Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the pay ranges at each grade are for Food Standards Agency staff based (a) in and (b) outside London.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency salary structure and ranges for 2023/24 effective from 1 August 2023 are available at the following link:
https://www.food.gov.uk/about-us/fsa-salary-structure
The then Minister for the Cabinet Office and HM Paymaster General, the Rt Hon Jeremy Quin MP laid a written statement (HCWS940) on 13 July 2023 which outlined the pay ranges for senior civil servants from 1 April 2023.
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total cost to the public purse was of legal (a) support and (b) representation to Ministers in her Department in relation to their official conduct in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not held centrally or collated in the format requested. More generally, I would refer the hon. Member to the long-standing policies on legal expenditure, as set out recently by Cabinet Office Ministers on 12 March 2024, Official Report, Question 17709 and 12 March 2024, Official Report, House of Lords, Cols. 1901-1904.
Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost to the public purse was of legal (a) support and (b) representation to Ministers in his Department in relation to their official conduct in each of the last three years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Such information is not centrally recorded or collated in the form requested. More generally, I would refer the honourable Member to the long-standing policies on legal expenditure, as set out recently by Cabinet Office Ministers on 12 March 2024, Official Report, PQ 17709 Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament and 12 March 2024, Official Report, House of Lords, Cols. 1901-1904. Ministers: Legal Costs - Hansard - UK Parliament.
Asked by: Andrew Western (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of work coaches in job centres have received disability equality training as of 15 November 2023.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are unable to provide the information you have requested as it is not centrally collected and would incur disproportionate costs.
However, all DWP Work Coaches undergo comprehensive learning to support customers with disabilities, and they continue to build on this in the workplace through accessing point of need learning products. This includes all Work Coaches undertaking the Public Sector Equality Duty learning which was mandated for all Civil Servants by the Cabinet Office.
Work Coaches are also signposted to tools, guidance, and websites (internal and external), so that they have access to the most up to date advice and expertise to help them better support those with disabilities or health conditions.
Work Coaches are also supported by Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs) within Jobcentres. More information on DEAs can be found here https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-05-22/186157.
Asked by: Alison McGovern (Labour - Wirral South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department estimates the cost of answering Parliamentary Questions.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is no formal methodology – each Written Parliamentary Question is judged on its own merits, including whether a response can reasonably be provided within the cost limit.
The department follows the guidance produced by the Cabinet Office in the following documents:
Guide to Parliamentary Work
2022-10-11 - Guide to Parliamentary Work (publishing.service.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab)
Guidance on drafting answers to Parliamentary Questions:
drafting-pq-responses.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times Government departments answered Named Day written parliamentary questions stating that it would not be possible to answer a question within the usual time period in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Written parliamentary questions allow MPs and Peers to ask Ministers for information on the work, policy and activities of Government departments. Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account and it is a recognised right of Parliament that Members receive full and timely responses. Where it is not possible to provide a Named Day answer in full on the specified date, a holding response should be provided to the MP to explain this.
It is the responsibility of individual departments to provide timely answers to Parliamentary Questions from Members. The requested information is not centrally held by the Cabinet Office, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the Department.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what data their Department holds on the average response time to written parliamentary questions in the last six months; and what assessment they have made of the adequacy of that response time.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Written Parliamentary Questions.
There are three types of Written Parliamentary Question. The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work sets out the timelines departments should seek to meet.
This can be found here:
Departmental performance on Written Parliamentary Questions is published at the end of each session by the Procedure Committee and is therefore publicly available.
You can find details of the last session's PQ performance here:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5803/cmselect/cmproced/385/report.html
This year's data will be published by the Procedure Committee when the session concludes.
The Northern Ireland Office make every effort to reply to Written Parliamentary Questions within original deadlines by ensuring strict internal deadlines are in place, regular guidance is issued to all staff and monthly corporate reporting.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps their Department is taking to improve response times to written parliamentary questions.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Written Parliamentary Questions.
There are three types of Written Parliamentary Question. The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work sets out the timelines departments should seek to meet.
This can be found here:
Departmental performance on Written Parliamentary Questions is published at the end of each session by the Procedure Committee and is therefore publicly available.
You can find details of the last session's PQ performance here:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5803/cmselect/cmproced/385/report.html
This year's data will be published by the Procedure Committee when the session concludes.
The Northern Ireland Office make every effort to reply to Written Parliamentary Questions within original deadlines by ensuring strict internal deadlines are in place, regular guidance is issued to all staff and monthly corporate reporting.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data their Department holds on the average response time to written parliamentary questions in the last six months; and what assessment they have made of the adequacy of that response time.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Written Parliamentary Questions and every effort is made to reply within the original deadline. However, if the matters raised in the question require substantial investigation, it might not be possible to provide a substantive reply to a case within the departmental deadline. To instil best practice in the Cabinet Office, we host regular departmental training sessions for parliamentary, private office and policy leads.
The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work sets out the timelines departments should seek to meet. This can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1116933/2022-10-11_-_Guide_to_Parliamentary_Work___1_.pdf
Departmental performance on Written Parliamentary Questions is published at the end of each session by the Procedure Committee and is therefore publicly available. You can find details of the last session's PQ performance here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5803/cmselect/cmproced/385/report.html
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps their Department is taking to improve response times to written parliamentary questions.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Written Parliamentary Questions and every effort is made to reply within the original deadline. However, if the matters raised in the question require substantial investigation, it might not be possible to provide a substantive reply to a case within the departmental deadline. To instil best practice in the Cabinet Office, we host regular departmental training sessions for parliamentary, private office and policy leads.
The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work sets out the timelines departments should seek to meet. This can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1116933/2022-10-11_-_Guide_to_Parliamentary_Work___1_.pdf
Departmental performance on Written Parliamentary Questions is published at the end of each session by the Procedure Committee and is therefore publicly available. You can find details of the last session's PQ performance here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5803/cmselect/cmproced/385/report.html