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 the decision to reimburse Boris Johnson for office set-up costs incurred in the financial year 2022-23 was taken.
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.
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 31 October 2024 to Question 9605 on Prime Minister: Ministers' Private Offices, how much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in 10 Downing Street between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024; and on what items this was spent.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The cost to the public purse for new furniture and fittings or refurbishment of the Prime Minister’s office in the specified time period was £0.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many government procurement cards were held by staff within (a) his core Department and its predecessor departments and (b) executive agencies of those departments at the end of calendar years (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) only hold records for the core department and does not hold the requested information for 2022, as DSIT was established in February 2023. The DSIT cardholders at the end of 2023 calendar year total 35.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural 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 Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The table below sets out the number of cardholders at the end of each calendar year, by organisation.
| 2022 | 2023 |
Core Department | 235 | 292 |
Animal and Plant Health Agency | 64 | 63 |
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science | 266 | 357 |
Rural Payments Agency | 11 | 11 |
Veterinary Medicines Directorate | 15 | 14 |
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 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 Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO's UK Estate comprises five primary sites in the UK. Each building has a separated operational budget from which furniture and fittings are procured, either by planned projects or through reactive requests. Office refurbishments are completed as required and are not seen as specific to Ministerial requirements. We are unable to separate costs specifically for Ministerial offices within the deadline period due to the complexities created by separating expenditure. However, previously we have been able to confirm no specific works in Ministerial offices between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2023.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2024 to Question 9604 on Attorney General: 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 Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
As per the former Solicitor General’s (Sarah Sackman KC MP) answer of 31 October to Question 9604, following the dissolution of the last Parliament on 30 May 2024 and before the General Election on 4 July 2024, officials in the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) arranged for the two ministerial offices to be modestly refurbished. The costs are set out in that answer.
No other refurbishment has taken place between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many government procurement cards were held by staff within (a) her core Department and (b) executive agencies of her Department at the end of calendar years (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Core Department:
A total of 23 DCMS core civil servants held government procurement cards at the end of the 2022 calendar year. A total of 15 DCMS core civil servants held government procurement cards at the end of the 2023 calendar year. This enabled them to make purchases against the Department’s budget, subject to internal policy and approval.
Executive Agencies:
DCMS does not hold executive agency GPC data.
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, 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 Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In relation to the number of Government procurement cards held by staff within the core Department, I refer the Hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury to the answer given on 18 January 2024 to Question PQ8714.
In addition, the following table shows the number of cards held by the Department’s two executive agencies, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), in 2022 and 2023:
Executive agency | 2022 | 2023 |
UKHSA | 120 | 80 |
MHRA | 194 | 182 |
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2024 to Question 9057, 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 James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department spent c.£56.5k on new furniture, fittings, and other refurbishments between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024. This expenditure includes costs for new office furniture, the maintenance of antique furniture and fittings.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many government procurement cards were held by staff within (a) her core Department and (b) executive agencies of her Department at the end of calendar years (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
a.) We do not hold this data historically, as the system (Smart Data Online SDOL) that we use to record ePCS management information will only give us a list of active cardholders' data as of today's date; we do not have the capability to look back as of the time required.
b.) After confirming the numbers for executive agencies bodies, the numbers of active cardholders were:
Health and Safety Executive:
2022 – 47
2023 – 38
Office for Nuclear Regulation:
2022 – 8
2023 – 11