Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many ministerial red boxes belonging to his Department have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The following table includes the number of lost or stolen ministerial red boxes from the Cabinet Office between 2021 and 2023.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
Lost | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Stolen | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The departmental security unit records and investigates each reported loss from the Department. If appropriate, the police are invited to undertake further inquiries.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2024 to Question 11390 on Cabinet Office: Ministers' Private Offices, how much was spent on each of those refurbishments.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Ministerial Offices in 70 Whitehall, redecorated due to water damage in April 2023, cost a total of £19,956.50 exclusive of VAT.
The redecoration of the Ministerial Waiting Room in 70 Whitehall with furniture alterations (partly necessary due to historic mould issues, and completed in November 2023) cost a total of £13,359.11 exclusive of VAT.
The decoration of the Ministerial corridor (due to complete in March 2024) is taking place as part of planned building-wide programme of annual maintenance. As part of this programme, a number of corridors throughout the building are being repainted. Therefore it is not possible to distinguish the cost of the redecoration of the Ministerial corridor from the wider programme.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any refurbishments have been made to ministerial offices in his Department in each of the last two years.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In September 2023, a Project was completed to create a Ministerial Meeting Room in the Cabinet Office’s 2nd Headquarters within Glasgow: 1 Atlantic Square. The room enables the conduct of Ministerial business in Glasgow, including hosting meetings.
Within London, 70 Whitehall
Two of the Ministerial offices were redecorated in April 2023 due to water damage.
A Ministerial Waiting Room was redecorated with furniture alterations in November 2023.
Further decoration of a Ministerial corridor is planned in March 2024, also due to water damage.
Each of these refurbishments strives to strike a balance between value for the taxpayer and ensuring that staff are able to do their job effectively.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many settlement payments his Department issued following claims of (a) bullying, (b) harassment and (c) discrimination in the (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21, (iii) 2021-22 and (iv) 2022-23 financial years.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office follows the principles laid out in the Cabinet Office Guidance on Settlement Agreements, Special Severance Payments on Termination of Employment and Confidentiality Clauses which is published on the internet here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d2c7852ed915d2fe7abea6d/Cabinet-Office-guidance-on-settlement-agreements-special-severance-payments-on-termination-of-employment-and-confidentiality-clauses.pdf, and the HM Treasury Guidance on Public Sector Exit payments, which is published on the internet here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60af4ab3d3bf7f737e058da9/SPECIAL_SEVERANCE_GUIDANCE_v3_FINAL.pdf when considering any settlement agreements.
The Cabinet Office is unable to ascertain from the data available the specific settlement by individual claims of a) bullying, b) harassment and c) discrimination for the financial years provided. This is due to the interlinked nature of claims, which means that an individual could raise a case that covers several of these areas.
The Cabinet Office takes all allegations of bullying, harassment and discrimination seriously. Staff are encouraged to raise any concerns through the departmental Dispute or Disciplinary policies to enable swift investigation into concerns raised.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on press and public relations in each financial year since 2019-20.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Government departments rightly have an obligation to work with and support the media in their reporting.
Like any large organisation, they will employ staff to work with journalists, to help communicate their work and policies to the public.
This is primarily carried out by media relations staff employed by departments. Like all areas of government spending - costs are reviewed regularly to ensure value for money.
The Government Communications Service works with all central government organisations to ensure that, where taxpayers’ money is being spent on government communications, it is cost-effective and reflects best practices.
Cabinet Office spend on press and public relations since 2019-20 are below. These figures represent the departmental spend on the Cabinet Office press office (including pay and relevant contracts):
2019/20: £976,994.11
2020/21: £1,185,192.91
2021/22: £1,111,282.00
2022/23: £1,181,350.41
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many security passes for his Department have been reported as (a) missing and (b) stolen in the last 12 months.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government takes the protection of information extremely seriously. Departments are required to have robust controls in place to manage risk to their assets including data and mobile devices.
The departmental security unit records and considers whether an investigation is appropriate for each reported loss from the Department.
Any security pass reported as lost is immediately deactivated.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there have been any power cuts on their Department's property in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
For the purposes of this answer, we are interpreting power cuts to mean unplanned loss of power to a building or floor of a building.
We can confirm from the information available, that there have been two incidents in the specified period:
10 South Colonnade, London, where Cabinet Office is a tenant, 2023.
Cheylesmore House, Coventry, 2023.
In both incidents, communication to affected users was swift and continuous thus keeping people fully informed of the status of the incident. Post events, lessons learnt sessions were held and where appropriate, mitigations and processes were created should future similar events take place, not just at those localities but nationally as well.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data their Department holds on the (a) number and (b) total cost of replacing (i) laptops, (ii) mobile phones, (iii) memory sticks and (iv) external hard drives that have been (A) lost and (B) stolen in the last year.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office provides laptops and mobile phones to over 10,000 users in 2023-24. The Cabinet Office supplies fully security encrypted mobiles and laptops. We do not issue memory sticks or external drives.
There are occasional incidents where equipment is reported lost or stolen. Staff are required to report such incidents, and cases are investigated. Any loss is unfortunate and should be avoided, but invariably reflects that such devices may need to be taken out of a workplace environment.
The following table includes the numbers and costs related to the lost/stolen devices.
| Laptops | Mobile Phones | Memory Sticks | External Data Drives |
Number Lost | 28 | 108 | N/A | N/A |
Cost of Lost Replacement | £23,911.20* | £40,280* | N/A | N/A |
Number Stolen | 21 | 10 | N/A | N/A |
Cost of Stolen Replacement | £23,010.52* | £3,585* | N/A | N/A |
*Some devices not approved for replacement
Given steps taken to secure information, we do not believe there has been any data loss or compromise as a result of these losses.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed border target operating model on the availability of food.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Border Target Operating Model proposes a new control regime for imports of animal and plant products. It will implement an innovative, risk-based approach to border controls for imports ensuring that goods can flow and checks, delays and waste are minimised.
As set out in our Food Strategy published in 2022, the resilience and reliability of food supply chains is a key objective of this Government.
The draft Border Target Operating Model was developed with input from business. Our innovative and risk-based approach to border controls will limit complexity for businesses, whilst providing the critical border controls that will keep the UK safe from a range of biosecurity, human health and security threats.
Many food products will require no new certification or checks, and where they are needed importers will be able to complete them more simply. Some businesses may need to adapt their business models, and we will support them to do that.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of the Border Target Operating Model on levels of food waste.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Border Target Operating Model proposes a new control regime for imports of animal and plant products. It will implement an innovative, risk-based approach to border controls for imports ensuring that goods can flow and checks, delays and waste are minimised.
As set out in our Food Strategy published in 2022, the resilience and reliability of food supply chains is a key objective of this Government.
The draft Border Target Operating Model was developed with input from business. Our innovative and risk-based approach to border controls will limit complexity for businesses, whilst providing the critical border controls that will keep the UK safe from a range of biosecurity, human health and security threats.
Many food products will require no new certification or checks, and where they are needed importers will be able to complete them more simply. Some businesses may need to adapt their business models, and we will support them to do that.