Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether his Department complies with the requirement set out in section 3.1.8 of the Civil Service Management Code that time off with pay for safety representatives will not be set against facility time allowed under existing arrangements.
Answered by James Duddridge
Yes. DExEU complies with this requirement; any safety representative employed by the Department would be entitled to time off with pay, which would not be set against facility time.
Obligations to provide reasonable paid time off to trade union representatives to undertake trade union duties include paid time off for safety representatives, as set out in section 3.1.8 of the Civil Service Management Code.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many and what proportion of staff in his Department would receive an increase in their salary in the event that their hourly pay rate was (a) £8.72, (b) £9.30 and (c) £10.
Answered by James Duddridge
There are no DExEU employees who would receive an increase to their salary in the event that their hourly rate was (a), (b) or (c). This is because the lowest paid member of DExEU staff hourly rate is higher than these amounts.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the increase in the National Living wage announced by the Government on 31 December 2019, what discussions he is having with private sector companies undertaking facility management work for his Department to ensure that the cost of wage increases for their employees are not passed on to his Department.
Answered by James Duddridge
Any private sector companies undertaking facilities management work for the Department for Exiting the European Union are managed and employed by building owners. The department operates, and has memorandum of terms of occupations (MOTO’s) with those building owners. As part of those agreements, those building owners employ and manage any third-party facilities management companies, so is therefore not the responsibility of the department. The department was recently onboarded to the Government Property Agency to manage the estate and the contracts between the department and those third-party companies. This responsibility would therefore sit with the Government Property Agency.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the effect on NHS staffing levels of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by James Duddridge
DExEU Ministers continue to hold regular discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care Ministers. The Government hugely values the contribution of EU staff to the NHS. We have taken steps to ensure that existing staff are able to remain working and living in the UK through the EU Settlement Scheme; and we will seek to ensure qualifications from the EU will continue to be recognised after we have exited the European Union.
Since the referendum, there are almost 7,300 more EU nationals working in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups.1 Furthermore, the Government has pledged to increase nurse numbers by 50,000 in the next five years, and give all nursing students on courses from September 2020 a payment of at least £5,000 which they will not need to pay back.
Recruitment for the NHS does not stop at the EU, we recruit talented individuals from all over the globe. The Government will launch a new visa to ensure qualified doctors, nurses and health professionals have fast-track entry to work in the United Kingdom. This will help ensure that there will be sufficient numbers of staff following the UK’s exit from the EU to enable the delivery of the high-quality services on which the public relies.
The Department for Health and Social Care continues to monitor and analyse staffing levels across the NHS and social care.
1 NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) Workforce Statistics in England, NHS Digital, (Dec 2019). Figure based on comparison between June 2016 and September 2019.
Asked by: Matthew Pennycook (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many staff in his Department are paid less than the London Living Wage; and what requirements his Department places on contractors to pay the London Living Wage to London-based staff.
Answered by James Duddridge
There are no staff working for the Department who are paid less than the London Living Wage.
The Department does not hold information relating to the rate of pay for those employed by third party agencies or outsourcing arrangements as these would be agreed and held locally by the relevant organisations.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the National Audit Office's report, Exiting the EU: supplying the health and social care sectors, published on 27 September 2019, (a) for how long and (b) at what cost his Department is procuring a dedicated courier service for urgent medicines and supplies secured from manufacturers in the EU.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for leaving the European Union. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines and medical products once we have left the EU.
The Express Freight Service is intended to provide access to an end-to-end solution able to deliver small consignments on a 24-hour basis with additional provision to move larger pallet quantities on a two-to-four-day basis. The initial contract length will be for one year, extendable by a further one year, with sufficient flexibility to end the contract earlier if required. The total estimated value of services provided to the Department over the one year period of the contract is £4 million. Users of the freight solution would be required to pay for any capacity they use.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on (a) residency and (b) healthcare rights for UK nationals living in the EU of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Government has always been clear that the best way to protect citizens’ rights is to secure a deal with the EU.
In the event of no deal, the UK has made a unilateral offer to protect the rights of EU citizens residing in the UK by exit day, and this includes continued entitlement to healthcare. Where possible, we have also made unilateral commitments to protect the rights of UK nationals living in the EU.
We welcome that all Member States have now put in place measures to protect the residency rights of UK nationals living in the EU by exit day but there are still areas where we hope that Member States will improve their offers to UK nationals, in line with what we have offered. We will continue to press for reciprocity and ask Member States to communicate their detailed plans as soon as possible.
Reciprocal healthcare arrangements cannot be fully protected unilaterally by the UK. That is why we are seeking arrangements at EU level or with Member States to apply the current social security coordination framework, including reciprocal healthcare, in full until the end of 2020.
To support UK-insured individuals living in the EU before exit day, the UK Government will also, for six-months after exit day (from 1 November 2019 until 30 April 2020), reimburse healthcare costs or pay providers directly where necessary.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what proportion of organisations that hold contracts with his Department pay the National Living Wage.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Department does not hold information relating to the rate of pay for those employed by a third party agency or outsourcing arrangements as these would be held locally by the relevant organisations.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the gender pay gap in his Department.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Department for Exiting the European Union is committed to the creation of a diverse and inclusive working environment to ensure staff do not face any barriers to success, and all staff feel supported at work.
At the time of DExEU’s gender pay gap report, women being overrepresented in more junior grades and underrepresented in more senior grades was a significant contributory factor in reporting DExEU’s gender pay gap. This is an issue that we are committed to addressing through our recruitment practices as well as the use of central and local talent management schemes to support the Department’s talent pipeline.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what information his Department holds on the rate of remuneration for (a) cleaners, (b) security guards and (c) catering staff in his Department in (i) Greater London and (ii) outside Greater London.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department does not directly employ any staff in the professions listed.
The Department leases its offices from other Government departments. Those departments may employ staff either directly or via agencies. Therefore we do not hold this information.