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Written Question
Department for Education: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution
Friday 20th December 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, 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 Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The table below provides a breakdown of the Electronic Purchasing Card Solution (ePCS) cards that were held by staff within the department, its arms-length bodies and executive agencies as of 31 December 2022 and 31 December 2023.

31 December 2022

31 December 2023

Department for Education (DfE) – Core Department

58

84

Arms-Length Bodies (including Executive Agencies).

19

17

Total

77

101

ePCS cards assist with the reduction in procurement bureaucracy, boost efficiency, support the government’s Prompt Payment initiative for small-and-medium sized enterprises, and help maintain cash flow to suppliers.

The department has a clear policy for card allocation which involves confirmation from budget holders to approve the issuing, and use of cards to staff within their delegated budget areas.

The department has robust controls in place that limit purchase types and values and these are regularly monitored and reviewed to ensure acceptable card usage in line with the Pan-Government policy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/payment-cards-pan-government-policy.


Written Question
Department for Education: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution
Thursday 19th December 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, 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 Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department, including its Arm’s Length Bodies and Executive Agencies, spent the following amounts via an Electronic Procurement Card Solution (ePCS), previously known as Government Procurement Card (GPC):

(a) Spending above £500

The department publishes its ePCS expenditure over £500 data on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-government-procurement-card-gpc-over-500 . The amounts published are consistent with the transparency policy and guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/payment-cards-pan-government-policy .

For the calendar years, the total value of the sum of individual ePCS transactions above £500 (and net of individual refund transactions above £500) was (i) £4,665,676.98 in 2022 and (ii) £8,949,303.97 in 2023.

There are differences between the terms of this question and the Pan Government Policy. For example, in the treatment of individual transactions made on the same day, refunds and the time periods considered

(b) Spending below £500

For the calendar years, the total value of the sum of individual ePCS transactions below £500 (and net of individual refund transactions below £500) was (i) £416,010.02 in 2022 and (ii) £630,834.53 in 2023.


Written Question
Department for Education: VSC Plus
Thursday 23rd May 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Minister without Portfolio's article of 12 May 2024 in The Sunday Telegraph, when her Department intends to withdraw the requirement set out in Clause 4.6 of her Department's contract with VSC Plus Limited (The Staff College), procurement reference 352575/1322575; and whether the projected cost of the contract up to 29 December 2028 will be reduced through the withdrawal of that requirement.

Answered by David Johnston

There should be no external equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) spend in the Civil Service unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.

The contract with VSC Plus Limited (The Staff College) is due to expire on 31 December 2026. We do not intend to terminate it early.


Written Question
Department for Education: Equality
Tuesday 21st May 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Minister without Portfolio's article of 12 May 2024 in The Sunday Telegraph, whether the Construction Industry Training Board has been instructed by her Department to cancel its procurement process for a provider of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training, procurement reference BIP830543659.

Answered by Luke Hall

There should be no external equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) spend in the Civil Service unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.

The provider contract for equality diversity and inclusion is due to expire on 31 March 2026. We do not intend to terminate it early.


Written Question
Institute for Employment Studies: Contracts
Thursday 29th February 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's contract with the Institute for Employment Studies of 24 January 2024, tender reference 398710/1312346, if she will publish the specification of services set out in Schedule 20 of that contract.

Answered by Damian Hinds

The department will publish the specification set out in Schedule 20. The specification was not included in the version that was initially published, but will be added in advance of the 30 day publication deadline, following government guidance on publishing contracts.


Written Question
Department for Education: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution
Thursday 18th January 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many purchases with a value of less than £500 were made against her Department’s budget using a Government procurement card (a) in calendar year 2022 and (b) from 1 January to 30 September 2023; and what was the total cost of those purchases.

Answered by Damian Hinds

Procurement cards assist with the reduction in procurement bureaucracy, boost efficiency, support the government’s prompt payment initiative for small and medium businesses, and help maintain cash flow to suppliers.

Procurement cards are used as defined by the departmental procurement acquisition model, agreed by procurement and finance colleagues. Controls are in place that limit purchase types and values in line with individual departmental controls.

Procurement cards are held by departmental officials, not Ministers or Special Advisers.

The table below lists the number of purchases and the total cost of purchases for the calendar year 2022 and from 1 January to 30 September 2023:

DfE

ESFA

LocatED

STA

TRA

Oak

Total

01/01/2022-31/12/2022

Value of purchases below £500.00

£178,381.16

£52,689.25

£12,287.14

£2,053.74

£3,931.10

£32,816.45

£282,158.84

Number of purchases below £500.00

1494

303

156

11

17

237

2218

01/01/2023-30/09/2023

Value of purchases below £500.00

137,843.73

£11,994.14

£12,404.57

£832.47

£754.50

£126,840.64

£290,670.05

Number of purchases below £500.00

1200

107

117

5

6

946

2381


Written Question
Department for Education: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution
Thursday 18th January 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many government procurement cards were held by people to make purchases against her Department’s budget as of (a) 31 December 2022, (b) 31 March 2023 and (c) 31 December 2023.

Answered by Damian Hinds

Procurement cards assist with the reduction in procurement bureaucracy, boost efficiency, support the government’s prompt payment initiative for small and medium businesses, and help maintain cash flow to suppliers.

Procurement cards are used as defined by the departmental procurement acquisition model, agreed by procurement and finance colleagues. Controls are in place that limit purchase types and values in line with individual departmental controls. Procurement cards are held by departmental officials, not Ministers or Special Advisers.

In the interest of providing the most comprehensive response to your question, the department also administers embedded cards for four national contracts on behalf of DfE, ESFA, STA and TRA.

The table below highlights the named cardholders for the department:

Department for Education, Executive Agencies & Arms Length Bodies

31 December 2022

31 March 2023

21 December 2023

Department for Education (DfE)

58

66

84

Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)

11

11

7

Standards & Testing Agency (STA)

2

2

2

Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA)

1

2

1

LocatED

3

3

3

Oak National Academy

2

4

4

Total

77

88

101


Written Question
Department for Education: Civil Servants
Friday 17th November 2023

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Cabinet Office statistics on Permanent and temporary civil servants by sex, age band and department: 2023, published on 31 October 2023, how many permanent civil servants excluding agencies worked for her Department on 31 March (a) 2011, (b) 2016 and (c) 2020.

Answered by Robert Halfon

The data on the number of permanent staff employed by the Department, excluding agencies, in March 2016 is available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymentreferencetable/march2016/psereferencetablesmarch2016.xls. The data for March 2020 is available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymentreferencetable/march2020/datasets.xlsx. Data for 2011 includes agencies due to reporting arrangements in 2011. This is available at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20150905000144mp_/http:/www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pse/public-sector-employment/q1-2011/stb-q1-2011.pdf.

The Department’s resources are routinely reviewed to ensure the Department has the capabilities and capacity required to respond to changing priorities and deliver efficiently and effectively.


Written Question
Department for Education: Incentives
Friday 20th October 2023

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 6 December 2022 to Question 97588 on Department for Education: Incentives, what the total value was of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for her core Department as performance-related bonuses in 2022-23.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Attracting, retaining and motivating highly skilled individuals is essential for the Civil Service to deliver for the British people and that is why pay must be fair and competitive as well as affordable to the taxpayer, with performance-related awards and vouchers being a key part of this.

Performance related awards, paid out as non-cash vouchers, are standard practice across Government. The Department uses instant reward vouchers to reward individuals who have a positive impact on the delivery of the Department’s business, with awards usually ranging between £25 and £100.

The total value of non-cash vouchers provided to employees working for the Department in 2022/23 was £445,000 (rounded to the nearest £1,000).


Written Question
Schools: Buildings
Friday 13th October 2023

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her predecessors (a) received requests from and (b) made representations to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the (i) presence and (ii) potential cost implications of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) within state-funded education facilities between 13 February 2020 and 5 July 2022.

Answered by Nick Gibb

It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.

Ministers and officials have regular discussions with colleagues from His Majesty’s Treasury on a range of issues.

The 2021 Spending Review announced a budget of £19 billion of capital funding to support the education sector between 2022/23 and 2024/25. In addition to the Department’s targeted work on RAAC, we have continued to invest in improving the condition of schools and colleges, with over £15 billion allocated since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for 2023/24, informed by consistent data on the condition of the estate. On top of this, the Department will transform 500 schools through the school rebuilding programme, prioritising buildings in the poorest condition and those with evidence of potential safety issues. In addition, £2.8 billion of capital investment has been allocated to further education colleges in England to transform and improve the condition of the post-16 estate, provide new places in post-16 education, and provide specialist equipment and facilities for T Levels.

The Department will spend whatever it takes to keep children safe. This includes paying for the emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including alternative classroom space where necessary, and supporting schools with remedial works which is our immediate focus. The Department is rightly focused on supporting schools and colleges. Where schools need additional help with revenue costs like transport to other locations, we are actively engaging with every school affected to put appropriate support in place. The Department will then also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.

The Department will always put the safety and wellbeing of children and staff in schools and colleges at the heart of its policy decisions. The Government has taken more proactive action to identify and mitigate RAAC in education settings than the devolved administrations in the UK, or indeed, governments overseas.