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: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on making provisions for Iranians seeking asylum in the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are continuing to interview and decide asylum and human rights claims from Iranian nationals. Each claim continues to be assessed on its individual merits. The UK has experience in managing fastmoving country situations, and the current circumstances in Iran are not unique in that regard. The Home Office will continue to monitor developments closely and update relevant country information as appropriate.