Asked by: Baroness McDonagh (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the speech given by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster at the Business Services Association Annual Chairman’s Dinner on 19 November, how the Key Performance Indicators for critical government contracts were selected; which stakeholders were consulted; and whether the Key Performance Indicators will be reviewed.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
We will be publishing performance data on our most important contracts in the coming months and are currently working with departments and industry to finalise the details of publication. The published performance data will be contract specific and depend on the service provision.
Asked by: Baroness McDonagh (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the speech given by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster at the Business Services Association Annual Chairman’s Dinner on 19 November, what are the Key Performance Indicators for critical government contracts; which contracts the Key Performance Indicators will apply to; and whether there will be a statutory duty on suppliers to publish Key Performance Indicators.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
We will be publishing performance data on our most important contracts in the coming months and are currently working with departments and industry to finalise the details of publication. The published performance data will be contract specific and depend on the service provision.
Asked by: Baroness McDonagh (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the speech given by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster at the Business Services Association Annual Chairman’s Dinner on 19 November, what criteria determined the selection of Serco, Capita, Sopra Steria, Engie and Interserve in producing the first set of "living wills".
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
Serco, Capita, Sopra Steria, Engie and Interserve all volunteered to pilot the use of “living wills”. We will reflect the results of this pilot as we deploy “living wills” across all suppliers providing critical services.
Asked by: Baroness McDonagh (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the speech given by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster at the Business Services Association Annual Chairman’s Dinner on 19 November, for how long the Cabinet Office anticipates that pilots of new outsourced services will last.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The nature of the pilots for new outsourced services will depend on the specific service provision. Individual departments will consider the most appropriate route and timeframe for piloting new outsourced services as part of the Business Case approval process which will include the appropriate governance and approval process in departments and central approvals through HM Treasury and Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Baroness McDonagh (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the minutes of the September meeting of the Independent Review of the Financial Reporting Council; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Henley
In accordance with the Review’s terms of reference, a summary of the discussion held at the September 2018 meeting of the Review’s Advisory Group will be made available in due course.
Asked by: Baroness McDonagh (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Boundary Commission proposals will be subject to a vote in Parliament; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
An Order in Council is required give effect to the recommendations contained in all four Boundary Commission reports. The Order must be debated and approved by Parliament before the recommendations can be adopted.
Asked by: Baroness McDonagh (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the letter by the Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to Sir John Kingman, chairman of the Review of the audit regulator, on 8 October asking for the scope of the Independent Review of the Financial Reporting Council to be extended, whether additional resources have been provided or requested to assist in the completion of that investigation.
Answered by Lord Henley
Sir John Kingman asked not to receive a fee for his role undertaking the independent Review of the Financial Reporting Council. Members of the Review’s Advisory Group are also not remunerated for their involvement.
The additional request to Sir John Kingman to provide his thoughts alongside the Review on whether there is any case for change in the way in which audits are procured and audit fees are set will be accommodated in existing costs and allocated resources.
Asked by: Baroness McDonagh (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the letter by the Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to Sir John Kingman, chairman of the Review of the audit regulator, on 8 October, what are the financial and non-financial costs associated with the request to extend the scope of the Independent Review of the Financial Reporting Council.
Answered by Lord Henley
Sir John Kingman asked not to receive a fee for his role undertaking the independent Review of the Financial Reporting Council. Members of the Review’s Advisory Group are also not remunerated for their involvement.
The additional request to Sir John Kingman to provide his thoughts alongside the Review on whether there is any case for change in the way in which audits are procured and audit fees are set will be accommodated in existing costs and allocated resources.
Asked by: Baroness McDonagh (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much is owed to social care workers for sleeping-in payments for the provision of statutory care that was commissioned by (1) government agencies, and (2) local authorities; and from what funds it is anticipated that those payments will be paid.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The information requested is not held centrally.
Social care is usually commissioned by local authorities but it can also be commissioned by the National Health Service or paid for by self-funding individuals.
A piece of market analysis was commissioned over the summer to better understand the scale of the liabilities associated with sleep-in shifts.
The Government is in the process of further refining this work to provide more robust information. The interim enforcement approach announced by the Government on 1 November is designed to maximise the prospects of workers being paid arrears owed to them as soon as possible, while at the same time protecting existing jobs. The Government recognises the pressures these liabilities are placing on providers of social care, and we are exploring options to minimise any impact on the sector.
Asked by: Baroness McDonagh (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of the impact on charities and other voluntary organisations providing social care of new advice on the statutory provision of sleeping-in payments.
Answered by Lord Henley
All businesses – irrespective of their size or business sector – are responsible for paying the correct minimum wage to their staff.
It is not uncommon for employment law to be clarified in the courts and tribunals. Employment Tribunal judgments have, over time, clarified the position on what constitutes “work” in connection with sleeping time and therefore when the NMW is payable for sleep-in shifts. Government guidance issued in February 2015 included clarification from those judgments. Ministers from BEIS and the Department of Health most recently wrote to Local Authorities on 27 October 2017 regarding payment of NMW or NLW for sleep-in shifts to ensure clarity on those rules.
The Government recognises that the cumulative financial liability of penalties and arrears of wages associated with “sleep in” shifts could pose challenges to some providers in the social care sector. It is exploring options to minimise any impact on the sector and has opened discussions with the European Commission. It also introduced the interim Social Care Compliance Scheme (SCCS) on 1 November, which gives providers in the sector 12 months in which to conduct a self-review of any arrears and then up to three months in which to re-pay workers.