First elected: 1st May 1997
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by John Hayes, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
John Hayes has not been granted any Urgent Questions
John Hayes has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Cladding Remediation Works (Code of Practice) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Tom Hunt (Con)
Banking Services (Post Offices) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Duncan Baker (Con)
Conveyancing Standards Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Marco Longhi (Con)
The House of Commons complies with UK legislative standards when procuring food and drinks from suppliers. Its procurement approach supports and where possible prioritises the purchase of food and drink produced in Britain. For example:
Certain regulations, such as the Government’s Procurement Policy Note of December 2020 and increased use of the UK-based Catering Framework, have allowed for additional freedom for spend on goods and services below certain price thresholds. Within the limits of these regulations, the House where possible seeks to hold competitions which only target producers within the UK.
In 2023, in support of LGBT+ people in Parliament, the House Administration approved a request from ParliOut to spend £375.00 for 50 Pride registration spaces, £439.20 for Pride T-shirts, and £62.93 for Pride flags. Any interested passholders can participate, including Members of both Houses, their staff and staff of both Houses.
Supporting members of the House Administration who wish to participate in Pride is a way the Administration demonstrates its commitment to one of its four values: inclusion.
ParliOut is the workplace equality network (WEN) for LGBT+ people in Parliament. As the networks are bicameral, their expenditure is split 70% by the House of Commons and 30% by the House of Lords.
No costs were incurred by the Equality Hub connected to any events, activities, merchandise or other associated costs in relation to Pride Month 2023.
The Equality Hub is part of the Cabinet Office and external consultancy spend is reported within the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
For 2019-20, Cabinet Office external consultancy spend can be found on pages 59 and 104 of our Annual Report and Accounts 2019-20, linked here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f16e6aa3a6f40727f97b746/Cabinet-Office-Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2019-20.pdf
For 2020-21, Cabinet Office external consultancy spend can be found on pages 104 and 206 of our Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21, linked here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60f03ea28fa8f50c716bccda/15640_CO_Annual_Report_2020_2021_digital_temp.pdf
For 2021-22, Cabinet Office external consultancy spend can be found on pages 119 and 197 of our Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22, linked here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1123904/CO_ARA21-22_WEB_Final_121222.pdf
For 2022-23 Cabinet Office external consultancy spend can be found on pages 107 and 191 of our Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, linked here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6509a3394cd3c3000d68ccd4/CO_ARA22-23_WEB_190923.pdf
Consultancy spend for 2023-24 will be published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24, later this year.
Cabinet Office has a mature assurance framework for Consultancy & Professional Services. A dedicated team exists to assure such spending and make recommendations to officials accordingly for decision. The assurance framework is built on the principles outlined in the Consultancy Playbook and aims to ensure that where such requirements are justified, they deliver value for money for the taxpayer. This use of these consultants is a legitimate part of policymaking that helps to deliver efficient public services to the taxpayer and has been a feature under successive Governments.
As an executive non-departmental public body that is operationally independent, this is for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to respond. I have attached the response from the Interim Chief Executive below.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published clear guidance on this matter. This is part of its work to ensure that businesses and service providers - including those in the hospitality sector - are aware of their legal responsibilities towards disabled customers with assistance dogs (including guide dogs) and are equipped with the knowledge to ensure the Equality Act 2010 is complied with.
The guidance, available on the EHRC website, makes it clear that businesses and service providers should allow assistance dogs access to buildings where dogs would normally not be permitted, whenever this is reasonable.
‘Assistance dogs: A guide for all businesses’
www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/assistance-dogs-a-guide-for-all-businesses.pdf
‘Take the lead: A guide to welcoming customers with assistance dogs’
The Department does not collate historic information on the estimated red tape costs of implementing EU legislation. However, impact assessments in relation to specific pieces of legislation are conducted, where appropriate and proportionate, and published.
The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Expenditure on consultancy by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is routinely published in their annual accounts, which are also laid before the House of Commons annually. These can be accessed on the SFO’s website at Annual reports and accounts - Serious Fraud Office (sfo.gov.uk) and the CPS’ website at Annual reports, business plans and strategies | The Crown Prosecution Service (cps.gov.uk).
The accounts of the SFO and CPS for 2023/24 are expected to be published in July 2024.
Expenditure on consultancy by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is routinely published in their annual accounts, which are also laid before the House of Commons annually. These can be accessed on the SFO’s website at Annual reports and accounts - Serious Fraud Office (sfo.gov.uk) and the CPS’ website at Annual reports, business plans and strategies | The Crown Prosecution Service (cps.gov.uk).
The accounts of the SFO and CPS for 2023/24 are expected to be published in July 2024.
There were 42 case files opened in respect of actual court proceedings between His Majesty’s Government and the Good Law Project during the period since the start of the 2017-18 financial year. HM Government won 19 and lost 6, 7 cases were settled, and 9 cases were withdrawn by the Good Law Project. One has yet to deliver an outcome.
In total, in regard to these 42 cases:
The Good Law Project has paid £984,098.45 in legal costs to HM Government, while HM Government has paid £160,925.71 in legal costs to the Good Law Project.
In financial year 2017-2018, no payments were made or received.
In financial year 2018-2019, £40,000 was paid to, and £4,753 was received from, the Good Law Project.
In financial year 2019-2020, £0 was paid to, and £59,013.19 was received from, the Good Law Project.
In financial year 2020-2021, £85,000 was paid to, and £10,000 was received from, the Good Law Project.
In financial year 2021-2022, £0 was paid to, and £286,000 was received from, the Good Law Project.
In financial year 2022-2023, £35,925.71 was paid to, and £544,000 was received from, the Good Law Project.
In financial year 2023-2024, £0 has been paid to, and £80,332.26 has been received from, the Good Law Project.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold a central record of local meetings with stakeholders across all 14 CPS Areas and Central Casework Divisions.
At a national headquarters level, the CPS met with Stonewall three times in 2023 in the context of national forums on hate crime, where a broad range of other external stakeholders were also in attendance. There were no meetings with Stonewall at a national level in 2022.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold data on the number of people prosecuted for offences relating to social media posts. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold data on the number of people prosecuted for offences relating to social media posts. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
The total full time equivalent “FTE” staff employed by the Crown Prosecution Service to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity since 2020 are listed below:
• 5.25 FTE staff as of December 2020
• 6.35 FTE staff as of December 2021
• 5.35 FTE staff as of December 2022
• 5.1 FTE staff as of 31 August 2023
(a) Training: the total spending on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) training for the financial year 2021/22 was £85,467.00. This includes Learning & Development, HQ Diversity & Inclusion, Staff Networks, and CPS areas. The total spending on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) training for the financial year 2022/23) was £77,975.77. This includes Learning & Development, HQ Diversity & Inclusion, Staff Networks, and CPS areas. (b) Staff: the total spending for salary costs for staff related to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) for the financial year 2021/22 was £241,927. This equates to 6 FTE staff in HQ D&I team. The total spending for salary costs for staff related to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) for the financial year 2022/23 was £191,908. This equates to 5 FTE staff in HQ D&I team. |
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) receive HR services from the Government Legal Department (GLD). This includes equality, diversity, and inclusivity roles and therefore the AGO does not hold this information.
Non-compliance with the standards of conduct set out in the Bar Standards Board (BSB) Handbook is a matter for the BSB. The CPS does not hold any information on non-compliance with the cab rank principle by advocates it has sought to instruct. Furthermore, upon review, the CPS has confirmed that none of the signatories of the “Lawyers Are Responsible” declaration are current members of the CPS Advocate Panel or non-Panel advocates instructed by the CPS, such as King’s Counsel. |
The “cab rank rule” is an important principle which safeguards the rule of law and ensures fair access to justice. Action such as this undermines the independence of the legal profession and is fundamentally at odds with the idea that every person is entitled to a fair trial. The impact of this action on the Crown Prosecution Service will be negligible, not least because many of those “refusing” to prosecute are not in fact qualified to do so. The Crown Prosecution Service utilises a mix of in-house advocates and agent prosecutors alongside members of the self-employed Bar. This flexibility ensures access to a large pool of high-quality advocates and I am confident that these cases will be prosecuted without undue delay. Both the Bar Council and the Criminal Bar Association have issued robust responses here: The cab rank rule and legal representation (barcouncil.org.uk) and here: Chair’s Monday Message – 27.03.23 – Criminal Bar Association |
The CPS is determined to drive up the number of rape and serious sexual offence (‘RASSO’) cases going to court. Too few victims are seeing justice and reversing that is an absolute priority. The reasons for the decline in prosecutions are complex, with the Government rape review finding no single factor is to blame.
The CPS is working tirelessly in making improvements to the handling of these sensitive cases through its RASSO 2025 Strategy and the Joint National RASSO Action Plan with the police. This includes targeted work supporting victims in order to increase confidence in reporting. Following the impact of Covid-19 on prosecution volumes, it is encouraging to see increased volumes quarter on quarter – however, it is recognised that there is still work to be done.
The unduly lenient sentence scheme allows for sentences passed for the most serious criminal offences to be reviewed by the Court of Appeal, if referred by the Law Officers. The extension of the scheme added further serious offences to the list of those which can be referred.
In the course of this year, under the extended scheme, I have successfully referred sentences for offences of controlling and coercive behaviour, distributing indecent images of children and, most recently, stalking involving serious alarm or distress, one in which the sentence of the offender was more than doubled.
The Court of Appeal has recently increased the sentences upon a reference by the Law Officers in the following cases. In the first, the offender Habte stabbed a lone female who was a stranger to him: his sentence was increased to reflect a finding of dangerousness, to one of five years’ detention with a three year licence extension. In a case of manslaughter, the offender Taiwo’s sentence was increased to seven years’ two months imprisonment, building on another case the Law Officers referred which emphasises the seriousness of “one-punch” attacks, Coyle. Most recently, the sentence of a Manchester man who raped his 15 year old girlfriend when he was 19 was referred to the Court and increased to three years’ imprisonment.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
The Government Property Agency (GPA) is responsible for the procurement of food and drink for canteens and restaurants in a number of government buildings across Britain, including Cabinet Office buildings.
Contractually, all suppliers appointed by GPA are required to comply with the Government Buying Standards, owned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
The relevant part of the standards is local and environmentally sustainable sourcing.
Wherever possible, contracting authorities and/or tier 1 suppliers should aim for at least 50% of food spending to be on locally produced food or food certified to higher environmental production standards. Progress towards this target must be reported annually.
This contractual provision will be monitored as part of the governance and report requirements of GPA's new contracts.
There was no cost related to Pride Month 2023 (June 2023) and no events or activities took place. Merchandise was provided by LGBT+ staff and supporters and not funded from any budget.
As part of the Government’s commitment to transparency, departments have published aggregated annual information on their bonus spend on their own websites since 2011. This promotes scrutiny of how taxpayers’ money is spent. The latest data, which covers the 2021/22 performance year, was published on Government Departments’ websites on 31 March 2023. This data includes information on total bonus spend, the number of civil servants receiving bonuses, and the size of payments.
The cross Civil Service diversity, equity and inclusion training designed for the Civil Service does not make reference to white privilege. We cannot comment on content not designed for the Civil Service or training designed for departments and professions to meet specific needs or that which is purchased outside of the centrally managed contracts.
The only cross Civil Service course provided by the Cabinet Office on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is Civil Service Expectations, which does not have any reference to the Black Lives Matters movement.
From 1 January 2020 to 31 January 2024, there have been 12,313 Civil Servants who have taken early retirement.
The Cabinet Office does not centrally hold information on grants or other funding issued by public bodies to third party organisations.
The Government is currently undertaking a review into Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) expenditure and activity across the Civil Service, to ensure value for taxpayers’ money.
There was a specific course on Microaggressions which was withdrawn from the prospectus in November 2022.
There are not any other courses that include microaggressions as part of the course outline available as part of the cross Civil Service training catalogue. We do not hold details of any local procurement or bespoke commissions of courses, the relevant department would need to be contacted to confirm.
The Cabinet Office does not collect or hold data centrally on asbestos in public buildings. Individual building owners and managers are responsible for maintaining asbestos registers in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. These regulations also require duty holders to share information regarding the location, condition, and type of asbestos in buildings, in digital or paper form, with anyone liable to disturb it (e.g. workers, contractors and the emergency services).
The Cabinet Office does not hold the cost and spend for using translators across the Civil Service centrally. Such professional services are procured by individual departments.
The Cabinet Office does use translation services on occasion where necessary but we do not record the cost of these services separately from the provision of other professional services. Therefore, a detailed review of invoices from the Cabinet Office would be required to estimate the amount spent since 2013 which would incur a disproportionate cost to the department.
Ministers from the following departments have attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting with officials since 2018: Her Majesty’s Treasury (2020, 2019 and 2018); Cabinet Office (2022); and the Departments for International Trade (2023, 2022, 2019 and 2018); Health and Social Care (2019); Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2023, 2019 and 2018); Culture, Media and Sport (2019 and 2018); and International Development (2019). The then Prime Minister also attended in 2018.
The Cabinet Office does not hold centralised records of ministerial attendance at the WEF Annual Meeting prior to 2018.
The Civil Service has limited diversity and inclusion specific training. The current list of courses available through the cross Civil Service learning offer is listed below. This does not include training designed for departments and professions to meet specific needs or that which is purchased outside of the centrally managed contracts.
Civil Service Expectations
Collaborating effectively in cross-cultural teams
Creating an Inclusive Culture
Creating Inclusive Virtual Teams
Creating Team Inclusivity
Cultivating your Cultural Intelligence
Dealing with Everyday Racism
Disability inclusive management
Ignite inclusion
Inclusive leadership
Leading inclusive teams
Managing Inclusion
Modern Leadership – skills for managing a diverse workforce
Neurodiversity in the workplace
POC Managers Session 1: Leading inclusively
Power of choice
Respect Training
Sexual Harassment
Understanding multiple perspectives
Working with different cultures – a Managers Toolkit
In May 2023, the Chancellor of the Exchequer commissioned a review of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion expenditure in the Civil Service. The review which included capturing spend on equality, diversity and inclusion training is now concluded and I am now engaging with the Cabinet Office who led the review, to determine next steps.
Since March 2020, over 16,000 roles have been relocated from London through the Places for Growth programme and 31% of UK-based SCS roles are now based outside London. Places for Growth aims to relocate 22,000 roles outside of London by 2027.
On 2 October, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a value for money audit of all EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) spending in the Civil Service.
The audit will dovetail with the public sector productivity review, aiming at delivering a leaner, more efficient government. The audit forms part of our drive to improve productivity across the public sector by driving down waste and improving performance.
The findings and actions of the audit will be announced in due course.
Civil servants must honour their contractual obligations. A number will be posted overseas in permanent roles at any time but the total number of civil servants logging in from overseas is not held centrally.
The effectiveness and potential of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 was reviewed by Lord Young in his 2015 report and the Act was further considered as part of the research and public consultation conducted for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Civil Society Strategy in 2018. The Government continues to monitor the progress of its social value policy with departments.
We have not conducted a specific central assessment as outlined by my Honourable friend, though the proper utilisation of flextime arrangements can deliver clear benefits to the taxpayer. The ability of civil servants to work flexibly, whether early in the morning, late at night or over the weekend, is a powerful tool to deliver the reliable and accessible public services we all depend on.
The Cabinet Office does not hold searchable IT archives and searchable documentation relating to Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates for EU sourced regulation. Regulatory Impact Assessments are the responsibility of the Better Regulation Executive in the Department for Business and Trade.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given to him by my Hon. Friend for Thirsk and Malton, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business on 22 May, UIN: 183010 and 183009.
The Cabinet Office classifies a group of central government public bodies as arms-length bodies (ALBs), sometimes referred to as 'quangos'. These include Non-Ministerial Departments, Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies.
As of 2023, there are 308 classified ALBs, compared to 832 in 2009. This decrease is due to successive government efforts resulting in the closures of bodies, mergers of two or more bodies together, and classification changes that removed bodies from having ALB status (whilst still remaining operational).
The 2010-15 Public Bodies Reform Programme drove the most significant change in this period, reducing the number of public bodies by over 290 through abolishing more than 190 and merging over 165 into fewer than 70.
A list of all the bodies reformed (including those which were abolished and wound down) as a result of the Public Bodies Reform Programme 2010-15 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-bodies-2015.
The Cabinet Office do not hold a central departmental record of all training and associated spend, including that relating to diversity and inclusion (D&I) training in 2022.
In January 2020, following an internal review that showed unconscious bias training does not achieve its intended aims, it has been phased out in the Civil Service. We encourage other public sector employers to do likewise.
The Government does not hold this information centrally and on a fully comparable basis.
Each Government Department is responsible for its own Retained EU Laws (REUL).
I refer my Right Honorable friend to PQ12079. As my Right Honorable friend the Minister for Women and Equalities set out, the Government believes that "critical race theory" is a controversial political ideology. The Government believes that the application of critical race theory to public services threatens to undermine integration and community cohesion, by exaggerating differences within communities; instead, we should be seeking to build and strengthen a shared local and national identity across class, colour and creed.
Cabinet Office D&I learning does not include Critical Race Theory and speakers must go through due diligence and be signed off by the Head of Business Unit before any talks are scheduled. “Critical Race Theory” should not form part of our training and the Department is reviewing its intranet to ensure it is consistent with this approach.
Government officials have worked with the World Economic Forum on a range of policy areas including trade facilitation, ocean plastics, and digital issues. Two UK Ministers, Lord Grimstone and the COP26 President, also attended the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in May 2022. The Cabinet Office does not hold a centralised database of all formal contact with the World Economic Forum.