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 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 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 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 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 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
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, 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 Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The volumes of government procurement cards held by core Home Office and executive agencies (ALBs) on 31 December 2022 and 31 December 2023 are:
2022
HO 1061
ALB 34
2023
HO 1052
ALB 36
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.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2024 to Question 9065 on Department for Culture, Media and Sport: 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 Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS spent £120,687.71 incl VAT on the refurbishment of Ministerial offices during the period 4th July 2022 to 4th July 2024 on new furniture, fittings plus other refurbishment (including moves). This is broken down as follows:
New furniture and fittings: £106,736.66
Other refurbishment of Ministerial Office including moves: £13,951.04
The full itemised list can be found below:
i) £83,215.85
ii) 5 executive L-shaped desks made of veneered MDF and varnished wood veneer. 5 wood veneer meeting tables with power and media connectors for video conferencing. 5 coffee tables made of veneered MDF. 12 meeting chairs made of mid range fabric and leather arm pads.
iii) £23,521
iv) x5 soft furnishings and 1 bookcase
v) £13,951.04
vi) Painting and Decorating of 5 Ministerial offices
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 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 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.