Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many suppliers their Department excluded from procurement on the grounds of (a) fraud, (b) corruption and (c) other grounds under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 from 2015 to 2022.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. To obtain the information a manual search through individual records would be required as this is not recorded centrally on departmental systems.
The grounds for the exclusion of bidders from public procurement procedures are set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. These rules set out the circumstances in which bidders must, or may, be excluded from a public procurement process.
The Procurement Bill brought forward by this Conservative Government, currently being considered by Parliament, expands the scope of misconduct which can lead to exclusion. We are also increasing the time period within which misconduct can lead to exclusion from 3 years to 5; bringing subsidiary companies into scope of exclusion; and making the rules clearer so that contracting authorities can undertake exclusions with more confidence.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she (a) has or (b) is planning to have a voluntary exit programme for civil servants in her Department.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office do not have any Voluntary Exit Programmes running (a) at the moment and (b) do not have any planned for this year.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on external recruitment consultants in 2021.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not report the information sought to the level of granularity required.
To identify spending on external recruitment consultants specifically from our management systems would require a manual review of all consultancy related transactions. This can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if they will publish a breakdown of the total payments made to civil servants in his Department for relocation costs to government offices outside London in 2021.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office has made no payments to civil servants during 2021 related to relocation costs from London to Government offices in regional areas.
The Home Office Places for Growth Voluntary Relocation package was made available to Home Office business areas on 15th August 2022 and individuals can now apply to relocate from London to designated Places for Growth regional locations.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces in the UK are currently under special measures.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Service (HMICFRS) independently and continuously assesses the efficiency and effectiveness of every police force in England and Wales. Forces are escalated into an enhanced monitoring phase, 'Engage' on the basis of HMI concerns over their ability to address areas of significant and/or longstanding underperformance.
Forces in the engage phase of monitoring attend the Policing Performance Oversight Group (PPOG), comprising senior stakeholders from the College of Policing, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, National Police Chief’s Council and the Home Office, to provide the constructive support and challenge needed to address those areas of underperformance which are a cause for concern.
Chief Constables of ‘engaged’ forces are expected to present a comprehensive improvement plan to PPOG, which meets regularly to consider the progress being made and to support the force to address the failings identified. Forces are moved back into the ‘Scan’ phase of monitoring only when HMICFRS is satisfied that sufficient and sustained improvement has been made.
Out of 43 forces in England and Wales, there are currently six forces in ‘engage’: Cleveland, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, the Metropolitan Police Service, Staffordshire and Wiltshire.