Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what way the purpose of the contract agreed by his Department with Ipsos Mori on 20 March 2024, procurement reference 398437/1351727, differs from the purpose of the contract agreed with the same company on 5 June 2023, procurement reference 336036/1227987.
Answered by Mike Freer
The contract with procurement reference 336036/1227987 was delayed due to difficulties with finding a survey design that would accurately answer the research question, and eventually the contract expired before a workable design was agreed.
A new contract – reference 398437/1351727 – was awarded to Ipsos on the basis of agreeing a different survey design, which is more likely to produce usable results.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press notice entitled Clean-up scheme expanded nationwide to tackle anti-social behaviour, published on 22 March 2024, how many offenders in England and Wales were ordered to carry out litter-clearing activities in support of the Great British Spring Clean from 17 March to 2 April 2024; and how many hours of litter-clearing activity were completed by those offenders.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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 Enterprise Rent-A-Car on 19 April 2024, procurement reference CCVH23A01, which public bodies are covered by the scope of that contract; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that contract on the number of (a) journeys that will be made and (b) miles that will be travelled by hire car rather than public transport.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The contract with Enterprise Rent-A-Car covers the Cabinet Office and its Agencies.
The Cabinet Office is obliged to report car hire journeys and the miles travelled when that hire car journey meets the criteria as laid down in the Greening Government Commitments. However, the department favours travel by public transport where most practical. Cabinet Office policy is that vehicle hire should only be used if travelling by car is deemed to be the most economical travel method for legitimate business journeys, and is cheaper than public transport. When hiring a vehicle, drivers should select the smallest and cheapest vehicle suitable for the journey.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish the specification of requirements for the contracts agreed by his Department on (a) 2 October 2023 with Home Connections Lettings Ltd., procurement reference 433189/1352384, (b) 21 March 2024 with Bunnyfoot Ltd., procurement reference 407485/1352441, (c) 28 March 2024 with Deloitte LLP, procurement reference 417551/1349771 and (d) 1 April 2024 with Faculty Science Ltd., Zinc Network and Adam Smith International Ltd., procurement reference 376900/1351150.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Summary descriptions of the aim of each agreement have been published on Contracts Finder on gov.uk. These can be found at:
Contract | URL |
Information Operations Research Capability - Contracts Finder |
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the UK-France Joint Leader's Declaration, published by the Prime Minister's Office on 10 March 2023, from which budget the UK's contribution to the joint funding arrangement for the operational plan on illegal migration will come; and whether details of those payments are published regularly in transparency data.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson
The funding to deliver the UK-France Joint Leader's Declaration is sourced from a combination of baseline Home Office allocations; and part of the additional funding the Home Office receives in relation to the 10 Point Plan on Illegal Migration.
Details of this funding are not published as part of the department’s Migration Transparency Data.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's publication entitled DfT: spending over £500, December 2023, published on 25 April 2024, which Minister used RD Chauffeur Services on 18 December 2023; and what the (a) location and (b) purpose of the visit was.
Answered by Anthony Browne
Baroness Vere of Norbiton visited Northern Ireland between 27-29 September 2023 to conduct ministerial visits in relation to aviation and maritime. RD Chauffeur services provided a secure car service for these visits. The invoice was paid on 18 December 2023.
The Government Car Service is used wherever possible. On occasion, external companies are used for ministerial visits.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2024 to Question 21943 on Official Cars, which organisation holds the information for the total miles driven by vehicles in the Government Car Service fleet from the start of financial year 2022-23 onwards; and by what means hon. Members can seek to obtain that information.
Answered by Anthony Browne
The information for 2022/23 was provided in response to Question 21943 (838,113.00). As a result of changes to legacy IT systems, the information for 2023/24 would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's publication entitled DfT: spending over £500, December 2023, published on 25 April 2024, which Minister used Network Executive Ltd on 14 December 2023; and what the (a) location and (b) purpose of the visit was.
Answered by Anthony Browne
On 1st December 2023, Minister Opperman travelled to Barrow-in-Furness, the Grizebeck bypass, opened the A595 improvements and had further ministerial meetings in and around Carlisle. The invoice for this visit was paid on 14th December 2023.
The Government Car Service is used wherever possible. On occasions, external companies are used for ministerial visits.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Home Office procurement card spend over £500: February 2024, published on 23 April 2024, what the overseas costs linked to his visit were for the £636.48 paid to Fletcher Gallery Services Ltd on 20 February 2024.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
a) Honourable Society
These costs were incurred for the procurement of a venue for publication day launch of the Angiolini Inquiry Part 1 report.
b) Cinnamon Club
These costs were incurred for the Permanent Secretary’s hosting of US Department of Justice officials in the UK, as part of the HO-DoJ Strategic Dialogue.
c) Fletcher Gallery Services
These costs (none overseas) were incurred for the purchase of departmental furnishings.
d) Cloveride
These costs were incurred for the hire of two chauffeured vehicles for the Home Secretary’s official visit to New York in February 2024.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Home Office procurement card spend over £500: February 2024, published on 23 April 2024, what the overseas costs linked to his visit were for the £4,409.66 paid to Cloveride Inc on 28 February 2024.
Answered by Chris Philp - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
a) Honourable Society
These costs were incurred for the procurement of a venue for publication day launch of the Angiolini Inquiry Part 1 report.
b) Cinnamon Club
These costs were incurred for the Permanent Secretary’s hosting of US Department of Justice officials in the UK, as part of the HO-DoJ Strategic Dialogue.
c) Fletcher Gallery Services
These costs (none overseas) were incurred for the purchase of departmental furnishings.
d) Cloveride
These costs were incurred for the hire of two chauffeured vehicles for the Home Secretary’s official visit to New York in February 2024.