Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Cabinet Office is taking to tackle fraud.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office, as a department, is committed to protecting public resources and upholding financial integrity by maintaining and continuously improving its counter fraud measures. Details on cross-government fraud action can be sought from the Public Sector Fraud Authority, based in DWP.
For the department, fraud is addressed through a number of different lenses.
Detection:
Participation in the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) which is a biennial data-matching exercise run by the Public Sector Fraud Authority that matches electronic data within and between public and private sector bodies.
The department has established whistleblowing and reporting mechanisms for staff and members of the public to report concerns and allegations of fraud, which are considered in good faith.
System and operational controls have been established across financial systems to establish separation of duties, approvals and audit points.
Prevent and Deter:
Counter fraud training is a required learning module for all staff each year. Greater awareness of what fraud is better enables staff to identify risks and irregularities consistently and at earlier opportunities.
A communication strategy provides a rhythm of information on emerging threats, case studies, tools and guidance. This includes participation in International Fraud Awareness Week.
Initial Fraud Impact Assessments are required for all new spending decisions and grants where Full Risk Assessments are conducted where required. This enables the department to proactively consider appropriate controls.
Response:
The department responds to all substantiated allegations of fraud by seeking the most appropriate actions including, civil recovery and Police referral. The department is supported by the PSFA enforcement unit and internal debt recovery providers as and when required.
Governance and reporting
The department is subject to reporting and assurance processes governed by the PSFA.
The department has an accountable board member for counter fraud to represent the internal counter fraud agenda and to provide oversight at a senior level.
The Cabinet Office Counter Fraud team regularly reports to the department’s audit and risk committee who provide critical challenges to the scope, scale and depth of counter fraud arrangements in the department.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commit to ensuring the government tackle mobile phone fraud.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government has set out commitments to tackle telephone fraud in the second Telecoms Fraud Charter and the Fraud Strategy 2026-2029. The Charter, signed by major UK mobile operators and business-to-business networks, includes measures to identify, prevent and disrupt telecoms fraud.
As set out in the Fraud Strategy, the Government launched a Call for Evidence in July to examine how criminals are accessing UK telephone numbers to facilitate scam calls in the UK and internationally. The findings will inform policy options to disrupt this activity.
Through the Crime and Policing Act 2026, the Government has also legislated to ban the supply and distribution of “SIM farms”, devices used by criminals to send scam texts at scale.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if she will commit to ensuring new Ministerial appointments disclose a criminal conviction upon taking office.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the honourable member to the answer provided to UIN 75369.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to academy trusts on how to demonstrate comparable pricing for alternative energy contracts.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is currently drafting and finalising guidance for academy trusts which includes definitions of what constitutes comparable pricing and value where they are seeking to benchmark their energy costs with the Energy for Schools route. This guidance will be published prior to the effective date for the 2026 Academy Trust Handbook, which is 1 October 2026.
The department’s approach is to support academy trusts in simplifying and securing value for money from energy procurement, while retaining flexibility to use alternative routes where they can demonstrate pricing comparable to that available through the department’s Energy for Schools service or a department approved energy deal. The department expects trusts to continue to act in accordance with their broader responsibilities to achieve value for money and effective stewardship of public funds. The guidance will include definitions of what constitutes comparable pricing and value where they are seeking to benchmark their energy costs.
The department carried out a pilot prior to full implementation of Energy for Schools. This involved benchmarking actual energy usage data and pricing provided by individual schools and Government Commercial Agency (formerly Crown Commercial Services), comparing 12 months' worth of a school’s historic invoices with what a school would have paid under the department’s contract for the same period. Recent benchmarking has demonstrated that a typical primary school can save £4,900 a year and a typical secondary school £23,200 through the department’s deal.
The department’s policy is to support trusts in simplifying and securing value for money by making available the department's Energy for Schools service and department approved energy deals. At the same time, it continues to permit alternative procurement routes where trusts can demonstrate comparable pricing or value. The requirement does not prevent trusts from seeking alternative suppliers or procurement arrangements and allows trusts to access the wider energy market where competitive pricing can be evidenced.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of energy procurement guidance on the ability of academy trusts to leverage price competition.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is currently drafting and finalising guidance for academy trusts which includes definitions of what constitutes comparable pricing and value where they are seeking to benchmark their energy costs with the Energy for Schools route. This guidance will be published prior to the effective date for the 2026 Academy Trust Handbook, which is 1 October 2026.
The department’s approach is to support academy trusts in simplifying and securing value for money from energy procurement, while retaining flexibility to use alternative routes where they can demonstrate pricing comparable to that available through the department’s Energy for Schools service or a department approved energy deal. The department expects trusts to continue to act in accordance with their broader responsibilities to achieve value for money and effective stewardship of public funds. The guidance will include definitions of what constitutes comparable pricing and value where they are seeking to benchmark their energy costs.
The department carried out a pilot prior to full implementation of Energy for Schools. This involved benchmarking actual energy usage data and pricing provided by individual schools and Government Commercial Agency (formerly Crown Commercial Services), comparing 12 months' worth of a school’s historic invoices with what a school would have paid under the department’s contract for the same period. Recent benchmarking has demonstrated that a typical primary school can save £4,900 a year and a typical secondary school £23,200 through the department’s deal.
The department’s policy is to support trusts in simplifying and securing value for money by making available the department's Energy for Schools service and department approved energy deals. At the same time, it continues to permit alternative procurement routes where trusts can demonstrate comparable pricing or value. The requirement does not prevent trusts from seeking alternative suppliers or procurement arrangements and allows trusts to access the wider energy market where competitive pricing can be evidenced.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the value for money of the Energy for Schools route compared with alternative compliant procurement approaches.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is currently drafting and finalising guidance for academy trusts which includes definitions of what constitutes comparable pricing and value where they are seeking to benchmark their energy costs with the Energy for Schools route. This guidance will be published prior to the effective date for the 2026 Academy Trust Handbook, which is 1 October 2026.
The department’s approach is to support academy trusts in simplifying and securing value for money from energy procurement, while retaining flexibility to use alternative routes where they can demonstrate pricing comparable to that available through the department’s Energy for Schools service or a department approved energy deal. The department expects trusts to continue to act in accordance with their broader responsibilities to achieve value for money and effective stewardship of public funds. The guidance will include definitions of what constitutes comparable pricing and value where they are seeking to benchmark their energy costs.
The department carried out a pilot prior to full implementation of Energy for Schools. This involved benchmarking actual energy usage data and pricing provided by individual schools and Government Commercial Agency (formerly Crown Commercial Services), comparing 12 months' worth of a school’s historic invoices with what a school would have paid under the department’s contract for the same period. Recent benchmarking has demonstrated that a typical primary school can save £4,900 a year and a typical secondary school £23,200 through the department’s deal.
The department’s policy is to support trusts in simplifying and securing value for money by making available the department's Energy for Schools service and department approved energy deals. At the same time, it continues to permit alternative procurement routes where trusts can demonstrate comparable pricing or value. The requirement does not prevent trusts from seeking alternative suppliers or procurement arrangements and allows trusts to access the wider energy market where competitive pricing can be evidenced.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the comparable pricing requirement for alternative energy contracts in the Academy Trusts Handbook on competition between procurement routes.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is currently drafting and finalising guidance for academy trusts which includes definitions of what constitutes comparable pricing and value where they are seeking to benchmark their energy costs with the Energy for Schools route. This guidance will be published prior to the effective date for the 2026 Academy Trust Handbook, which is 1 October 2026.
The department’s approach is to support academy trusts in simplifying and securing value for money from energy procurement, while retaining flexibility to use alternative routes where they can demonstrate pricing comparable to that available through the department’s Energy for Schools service or a department approved energy deal. The department expects trusts to continue to act in accordance with their broader responsibilities to achieve value for money and effective stewardship of public funds. The guidance will include definitions of what constitutes comparable pricing and value where they are seeking to benchmark their energy costs.
The department carried out a pilot prior to full implementation of Energy for Schools. This involved benchmarking actual energy usage data and pricing provided by individual schools and Government Commercial Agency (formerly Crown Commercial Services), comparing 12 months' worth of a school’s historic invoices with what a school would have paid under the department’s contract for the same period. Recent benchmarking has demonstrated that a typical primary school can save £4,900 a year and a typical secondary school £23,200 through the department’s deal.
The department’s policy is to support trusts in simplifying and securing value for money by making available the department's Energy for Schools service and department approved energy deals. At the same time, it continues to permit alternative procurement routes where trusts can demonstrate comparable pricing or value. The requirement does not prevent trusts from seeking alternative suppliers or procurement arrangements and allows trusts to access the wider energy market where competitive pricing can be evidenced.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to define what constitutes comparable pricing for academy trusts seeking to benchmark their energy costs with the Energy for Schools route.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is currently drafting and finalising guidance for academy trusts which includes definitions of what constitutes comparable pricing and value where they are seeking to benchmark their energy costs with the Energy for Schools route. This guidance will be published prior to the effective date for the 2026 Academy Trust Handbook, which is 1 October 2026.
The department’s approach is to support academy trusts in simplifying and securing value for money from energy procurement, while retaining flexibility to use alternative routes where they can demonstrate pricing comparable to that available through the department’s Energy for Schools service or a department approved energy deal. The department expects trusts to continue to act in accordance with their broader responsibilities to achieve value for money and effective stewardship of public funds. The guidance will include definitions of what constitutes comparable pricing and value where they are seeking to benchmark their energy costs.
The department carried out a pilot prior to full implementation of Energy for Schools. This involved benchmarking actual energy usage data and pricing provided by individual schools and Government Commercial Agency (formerly Crown Commercial Services), comparing 12 months' worth of a school’s historic invoices with what a school would have paid under the department’s contract for the same period. Recent benchmarking has demonstrated that a typical primary school can save £4,900 a year and a typical secondary school £23,200 through the department’s deal.
The department’s policy is to support trusts in simplifying and securing value for money by making available the department's Energy for Schools service and department approved energy deals. At the same time, it continues to permit alternative procurement routes where trusts can demonstrate comparable pricing or value. The requirement does not prevent trusts from seeking alternative suppliers or procurement arrangements and allows trusts to access the wider energy market where competitive pricing can be evidenced.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to support schools and colleges with (a) implementing the Enrichment Framework and (b) delivering against the Enrichment Entitlement.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has published a new enrichment framework with clear benchmarks against which schools and colleges can evaluate their own offer and improve provision. Ambassadors have been appointed as experts within their areas, using their expertise to help develop and expand opportunities for young people.
The £22.5 million Enrichment Expansion Programme will work with approximately 400 schools in the most deprived areas of England to support them to meet the benchmarks set out in the enrichment framework. This is alongside a variety of governmental programmes, including upcoming PE and School Sport Partnerships and a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, as well as National Education Nature Parks, TechYouth, the Cadet Expansion Programme, Erasmus+ and Building Equal Access to Chess in Schools.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s ‘Every Child Can’ programme will deliver £132.5 million for new activities programmes structured around the framework categories, delivered through schools, community programmes, weekend activities and holiday provision.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to support schools and colleges in delivering the Enrichment Benchmarks.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has published a new enrichment framework with clear benchmarks against which schools and colleges can evaluate their own offer and improve provision. Ambassadors have been appointed as experts within their areas, using their expertise to help develop and expand opportunities for young people.
The £22.5 million Enrichment Expansion Programme will work with approximately 400 schools in the most deprived areas of England to support them to meet the benchmarks set out in the enrichment framework. This is alongside a variety of governmental programmes, including upcoming PE and School Sport Partnerships and a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, as well as National Education Nature Parks, TechYouth, the Cadet Expansion Programme, Erasmus+ and Building Equal Access to Chess in Schools.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s ‘Every Child Can’ programme will deliver £132.5 million for new activities programmes structured around the framework categories, delivered through schools, community programmes, weekend activities and holiday provision.