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, 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 Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
UKSBS have confirmed the following numbers of government procurement cards were held by the Department for Business and Trade/Department for International Trade:
Department | Year | GPC Cards held |
Department for Business and Trade/Department for International Trade | 2023 | 211 |
Department for International Trade | 2022 | 171 |
UKSBS have confirmed that totals for executive agencies are not held.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 9284 on Wales 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 Nia Griffith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
The Department spent £4,277.25 on refurbishment of Ministers Offices between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024. The spend was on:
£286.76 - replacement of two blind cords with plastic cords;
£3,990.49 - re-upholstering of five leather chairs in the London Office.
The spend was under the previous administration.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2024 to Question 9830 on Scotland Office: 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 Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office has incurred no costs on new furniture and fittings or other refurbishment (including moves) of Ministerial offices during the period 4 July 2022 to 4 July 2024.
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 much his Department spent on government procurement card purchases (a) above and (b) below £500 net of refunded payments in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
(a) Published departmental transaction level data on government procurement
card (GPC) purchases for transactions over £500 in accordance with policy are at the following link:
The guiding policy setting out the requirement to publish GPC transactions over £500 remains in place. Guidance is available to all government departments on gov.uk at the following link:
The policy clearly sets out the standard that departments must publish to which covers
transaction date, transaction reference, merchant name and the amount spent.
(b) The following table sets out the core department’s expenditure using government procurement cards for transactions under £500 for each of the calendar years stated.
2022 | 2023 | |
Value of Transactions under £500 | £356,046 | £388,007 |
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, 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 Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The number of cards held across the Ministry of Defence and DSTL (executive agency) at the end of calendar years 2022 and 2023 were as follows:
End of Calendar Year | Core Department | Executive Agencies |
2022 | 8,853 | 281 |
2023 | 8,542 | 302 |
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 9612 on Ministry of Defence: 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 Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024, the total cost of refurbishment works in Ministers’ Private Offices was c£27,000. The works compromised wallpapering and replacement carpets.
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, how much his Department spent on government procurement card purchases (a) above and (b) below £500 net of refunded payments in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade (formerly Department for International Trade until July 2023) publishes all government procurement card (GPC) spend of over £500. This is available at:
a) (i) GPC spend over £500 for 2022:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-spending-over-500-for-2022
(ii) GPC spend over £500 for 2023 (Jan to June)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-spending-over-500-for-2023
GPC spend over £500 for 2023 (July and August)
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dbt-spending-over-500
GPC spend over £500 for 2023 (September to December)
£57,661.27
b) (i) GPC spend below £500 for 2022:
£233,872.67
(ii) GPC spend below £500 for 2023:
£380,373.90
The guiding policy setting out the requirement to publish GPC transactions over £500 remains in place. Guidance is available to all government departments on gov.uk at the following link:
The policy clearly sets out the standard that departments must publish to which covers transaction date, transaction reference, merchant name and the amount spent.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much her Department spent on government procurement card purchases (a) above and (b) below £500 net of refunded payments in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
(a) The value of spend for purchases under £500 made against the Department’s budget using a Government Procurement Card was:
(i) in calendar year 2022 - £391,995.07
(ii) in calendar year 2023 - £415,715.73
(b) The value of spend for purchases over £500 made against the Department’s budget using a Government Procurement Card was:
(i) in calendar year 2022 - £567,711.85
(ii) in calendar year 2023 - £633,173.21
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much his Department spent on government procurement card purchases (a) above and (b) below £500 net of refunded payments in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) was created in February 2023, so no information is held for periods prior to that date.
However, even though DESNZ was set up in February 2023, the spilt across GPC cards was not done at that point and was much later, all data prior to 2024 was recorded as BEIS, so we hold no DESNZ data for 2023.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what total amount of expenditure was incurred on purchases (a) above £500 and (b) below £500 made on government procurement cards issued by (i) HM Treasury and (ii) HMRC net of any refunded payments in (A) 2022 and (B) 2023.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Procurement cards assist with the reduction in procurement bureaucracy and boost efficiency. Controls are in place that limit purchase types and values in line with individual departmental controls.
Departmental expenditure made on government procurement is published on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gpc-spend