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Written Question
Special Forces: Afghanistan and Iraq
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2024 to Question 18400 on Special Forces: Afghanistan and Iraq, what the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs' planned timetable is for concluding his review.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Minister for Veterans' Affairs' will await the findings of the Inquiry before assessing the record.


Written Question
Special Forces: Afghanistan and Iraq
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Minister for Veterans plans to correct the record of his oral contribution of 7 January 2020, Official report, column 362.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Minister for Veterans' Affairs is reviewing the record in light of the Afghanistan Inquiry which is currently underway. The Minister is fully aware of his obligations to Parliament and holds his responsibilities to the House in the highest regard.


Written Question
Darlington Economic Campus: Contracts
Monday 19th February 2024

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether paying a minimum wage equal to that recommended by the Living Wage Foundation is a stipulation in the tendering process for facilities management contracts at the Darlington Economic Campus.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) receives facilities management (FM) services via the "Provision of TFM Services to GPA Sites", and this contract was awarded to ISS Mediclean Ltd under the RM3830 framework.

The Government Property Agency (GPA) ensures that their supply chain is compliant with the relevant employment legislation, including the relevant statutory staff pay rate.


Written Question
Darlington Economic Campus
Monday 19th February 2024

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the employment terms and conditions were for subcontracted employees working on the facilities management contract at the Darlington Economic Campus as of 7 February 2024.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) receives facilities management (FM) services via the "Provision of TFM Services to GPA Sites", and this contract was awarded to ISS Mediclean Ltd under the RM3830 framework.

The Government Property Agency (GPA) ensures that their supply chain is compliant with the relevant employment legislation, including the relevant statutory staff pay rate.


Written Question
Darlington Economic Campus: Contracts
Monday 19th February 2024

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a contract has been awarded for facilities management at the Darlington Economic Campus.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) receives facilities management (FM) services via the "Provision of TFM Services to GPA Sites", and this contract was awarded to ISS Mediclean Ltd under the RM3830 framework.

The Government Property Agency (GPA) ensures that their supply chain is compliant with the relevant employment legislation, including the relevant statutory staff pay rate.


Written Question
United Kingdom Security Vetting: Standards
Friday 2nd February 2024

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of clearances were processed by United Kingdom Security Vetting within 95 days in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

In December 2023, United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) processed 91.22% of routine initial Developed Vetting cases in 95 days and 8.62% of Developed Vetting review cases. For routine Security Check (SC)/Counter Terrorism Check (CTC) clearances UKSV completed 95.1% of routine cases within 25 days.

In 2023, UKSV implemented a stabilisation programme which included an increase in headcount. Under Ministerial direction, UKSV prioritised the recovery of initial Developed Vetting turnaround times, followed by Security Check and Counter Terrorist Check turnaround times. These first two targets were met on time. UKSV is currently focussing efforts to maintain the performance of these and is making good progress to meet the third target to recover the turnaround times of Developed Vetting review cases by the end of March 2024.

In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.




Written Question
Defence: Buildings
Monday 29th January 2024

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 3 October 2023 to Question 197591 on Defence: Buildings, what progress the Office for Government Property has made on collating information on the Defence Estate.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Office for Government Property (OGP) conducted a data capture exercise to bring together the information we hold about the Government estate into one place, which we have since used in conjunction with individual departments to encourage them to conclude their identification stage. This has aided in identifying a list of confirmed Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete across individual department’s estates.

Each department owns the data relating to specific locations, identification and remediation plans within their estate.


Written Question
Veterans: Homelessness
Monday 8th January 2024

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the oral statement of 21 November 2023 on Veterans Welfare Services by the Minster for Veterans' Affairs, Official Report column 223, what progress he has made on meeting the target to eliminate homelessness amongst the veteran population by 25 December 2023.

Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)

Op FORTITUDE is the dedicated referral pathway to support veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness secure housing.

Through Op FORTITUDE, the Government has ensured that no veteran should be facing the need to sleep rough due to lack of provision.


Written Question
Veterans: Homelessness
Tuesday 17th October 2023

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to reduce homelessness amongst the veteran population.

Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)

As part of the Government’s efforts to end veteran rough sleeping, we recently launched Op FORTITUDE. This is a first of its kind, central referral pathway which links veterans experiencing or facing homelessness with Local Authorities, housing providers and charities across the country.

This is supported by up to £8 million in the ‘Reducing Veterans Homelessness Programme’ which has made funding available to organisations across the UK. Providers are making available dedicated wrap-around support on health & wellbeing, recovery and employability in veteran supported housing.

An additional £20 million will go towards providing extra housing for veterans through the development of new builds and the refurbishment of existing social and charitable housing. An initial £2 million refurbishment and development grant has now been opened for applications via the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

Veterans and anyone else facing homelessness or rough sleeping, are also supported by the Government's ‘Ending Rough Sleeping for Good’ strategy which is backed by £2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping across the country.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Official Hospitality
Tuesday 4th July 2023

Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2023 to Question 190517 on Cabinet Office: Official Hospitality, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing the hospitality expenditure of business units in his Department.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

We do not routinely publish this data, as has been the case under successive administrations. All Business Units within the Cabinet Office have a responsibility to keep official hospitality costs as low as possible and demonstrate good value for money.