Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department takes to monitor enforcement of the Civil Service Code.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions deploys a variety of methods for monitoring enforcement of rules of conduct that underpin but are not exclusively about the Civil Service Code.
For example, the Departmental Audit and Risk Assurance Committee monitors the effect of measures to prevent and detect dishonesty that takes the form of internal fraud and security breaches, and employees are appointed to roles in areas such as security, data management and fraud detection to assess risks, monitor compliance, implement improvements and undertake investigations.
Other employees, such as human resources experts, support enforcement of the Civil Service Code by monitoring take up of mandatory training and ensure that concerns identified by misconduct, grievances and annual ‘People Survey’ are acted upon.
It is not possible to state all of the ways of monitoring enforcement of rules that ensure compliance with the Civil Service Code’s wide-ranging standards for integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) ensure compliance with the Civil Service Code and (b) record breaches of that code.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions makes it a contractual term of employment that its employees comply with the Civil Service Code and report if ever they are required to act in any way which may be illegal, improper or unethical. Failure to meet this contractual duty could result in disciplinary action, for which the most severe penalty could be dismissal.
The Department uses mandatory induction training and periodic communications to ensure its employees are aware of the standards prescribed by the Code and through its annual ‘People Survey’, employees are asked if they are aware of the Code and know how to report alleged breaches. Undertaking annual training in security and anti-fraud measures, relevant to the Code’s requirement for honesty, is also mandatory and monitored for compliance. Employees are required to declare apparent conflicts of interest and declarations are mandatory for the Senior Civil Service and for employees in particular circumstances.
Day to day, line managers are responsible for ensuring the employees they manage comply with the Code, and for dealing promptly with alleged breaches. All employees can use either the grievance or whistleblowing procedures to request investigation of alleged breaches by colleagues and in the case of whistleblowing, they may also report concerns about breaches of the Code to the Civil Service Commission or National Audit Office.
Confirmed breaches of the Code are recorded for whistleblowing but are also registered in disciplinary data according to the nature of the proven breach, e.g. fraud, theft, data misuse.
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the previous Government's policies on life expectancy in Glasgow North East constituency.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made. This would be a matter for the Scottish Government and National Records of Scotland: Life Expectancy in Scotland 2021-2023 - National Records of Scotland (NRS)
Asked by: Maureen Burke (Labour - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will publish practical driving test results broken down via (a) age and (b) gender for each of the test centres in greater Glasgow.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) publishes data annually showing car driving test pass rates by age (17 to 25 year olds), at all driving test centres (DTCs). This data table can be found online at drt122d-car-driving-test-by-age-by-test-centre.ods. This data was last updated on 2 September 2024 with data to March 2024.
The DVSA publishes data quarterly showing car driving test pass rates by gender per month at all DTCs. This data table can be found via: drt122a-car-driving-test-by-test-centre.ods. This data was last updated on 20 December 2024 with data to September 2024.