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 the severance payments for former ministers published on Page 132 of HM Treasury's Annual Report and Accounts for 2022/23, published on 20 July 2023, for what reason the former Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, the Rt hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford, was awarded a payment on 26 October 2022, in the context of his age at the date he ceased to hold office.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I thank the Rt Hon Member for bringing this to my attention. The Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 sets out the entitlement for Ministers who leave office.
Such payments should not apply where a person has attained the age of sixty-five. If a former Minister was incorrectly given a severance payment, the relevant department will contact the individual to recover the over-payment.
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 194 of his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, published on 4 July 2023, for what reason the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in the Lords was awarded a severance payment on 31 December 2022 in the context of her age at the date she ceased to hold office.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I thank the Rt Hon Member for bringing this to my attention. The Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 sets out the entitlement for Ministers who leave office.
Such payments should not apply where a person has attained the age of sixty-five. If a former Minister was incorrectly given a severance payment, the relevant department will contact the individual to recover the over-payment.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the former Deputy Leader of the House of Commons was awarded a payment on 27 September 2022, in the context of his age at the date he ceased to hold office.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I thank the Rt Hon Member for bringing this to my attention. The Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 sets out the entitlement for Ministers who leave office.
Such payments should not apply where a person has attained the age of sixty-five. If a former Minister was incorrectly given a severance payment, the relevant department will contact the individual to recover the over-payment.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many purchases with a value of less than £500 were made against his Department’s budget using a Government procurement card (a) in calendar year 2022 and (b) from 1 January to 30 November 2023; and what was the total cost of those purchases.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
For calendar year 2022, there were 7,358 transactions on the Government procurement card under £500 totalling £623.4k.
For calendar year 2023, up to 30 November 2023, there were 6,792 transactions on the Government procurement card under £500 totalling £559.5k.
I would note that procurement cards were introduced by the last Labour Government, who welcomed their use, saying they are a ‘good example of Government learning from the private sector’.
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.
They 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 officials, not Ministers or Special Advisers.
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 people to make purchases against his Department’s budget as of (a) 31 December 2022, (b) 31 March 2023 and (c) 31 December 2023.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The number of government procurement cardholders on the dates in question are:
31 December 2022 - 298 cardholders
31 March 2023 - 291 cardholders
31 December 2023 - 320 cardholders
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 the employment tribunal claim listed on page 126 of his Department's annual report and accounts for 2022/23, HC 1464, whether that claim has been heard; and what the status is of the contingent liability arising from that claim.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Employment Tribunal hearing started in October and the claimant withdrew the claim mid-way through the hearing. The contingent liability has subsequently fallen away.
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 41 of his Department's annual report and accounts for 2022/23, HC1464, published on 19 September 2023, what the distance travelled on domestic flights was that resulted in the emission totals of (a) 434 tCO2e in 2021/22 and (b) 363 tCO2e in 2022/23.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The distance travelled by domestic flights in 2021/22 was 556,491.84 Km which equates to 72 tCO2. In 2022/23 the department travelled 1,772,171.00 Km by domestic flights which equates to 230 tCO2e.
Use of domestic air travel is a long standing practice under successive administrations to make best use of ministers’ working time, for instance by the last Labour Government for flights between London and Teesside, as reported by the BBC, ‘Ministers quizzed on RAF flights’, 12 April 2006, (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4900580.stm) and Independent newspaper ‘Blair runs up £1.2m bill using Queen's Flight’, Wednesday 12 April 2006, (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/blair-runs-up-163-1-2m-bill-using-queen-s-flight-6103956.html).
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 the contract agreed by his Department with Everbridge Europe Ltd on 28 November 2023, reference CO-MCP-01-23, if he will publish the services specified in Framework Schedule 4 of that contract.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Framework Schedule 4 of the G-Cloud 13 Framework has already been published on Contract Finder.
Framework Schedule 4 can be found in Attachment 7 of the documents available at this link: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/52e2fd33-e6f3-4a4c-8697-d25ab76ea0a9
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 the publication of transparency data on ministerial overseas travel for the period July to September 2023 on 14 December 2023, for what reason the (a) cost for the RAF flight and (b) the total cost for the Deputy Prime Minister's visit to the United States from 19 to 23 September 2023 were not included.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Finalised costs for the Deputy Prime Minister’s visit to the United States from 19 to 23 September are currently pending confirmation. This entry will be updated when available.
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 the contract agreed by his Department with Cision Group Ltd on 13 October 2023, procurement reference CCZZ23A23, if he will publish the Schedule 20 annexes specifying the services to be delivered under each of those contracts.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The schedule 20 annexes are publicly available on Contracts Finder and can be found at the following link:
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/68ce58d9-d0da-4ac0-8c56-214f318fbb56