Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to Question 20170 on Cabinet Office: Ministers' Private Offices, tabled on 16 December 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
With apologies to the Rt. Hon. Member, the answer has now been published.
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 5 December 2024 to Question 9833 on Cabinet 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 Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government Property Agency confirmed £33,315.61 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 - £0
Other refurbishment of ministerial offices including moves - £33,315.61
The full itemised list can be found below:
Date: 04/2023
What: The ministerial offices in 70 Whitehall, redecorated due to water damage.
How much: £19,956.50 ex VAT.
Date: 11/2023
What: The redecoration of the ministerial waiting room in 70 Whitehall with furniture alterations, partly due to health and safety concerns.
How much: £13,359.11 ex VAT.
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 27 November 2024 to Question 12890 on Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: 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 Energy Security and Net Zero 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 £230,462.01* 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 - £215,030.73*
Other Refurbishment of Ministerial Offices including moves - £15,431.28*
The full itemised list can be found below:
(a) new furniture and fittings
Covering the period from the creation of DESNZ, as announced by the Prime Minister on 7 February 2023 to 4 July 2024
Date Reference: 31/10/2023
What: New office furniture (desks, chairs, tables) as a result of the move from 1 Victoria Street to 55 Whitehall and the creation of DESNZ.
How Much: £141,781.00 ex VAT
Date Reference: 31/10/2023
What: Installation of Audio Visual (AV) Equipment
How Much: £73,249.73 ex VAT
Please note: the costs above were incurred as part of existing refurbishment and move taking place for DESNZ, and were not costs incurred from additional requests from Ministers.
*Additionally: Additional Changes in 55WH after the handover of the building included the request to swap the Ministerial Office with the Private Office. This was requested on 20/11/2023 and required the use of pre-existing furniture which required porterage, however, unfortunately the GPA has been unable to source the cost or exact details of what was ordered at this time by the deadline.
(b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices
Covering the period from the creation of DESNZ, as announced by the Prime Minister on 7 February 2023 to 4 July 2024:
Date Reference: 26/10/23 to 03/11/23
What: Relocation of Ministerial Team 1VS to 55WH
How Much: £10,362.28 ex VAT
Date Reference: 06/12/2023
What: Floorbox changes to ministerial and private office rooms. Please note that we are unable to proportionately split this cost between the minister’s room and the private offices.
How much: £5,069 ex VAT
During this period, DESNZ 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, 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 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.
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 Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, 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 Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
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: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e8b402686650c18ce2cb541/Procurement_Cards_-_Pan_Government_Policy_V4_06042020.pdf
In support of the Government’s Transparency agenda, the Cabinet Office publishes GPC spend data over £500 on gov.uk. Details of Cabinet Office spend on government procurement card purchases over £500 can be found in the table below. Details of spend under £500 is not published.
Financial Year | Total spend on purchases over £500 |
2022/23 | £1,210,718.39 |
2023/24 | £1,054,654.09 |
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 contract agreed by his Department with Enterprise Rent-A-Car on 19 April 2024, procurement reference CCVH23A01, if he will publish the specification of requirements set out in schedule 20 of that contract.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
It is Cabinet Office policy to publish Contracts with a value of over £10,000 on Contracts Finder within 30 days of Contract Award. Crown Commercial Service, Cabinet Office’s procurement arm, has published the Contract Schedules in accordance with the publication timescales and the information is now available.