Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the destinations were of domestic overnight visits undertaken by Ministers within their Department in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to UIN 17534 on 13 March 2024.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many domestic overnight visits were undertaken by Ministers within his Department in each of the last three financial years; and what the cost to the public purse was of these visits.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Government publishes on GOV.UK details of the cost of overseas Ministerial travel, including costs of travel, and on other costs (visas, accommodation, meals). But as has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not publish granular detail on Ministers’ travel at home or abroad.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate he has made of the amount of money lost to fraud and error by his Department in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The Government is proud of its record in proactively seeking to find and prevent more fraud in the system. We have established the dedicated Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA). In its first year, it delivered £311 million in audited counter fraud benefits.
The PSFA produces a Fraud Landscape Report (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cross-government-fraud-landscape-annual-report-2022). This provides data on fraud and error detection, loss and recoveries in central government, outside of the tax and welfare system. The 2020/21 Report was published in March 2023.
There has been no reported or detected fraud and error in the Department during the last three financial years.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what guidance his Department issues on the use of WhatsApp.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
All Departments in central government, including arms-length bodies apply the published guidance: Using non-corporate communication channels (e.g. WhatsApp, private email, SMS) for government business published by Cabinet Office in March 2023. It applies to all individuals in central government (ministers, special advisers, officials, contractors, non-executive board members and independent experts advising ministers). The Wales Office uses the central guidance and has applied it since March 2023.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what reports and guidance their Department has produced in the last three years; and how much was spent on their (a) printing and (b) distribution.
Answered by Fay Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales (OSSW) produced the following reports during the last three years.
Financial Year | Reports Produced | Spend on Printing and Distribution* (£) |
2021-22 | OSSW Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21 | 3,420.30 |
2021-22 | The UK Government’s Sixth Annual Report on the Implementation and Operation of Part 2 (Finance) of the Wales Act 2014 | 2,593.58 |
2022-23 | OSSW Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22 | 1,245.99 |
2023-24 to date | OSSW Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 | 1,200.61 |
*The Department outsources its printing and the invoices received do not split the costs between printing and distribution.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much funding his Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on advertising in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Fay Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
Nothing. The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales (OSSW) has not budgeted or spent any money on advertising in the last three financial years.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much funding his Department (a) allocated for (b) spent on magazine subscriptions in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Fay Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
Nothing. The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales (OSSW) has not allocated or spent any money on subscriptions to magazines in the last three financial years.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, which (a) newspapers, (b) magazines and (c) online journals his Department subscribed to in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Fay Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales (OSSW) subscribed to the following newspapers, magazines and online journals in the last three financial years.
Financial Year | Subscription |
2021-22 | The Times, The Financial Times, The Telegraph and The Western Mail. |
2022-23 | The Times, The Financial Times, The Telegraph and GOLWG |
2023-24 to date | The Times, The Financial Times, The Telegraph, GOLWG and The Spectator |
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many and what proportion of digital posts in his Department are vacant.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
There are currently no vacant digital posts in the Wales Office.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much his Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on software updates to legacy computer systems in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Fay Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)
Nothing. The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales does not have any legacy computer systems.