Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the total value of contracts outsourced by central Government to the private sector.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Central Government spends around £49 billion annually through contracts with the private sector.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Cabinet Office, whether all members of the Government who attend Cabinet meetings have had access to the legal opinion on the Withdrawal Agreement.
Answered by David Lidington
On 5 December, the Government published the Attorney General’s advice to Cabinet on the legal effect of the Withdrawal Agreement. This is the final advice, in full, that the Attorney General provided to all members of the Cabinet on 14 November.
Cabinet Ministers have had all the necessary materials to take informed collective decisions on the UK’s withdrawal from, and future relationship with, the EU.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Government's policy is on procuring (a) goods and (b) services from UK companies.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Public sector purchasing authorities are required to seek value for money for goods and services through fair and open competition, social value and in line with our current international obligations. The Government has also extended the requirements of the Public Services (Social Value Act 2012) to ensure that all major procurements explicitly evaluate Social Value where appropriate.
The Government wants UK companies to be successful in public procurement. The best way to bring this about is for those companies to offer the goods and services we need at quality levels and whole-life costs representing value for money. To this end the Government is seeking to ensure the huge purchasing power of government supports the task of boosting growth, and enables us to actively shape the UK market for the long term.
Improving pre-procurement dialogue is a key part of that process, helping us develop a more strategic relationship with industry. The Government is providing industry with visibility of up to £191bn of potential procurement opportunities across 19 sectors. In addition, we are working with businesses to identify and address any key capabilities needed to meet future demand; actively helping them to remove barriers and supporting growth through additional benefits that boost exports and drive innovation.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of civil service staff on the civil service pay guidance 2018-19, published on 25 June 2018.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and I met with the General Secretaries of the FDA, Prospect and PCS trade unions on 27 June to discuss the Civil Service pay guidance, which was published on 25 June.
In my capacity as the Minister with responsibility for Civil Service HR, including trade unions, I previously met with the General Secretaries of the FDA and Prospect on the 22 February 2018, and with the PCS General Secretary, on the 27th February 2018.
Cabinet office officials regularly meet with trade union representatives to discuss a range of workforce issues, including pay.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of the additional jobs in the UK labour market have been filled by (a) UK nationals and (b) non-UK nationals since 2010.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the number of additional jobs, by income quintile, created in the UK labour market in each year since 2010.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the (a) start-up and (b) operation costs of the Government's rapid rebuttal unit; what the scope of that unit is; and what operations that unit has conducted so far.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The rapid response (note: not “rebuttal”) unit monitors news and information being shared and engaged with online, including misinformation and disinformation. It identifies emerging issues and ways to collaborate across Whitehall to respond quickly, accurately and with integrity. The Unit is part of the Government Communications Service (GCS).
Since launching the unit has provided round the clock monitoring on breaking news stories, ranging from the chemical weapons attack in Syria to domestic stories relating to the NHS and crime, working with press offices to formulate appropriate responses. We will be publishing blogs on the GCS website, outlining the progress of the unit.
The unit currently has five full time members of staff and four additional members of staff supporting the unit as part of their wider roles.
We are continually reviewing resource and cost to ensure the unit functions effectively.
Breakdown of costs
Human resource
NOTE: Percentage denotes time on other responsibilities.
Grade SIO x 2 = 100%
Grade IO x 2 = 100%
Grade AIO x 1 = 100%
Sub total Annual Cost £216,007*
Grade 6 x 1 = 50%
Grade 7 x 2 = 50%
SCS x 1 = 20%
Sub total Annual Cost £126,818*
Total Combined: £342,825 per full financial year
*Costs represent a full financial year with the team at full capacity
Additional staffing resource is being provided through a programme of full time secondments, funded by individual departments.
Technology
Software, technology and development costs come from a central (existing) budget.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the annual infant mortality rates in England were by household income quintile for each of the past 10 years for which information is available.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) direct employees, (b) agency staff and (c) outsourced staff working for (i) his Department and (ii) agencies of his Department are paid less than the living wage, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Prime Minister’s office and No.10 are integral parts of the Cabinet Office and are included in this reply.
I can confirm that no one in Cabinet Office and No.10 is paid less that the living wage, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Government Property Agency and Crown Commercial Services are both agencies of the Cabinet Office and do not have any staff members who are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
I can confirm that 11 agency workers are paid less than the living wage, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
In line with the practice of previous Administrations, we do not require agencies and companies contracted to the Department to pay Living Wage Foundation’s living wage to the staff that they employ.
I can confirm that 51 outsourced staff in London and 6 staff in Norwich are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation. With regard to outsourced staff, Cabinet Office Facilities Management can only provide information for staff under the contract they manage for the London and Norwich estates.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has a carer's policy for its employees; and what other steps his Department has taken to support employees with caring responsibilities.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Work is underway to explore the implementation of a Carer’s policy in 2018. Carers are, however, entitled to apply for paid special leave and/or unpaid career breaks as set out the special leave policy and can access support and counselling through our Employee Assistance Programme.
Cabinet Office recognises the importance of supporting carers in the workplace, and has recently signed up to a 3rd year of membership to Employers for Carers, a website enabling employees to access online tools, training and support, backed up by specialist knowledge from Carers UK - Cabinet Office Charity of the Year in 2015.
In addition, we have also established a Carer’s Network, championed at a senior level, with the aim of providing support and advice to employees with caring responsibilities. We encourage blog posts to raise awareness of carers in the workplace, actively promote initiatives such as Carer’s Week, and The Charity for Civil Servants also offers an advisory service to Carers within the Civil Service.