Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of diversity and inclusion training programs in the civil service.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
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.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil service jobs previously based in Whitehall have been permanently relocated outside of London and the South East since 2019.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
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.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been hired by the UK Statistics Authority in roles relating to equality, diversity and inclusion since 2020.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
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.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an estimate of the number of civil servants who were working remotely and logged in from overseas in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
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.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
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.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of civil service flexitime working practices on productivity levels in Whitehall.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
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.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants from all Government Departments attended the Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Change Conference in November 2022.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
This information is not centrally held in the form requested.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department holds searchable IT archives (a) of Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates for EU-sourced regulation and (b) employing the search term out of scope relating to changes to regulatory burdens that could not be reviewed due to its EU origin.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
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.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many quangos have been (a) abolished and (b) wound down since 2010, and if he will list them.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
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.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were employed by his Department to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Cabinet Office does not specifically record the data that is requested.