Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will amend the gov.uk biography page for the Director General, Digital Centre Design to include previous employment by the (a) Labour Party and (b) Rt hon. Member for Hove and Portslade.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The biography is in line with GDS guidance and contains an appropriate level of detail, similar to others in similar roles in government. Emily’s appointment is well documented and in the public domain.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether Public Digital provided advice on the transfer of the Government’s digital and data function to his Department.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Public Digital did not provide any advice to DSIT on the merits of the Machinery of Government (MoG) change.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 6107 on Emily Middleton, what the business need was for appointing the Director General, Digital Centre Design under recruitment principles Exemption 1.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ms Middleton was appointed under Exemption 1 of the recruitment principles on the basis of immediate need and with the required specialist skills to meet government priorities. The priority role was required off the back of Machinery of Government changes, with a key requirement to develop the scope and design of the new digital centre of government, including its overall strategy and blueprint for delivering a modern digital government. This case for exceptional appointment was set out in the request for Civil Service Commission approval, which was released on 24 September 2024 (FOI 2024/00289) as Annex A and agreement for this to be pursued under exception 1 can be found in annex C.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether individual contracts to Public Digital have been awarded through open competition since July 2024 .
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder).
Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 inc VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service. This includes a note of the winning supplier. (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search).
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2024 to Question HL1281 on Emily Middleton, on what date the declaration of interests was made.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Propriety and Ethics team were contacted about Ms Middleton’s previous employment on 10 July 2024, this is shown in FOI2024-00289, Annex D.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when the temporary role of the Director General, Digital Centre Design expires.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As per released documentation, in FOI2024-00256-Annex E Ms Middleton’s appointment was approved for two years, until 15 July 2026.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to Annex A of his Department's FOI release entitled FOI2024-00250: Correspondence about the appointment of Emily Middleton, published on 30 September 2024, if he will publish the document entitled Senior Civil Servant (SCS) Resourcing and Handling of Future SCS Recruitment Exceptions.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Honourable Member can consult FOI2024-00289, Annex F.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many (a) contracts were awarded and (b) payments were made to Public Digital by his Department since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Feryal Clark
If the Honourable Member consults Contracts Finder, she will see that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has not awarded any new contracts to Public Digital since 4 July 2024.
No payments have been made by the Department to Public Digital. Payments were made by the Cabinet Office for a pre-existing contract which was inherited mid-contract by DSIT in the Machinery of Government change. Further details can be found on Contract Finder.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Answer of 19 September 2024 to Question HL812 on Emily Middleton, whether the relevant background information provided to the Civil Service Commission included that secondment from Public Digital.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Director General, Digital Centre Design was appointed in line with Civil Service Recruitment Principles. The Civil Service Commission was provided with the relevant background information requested, including Ms Middleton’s full employment history, when approving this temporary appointment. This included Ms Middleton’s CV where the reference to the secondment was made. This text was released in FOI2024-00256 Internal Review.