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 expenditure has been incurred on the booking of transport services for those who wish to travel beyond the local area.
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 was the total number of contracts between the Department and Corporate Travel Management (North) Limited in the last ten years.
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 adequate transport links to enable service users to access the local area.
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 Support Payment Card, procurement reference 429018/148318, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of commercial confidentiality under that contract on provision of information to Parliament that helps facilitate scrutiny of value for money.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Support Payment Card contract was awarded to Prepaid Financial Services Limited (PFS) on 24 May 2020 as a Call-Off to Lot 2 (Prepaid Cards) of the RM 3828 Crown Commercial Services Framework Contract for the provision of the Support Payment Card Service.
PFS successfully secured a place on Lot 2 of the Framework Agreement along with four other suppliers. The Home Office determined which supplier could deliver the best value for money solution to the Home Office’s requirement. The evaluation considered both quality and price. Therefore, at the time of contract award, PFS’ solution offered the best value for money.
As these services were compliantly procured, and we undertake regular reviews of Supplier performance and assessments of financial and commercial data via established governance forums, value for money is scrutinised on an ongoing basis.
The risks of disclosing information that is considered confidential and commercially sensitive outweigh the benefits of disclosure. Release would impact on the Home Office’s ability to obtain maximum value for money for taxpayers. Disclosure of PFS’ commercially sensitive information could also impact upon their ability to compete for future services of this nature.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what Key Performance Indicators are commonly applied across asylum contracts.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
KPI schedules and performance measures are set out in the contracts which are available on Contracts Finder and can be found in the links below:
Wales - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Wales - Contracts Finder
South - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract South - Contracts Finder
NW - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NW - Contracts Finder
MEE - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract MEE - Contracts Finder
NEYH - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NEYH - Contracts Finder
Scotland - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract Scotland - Contracts Finder
NI - AASC - Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract NI - Contracts Finder
CTM - CCTM22A01 Provision of Bridging Accommodation and Travel Services Contract - 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, what due diligence was undertaken on Corporate Travel Management (North) Limited, including financial capacity, relevant experience, and subcontracting arrangements, prior to contract award.
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, on what date Corporate Travel Management (North) Limited was notified that it had been awarded the contract, and which Minister approved the award.
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 procurement route was used to award the contract; and whether it was subject to open competition, emergency procurement, or direct award.
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 contract “Support Payment Card”, procurement reference 429018/1483183, how many staff delivering services are subject to Security Clearance (SC); and what the average cost of clearance is per staff member.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not incur costs for Security Clearance (SC) under the Support Payment Card contract, as these are not charged through the contract, and we therefore do not hold data on the average cost per staff member.
The number of staff subject to SC is also not held by the department, as staffing levels and clearance requirements sit with the provider, who is responsible for ensuring that the appropriate number of suitably cleared personnel are in place to deliver the services in accordance with contractual requirements.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with amputee charities regarding helping amputees into work.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, including amputees, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.
Blesma, the veterans’ limbless charity, are members of the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum and have been members of a Universal Credit stakeholder forum and the Health Transformation Forum.
Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.
Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work.
We set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, and are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support.
Additionally, we have developed a digital information service for employers, oversees the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.
The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan also states the Government’s intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.