Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many civil servants employed by their Department work in roles primarily focused on (a) transgender policy, (b) diversity, (c) equity and (d) inclusion; and at what annual salary cost.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Dedicated EDI staff help DWP comply with equality legislation, making sure that vulnerable customers are supported. Proactive EDI initiatives can help prevent issues related to discrimination or exclusion, reducing grievances and costly disputes.
As of December 2025, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) employed 84,373.2 paid full-time equivalent (FTE) staff. There are no roles within the Department that are primarily focused on transgender policy.
Roles considered to be primarily focused on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) are as follows:
This constitutes a total of 14.16 FTE staff, which represents approximately 0.02% of the Department’s total Paid FTE workforce as being EDI focused.
The annual expenditure associated with the salaries for staff whose roles are primarily focused on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (based on People & Capability Annual Average Salary and including employer pension and NI contributions) amounts to approximately £1,121,565.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to contract “Support Payment Card”, procurement reference 429018/1483183, how many replacement cards were received; and what was the total cost to the public purse of the replacement.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The requested information is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total value of all active asylum-related contracts currently held by her Department is, broken down by supplier and contract type.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The contract values for asylum contracts are available in the public domain and can be viewed at:
Serco -
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NW - Contracts Finder
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract MEE - Contracts Finder
Mears -
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NEYH - Contracts Finder
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Scotland - Contracts Finder
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NI - Contracts Finder
CRH -
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Wales - Contracts Finder
AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract South - Contracts Finder
CTM -
CCTM22A01 Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services Contract - Contracts Finder
Contract for the Provision of Asylum Accommodation and Travel Services - Contracts Finder
PFS -Support Payment Card - Contracts Finder
Migrant Help - AIRE - Advice Issue Reporting and Elligibility - Contracts Finder
Mitie Limited - Provision of Security Services at Home Office Contingency Accommodation - Contracts Finder
British Refugee Council - Independent Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children (UASCs) Support Service - Contracts Finder
The Big Word Group Limited - Contract for the provision of Language Analysis Services - Contracts Finder
VF Services (UK) Limited - Contract for the provision of Home Office and Asylum Interviews - Contracts Finder
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contract, Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services, procurement reference CCTM22A01, if she will publish the minutes of the Benchmark Review.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is considered confidential and commercially sensitive and is therefore not publicly released.
The Home Office operates a rigorous contract management regime, which includes monthly Contract Management Group meetings and Quarterly Commercial Review Meetings to discuss contract management issues and oversee performance. Two Quarterly Commercial Review Meetings have been held.
The minutes of the monthly and quarterly performance meetings and other review meetings are treated as commercially sensitive and are not publicly released.
The Home Office also conducts regular reviews of its contracts to ensure that they deliver maximum value for money, but the minutes, notes, and outcomes of this work are commercially sensitive and not made publicly available.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, With reference to contract “Support Payment Card”, procurement reference 429018/1483183, whether alternative delivery models were considered prior to awarding the contract, including in-house provision.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Alternative delivery models, including in-house provision, were considered.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contract, Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services, procurement reference CCTM22A01, what the annual cost is of the cleaning programme delivered to the standards set by the British Institute of Cleaning Science required under the contract.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Prior to receiving internal, Home Office Commercial approvals, to award this contract supplier performance was reviewed and due diligence was carried out. Necessary external approvals from Cabinet Office Spend Controls were also obtained prior to the contract award. The guidance for Cabinet Office Spend Controls applies to commercial activities costing £20 million or more, and is published on gov.uk at: Commercial spend controls (version 7) - GOV.UK.
The final contract signature was completed on 24 March 2023.
All Home Office contracts are procured in line with public sector procurement regulations. As part of these regulations, robust checks are carried out on suppliers’ ability to deliver the contract in question and, in certain circumstances, it may be necessary to exclude bidders in line with relevant regulations.
CCTM22A01 Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services Contract was a direct award under the CCS Travel and Venue Solutions Framework Agreement (RM6217) – Lot 2. CTM were the sole supplier within Lot 2.
Financial information cannot be provided in the granular detail requested.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contract, Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services, procurement reference CCTM22A01, what the cost per service user is of the requirement that cabins are cleaned on a twice weekly basis.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Prior to receiving internal, Home Office Commercial approvals, to award this contract supplier performance was reviewed and due diligence was carried out. Necessary external approvals from Cabinet Office Spend Controls were also obtained prior to the contract award. The guidance for Cabinet Office Spend Controls applies to commercial activities costing £20 million or more, and is published on gov.uk at: Commercial spend controls (version 7) - GOV.UK.
The final contract signature was completed on 24 March 2023.
All Home Office contracts are procured in line with public sector procurement regulations. As part of these regulations, robust checks are carried out on suppliers’ ability to deliver the contract in question and, in certain circumstances, it may be necessary to exclude bidders in line with relevant regulations.
CCTM22A01 Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services Contract was a direct award under the CCS Travel and Venue Solutions Framework Agreement (RM6217) – Lot 2. CTM were the sole supplier within Lot 2.
Financial information cannot be provided in the granular detail requested.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contract, Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services, procurement reference CCTM22A01, what the cost is of providing assistance to service users to make contact with a local GP surgery and dentist.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Prior to receiving internal, Home Office Commercial approvals, to award this contract supplier performance was reviewed and due diligence was carried out. Necessary external approvals from Cabinet Office Spend Controls were also obtained prior to the contract award. The guidance for Cabinet Office Spend Controls applies to commercial activities costing £20 million or more, and is published on gov.uk at: Commercial spend controls (version 7) - GOV.UK.
The final contract signature was completed on 24 March 2023.
All Home Office contracts are procured in line with public sector procurement regulations. As part of these regulations, robust checks are carried out on suppliers’ ability to deliver the contract in question and, in certain circumstances, it may be necessary to exclude bidders in line with relevant regulations.
CCTM22A01 Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services Contract was a direct award under the CCS Travel and Venue Solutions Framework Agreement (RM6217) – Lot 2. CTM were the sole supplier within Lot 2.
Financial information cannot be provided in the granular detail requested.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contract, Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services, procurement reference CCTM22A01, what the annual cost is of the house-keeping laundry service with a maximum 48-hour turnaround.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Prior to receiving internal, Home Office Commercial approvals, to award this contract supplier performance was reviewed and due diligence was carried out. Necessary external approvals from Cabinet Office Spend Controls were also obtained prior to the contract award. The guidance for Cabinet Office Spend Controls applies to commercial activities costing £20 million or more, and is published on gov.uk at: Commercial spend controls (version 7) - GOV.UK.
The final contract signature was completed on 24 March 2023.
All Home Office contracts are procured in line with public sector procurement regulations. As part of these regulations, robust checks are carried out on suppliers’ ability to deliver the contract in question and, in certain circumstances, it may be necessary to exclude bidders in line with relevant regulations.
CCTM22A01 Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services Contract was a direct award under the CCS Travel and Venue Solutions Framework Agreement (RM6217) – Lot 2. CTM were the sole supplier within Lot 2.
Financial information cannot be provided in the granular detail requested.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contract, Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services, procurement reference CCTM22A01, if she will publish the minutes of all Monthly Operational Review meetings.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is considered confidential and commercially sensitive and is therefore not publicly released.
The Home Office operates a rigorous contract management regime, which includes monthly Contract Management Group meetings and Quarterly Commercial Review Meetings to discuss contract management issues and oversee performance. Two Quarterly Commercial Review Meetings have been held.
The minutes of the monthly and quarterly performance meetings and other review meetings are treated as commercially sensitive and are not publicly released.
The Home Office also conducts regular reviews of its contracts to ensure that they deliver maximum value for money, but the minutes, notes, and outcomes of this work are commercially sensitive and not made publicly available.