Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many an what proportion of his Department’s (a) ICT (b) stationery and (c) office furniture suppliers are (i) supplied by UK businesses and (ii) manufactured in the UK.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Of the Department’s ICT contracts, 83% are with UK registered companies equating to 85 out of 103 contracts. The department has a corporate contract with a UK registered company for stationery (including printing materials). The majority of office furniture in buildings occupied by the Department is procured by the Government Property Agency (GPA).
We do not hold information on the country of manufacture of ICT, stationery or office furniture commodities.
The Government is committed to supporting British businesses and the products they produce, ensuring they have the best opportunities to win UK public contracts and deliver high-quality goods and services. The Procurement Act 2023 contains numerous provisions to support UK businesses win public contracts and the Cabinet Office is currently consulting on a package of further reforms to public procurement to support the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, from which countries his Department has sourced (a) pulp and (b) finished paper for (i) official stationery and (ii) other printed materials.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Of the Department’s ICT contracts, 83% are with UK registered companies equating to 85 out of 103 contracts. The department has a corporate contract with a UK registered company for stationery (including printing materials). The majority of office furniture in buildings occupied by the Department is procured by the Government Property Agency (GPA).
We do not hold information on the country of manufacture of ICT, stationery or office furniture commodities.
The Government is committed to supporting British businesses and the products they produce, ensuring they have the best opportunities to win UK public contracts and deliver high-quality goods and services. The Procurement Act 2023 contains numerous provisions to support UK businesses win public contracts and the Cabinet Office is currently consulting on a package of further reforms to public procurement to support the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department has taken to encourage the procurement of British-made office products and stationery by (a) his Department and (b) its arms-length bodies.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for Business and Trade and its arms-length bodies do not have any policies to specifically encourage procurement of British made office products and stationery. However, the Government is committed to supporting British businesses, ensuring they have opportunities to win UK public contracts and deliver high-quality goods and services.
Cabinet Office is consulting on a package of further reforms to public procurement regulation to support the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many open (a) processes and (b) applications there are for the creation of new (i) arm’s-length bodies, (ii) Government Departments, (iii) agencies and (iv) public bodies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
On 6 April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a full review of all UK government arm’s length bodies, and proposals for new bodies, in order to return policy decisions to Ministers, reduce duplication and improve efficiency and transparency. The review is ongoing and outcomes will be announced in due course.
Information about the creation of other types of public bodies is not held centrally.
The decision to create or close Government Departments is the responsibility of the Prime Minister. There are no active processes underway to create or close any departments.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the published list of (a) arm’s-length bodies, (b) Government departments, (c) agencies, (d) public bodies, and (e) other related entities for which a Minister or Department is responsible is complete and does not omit any relevant bodies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Cabinet Office publishes a list of Departments, agencies and public bodies which can be accessed on gov.uk. Individual government departments are responsible for ensuring their portfolio of organisations is accurately listed and kept up-to-date.
The Government also publishes a consolidated dataset on arm’s-length bodies annually. The latest version can be found here and provides landscape data for 2024.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many open (a) processes and (b) applications there are for the closure of (i) arm’s-length bodies, (ii) Government Departments, (iii) agencies and (iv) public bodies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
On 6 April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a full review of all UK government arm’s length bodies, and proposals for new bodies, in order to return policy decisions to Ministers, reduce duplication and improve efficiency and transparency. The review is ongoing and outcomes will be announced in due course.
Information about the closures of other types of public bodies is not held centrally.
The decision to create or close Government Departments is the responsibility of the Prime Minister. There are no active processes underway to create or close any departments.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Warrington North, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what proportion of the IPSA preferred suppliers list for MPs’ office purchases are UK-based manufacturers.
Answered by Charlotte Nichols
IPSA does not have a preferred suppliers list for MPs' office purchases. MPs are able to apply their own descretion within the parameters set out in the Scheme of MPs' Staffing and Business Costs when accessing funds from their Office Costs Budget.
Whilst IPSA does not have a preferred suppliers list for MPs' office purchases, it does have two direct supplier relationships with retail businesses based in the UK or with a UK subsidiary. MPs can make use of these in purchasing certain office supplies and for letterhead printing.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, whether any (a) arm’s-length bodies, (b) agencies and (c) public bodies are being administered under the Privy Council.
Answered by Lucy Powell
The Privy Council does not directly administer any (a) arm’s-length bodies, (b) agencies or (c) public bodies. Certain functions fall to Ministers as Privy Counsellors, either because they arise under the Royal Prerogative or because an Act of Parliament specifies that delegated legislation is to be made by Order in Council, or by the Privy Council. This is usually limited to the approval of governance changes, or appointments, to independent statutory regulators.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, what recent discussions she has had with IPSA on the (a) promotion and (b) procurement of British-made goods through Members’ parliamentary budgets.
Answered by Lucy Powell
No such discussions have taken place. IPSA is independent of Parliament and Government.
More widely, the Government is committed to ensuring public procurement expenditure boosts British industry.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of topical steroid creams on (a) physical dependency and (b) withdrawal effects among users.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has reviewed topical steroid withdrawal (TSW) reactions, and first communicated about these reactions in September 2021 through our Drug Safety Update, which is widely disseminated among health care professionals. This communication is available at the following link:
The MHRA has continued to monitor reports of TSW and undertook an additional review in 2024, which can be found at the following link:
During this review, further advice was sought from dermatologists, the National Eczema Society, and the Commission on Human Medicines. Consequently, the MHRA took forward a number of actions, including ensuring that there are updated warnings in the product information that is supplied with the creams, and the inclusion of information regarding the potency of topical steroids on the packaging. The British National Formulary (BNF) has updated their topical steroids potency information in line with the outcomes of the MHRA’s review. The BNF’s treatment summary for topical corticosteroids is available at the following link:
https://bnf.nice.org.uk/treatment-summaries/topical-corticosteroids/
Furthermore, the MHRA engaged with the British Association of Dermatologists who have released an updated statement that is available at the following link:
https://cdn.bad.org.uk/uploads/2024/02/22095550/Topical-Steroid-Withdrawal-Joint-Statement.pdf
Following these discussions, the British Association of Dermatologists has formed a Topical Steroid Withdrawal Working Party Group (TSW WP) in collaboration with National Eczema Society, Scratch That, the Primary Care Dermatology Society, and the British Dermatological Nursing Group. The objective of the TSW WPG is to develop expert consensus guidance on supporting people with concerns about TSW, including a Patient Information Leaflet, and any revision to the above joint statement, as appropriate. Further information on the TSW Working Party Group is available at the following link:
https://www.bad.org.uk/topical-steroid-withdrawal-joint-statement/