecoration (repainting) of damaged walls in ministerial office
How much: £2,249.52 ex VAT
Date reference: 21/06/2024
What: Redecoration (repainting) of ministerial office
How much: £1,539.77 ex VAT
Note: Works completed prior to 4 July 2024
Date reference: 27/06/2024
What: Redecoration (repainting) of ministerial office, and installation of 7 pictures throughout ministerial office and private office
How much: £3,281.99
Note: Works completed prior to 4 July 2024
During this period DSIT was originally part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) which was dissolved on 7th February 2023 and split into DESNZ, DSIT and DBT. As a result of this, the former BEIS departments were moved out of 1 Victoria Street and into different buildings. The GPA has no record of any ministerial furniture or refurbishment expenditure at the former BEIS office (1 Victoria Street) during the requested period.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many government procurement cards were held by staff within (a) his core Department and (b) executive agencies of his Department at the end of calendar years (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office has a clear policy for new government procurement card applications which must be accompanied by confirmation a budget holder within the relevant business unit approves the issue of the card. Initial use of the card is restricted to certain categories of spend alongside a single transaction limit and monthly spend limit. These restrictions can only be lifted by completing a business case. All new card applications must include a signature to confirm that the cardholder has read and accepted departmental policies and the consequences of misuse.
The Cabinet Office had 298 and 320 government procurement cardholders at the end of 2022 and 2023 respectively.
The Government Property Agency had 5 and 8 government procurement cardholders at the end of 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2024 to Question 9269 on Ministry of Justice: Ministers' Private Offices, how much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in her Department between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024; and on what items this was spent.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2024 to Question 9278 on Home Office: Ministers' Private Offices, how much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in her Department between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024; and on what items this was spent.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government Property Agency has confirmed expenditure of £8,210.87 excluding VAT during the period 4th July 2022 to 4th July 2024 on new furniture and fittings plus other refurbishment (including moves) in relation to private offices for the Home Office. This is broken down as follows;
The full itemised list of Other Refurbishment of Ministerial Offices including moves can be found below:
Cost of New Furniture and Fittings (£677.90)
Cost of Other Refurbishment of Ministerial Offices including moves (£7,532.97)
Signage. £722.44. Works Completed 30/09/2024
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 187 of his Department’s publication entitled Annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024, published on 12 December 2024, on what date Boris Johnson (a) notified his Department of his intention to make claims for office set-up costs incurred in the financial year 2022-23 and (b) submitted invoices in support of those claims.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Mr Johnson's claim for the Public Duty Cost Allowance covering eligible costs incurred in 2022/23 was paid on 1 November 2023. This followed a decision made the previous month to grant an exception to the policy which requires all claims to be submitted by the end of quarter 1 of the following financial year. This was granted because Mr Johnson only began accruing eligible costs in late 2022/23.