Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have issued to departments about the ethical and reputational risks of awarding public contracts to suppliers, such as Fujitsu, that are subject to public sector inquiries.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to question HL8487 on 30th June.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to applying exclusion clauses under public procurement regulations to prevent Fujitsu from bidding for new contracts until the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry concludes.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In January 2024, Fujitsu said it would withdraw from bidding for contracts with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes – and it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has an existing customer relationship with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities. Fujitsu's bid approach is detailed in correspondence deposited in the Houses of Parliament libraries on 4 March 2024 (DEP2024-0247).
Details of public sector awards are publicly available on Contracts Finder & Find a Tender services. In addition to extensions available under Fujitsu’s existing contracts, Contracts Finder and Find a Tender provide details of twelve new Fujitsu contracts since July 2024. These awards are compliant with Fujitsu's commitment not to bid for work with new customers. The majority are for services already provided by Fujitsu and were put in place to ensure continuity of services whilst competitive procurements are being set up.
The Government is determined to hold those responsible for the Horizon scandal to account, and will continue to make rapid progress on compensation and redress. Fujitsu’s role in Horizon is one of the issues which is being reviewed by Sir Wyn Williams’s statutory inquiry. The Cabinet Office has been monitoring the situation, in addition to continuing its usual monitoring of Fujitsu as a strategic supplier. The Government will carefully consider volume 1 of the report, to be published on 8 July, which is limited in scope. Once the inquiry establishes the full facts, we will review its final report and consider any further action, as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review Fujitsu’s suitability to continue as a supplier for public sector contracts.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In January 2024, Fujitsu said it would withdraw from bidding for contracts with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes – and it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has an existing customer relationship with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities. Fujitsu's bid approach is detailed in correspondence deposited in the Houses of Parliament libraries on 4 March 2024 (DEP2024-0247).
Details of public sector awards are publicly available on Contracts Finder & Find a Tender services. In addition to extensions available under Fujitsu’s existing contracts, Contracts Finder and Find a Tender provide details of twelve new Fujitsu contracts since July 2024. These awards are compliant with Fujitsu's commitment not to bid for work with new customers. The majority are for services already provided by Fujitsu and were put in place to ensure continuity of services whilst competitive procurements are being set up.
The Government is determined to hold those responsible for the Horizon scandal to account, and will continue to make rapid progress on compensation and redress. Fujitsu’s role in Horizon is one of the issues which is being reviewed by Sir Wyn Williams’s statutory inquiry. The Cabinet Office has been monitoring the situation, in addition to continuing its usual monitoring of Fujitsu as a strategic supplier. The Government will carefully consider volume 1 of the report, to be published on 8 July, which is limited in scope. Once the inquiry establishes the full facts, we will review its final report and consider any further action, as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total value of contracts that they have awarded to Fujitsu over the past 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In January 2024, Fujitsu said it would withdraw from bidding for contracts with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes – and it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has an existing customer relationship with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities. Fujitsu's bid approach is detailed in correspondence deposited in the Houses of Parliament libraries on 4 March 2024 (DEP2024-0247).
Details of public sector awards are publicly available on Contracts Finder & Find a Tender services. In addition to extensions available under Fujitsu’s existing contracts, Contracts Finder and Find a Tender provide details of twelve new Fujitsu contracts since July 2024. These awards are compliant with Fujitsu's commitment not to bid for work with new customers. The majority are for services already provided by Fujitsu and were put in place to ensure continuity of services whilst competitive procurements are being set up.
The Government is determined to hold those responsible for the Horizon scandal to account, and will continue to make rapid progress on compensation and redress. Fujitsu’s role in Horizon is one of the issues which is being reviewed by Sir Wyn Williams’s statutory inquiry. The Cabinet Office has been monitoring the situation, in addition to continuing its usual monitoring of Fujitsu as a strategic supplier. The Government will carefully consider volume 1 of the report, to be published on 8 July, which is limited in scope. Once the inquiry establishes the full facts, we will review its final report and consider any further action, as appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the mandatory Data Protection Impact Assessment for the gov.uk One Login programme.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
It is not a mandatory requirement to publish a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). We do have an obligation to let citizens know how we are processing their data, which we do via a privacy notice published on GOV.UK. We continually develop our DPIA to take into account the new identity verification journeys, such as the no photo ID route. Nevertheless, we are working on a publishable version of our DPIA which will be easy to digest for the public. The One Login programme meets with the Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO) on a monthly basis, engaging openly on programme developments, including iterations of the DPIA, and has been doing so since 2022.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the utility of provenance tools, such as those made available by the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, for all government communications.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
A Government Communications Service assessment of the utility of provenance tools can be found in GCS Innovating with Impact Strategy, under the subheading ‘Tackling horizon challenges head on’, a copy of which is attached.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to reform cloud procurement frameworks to ensure a level playing field for small and medium-sized enterprises and challenger cloud providers.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The upcoming iteration of G-Cloud will introduce a streamlined ‘Open Framework’ under the new Procurement Act. This will simplify the existing portfolio of agreements, enhancing access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and challenger cloud providers.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 12 March (HL Deb col 1904), what were the specific grounds for approval of the legal expenses of the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
In line with the established practice under multiple administrations of all political colours, Ministers are provided with legal support and representation where matters relate to their conduct and responsibilities as a Minister.
As set out in Chapter 6 of the Cabinet Manual, Ministers are indemnified by the Crown for any actions taken against them for things done or decisions made in the course of their ministerial duties. The indemnity covers the cost of defending any proceedings, as well as costs or damages awarded against the minister. Decisions about whether to provide legal support are made by the relevant department’s Accounting Officer, as happened in this case.
This reflects an important principle that Ministers should be able to carry out their official duties, supported by official advice, in a way which they see fit, without the risk of personal liability constraining their ability to take those official actions. Of course, Ministers remain accountable to Parliament and the wider public for their actions as a Minister.
It would have a chilling effect on public life if Ministers faced the prospect of personal financial harm from those seeking to pressure the Government through vexatious or hostile litigation (or the threat thereof).
More broadly, the principle of legal support from the public purse for official duties is not confined to government. I would observe that there is insurance available to members of the House of Commons, provided by that House at taxpayers’ expense, designed to protect those members when carrying out parliamentary and constituency duties. This includes professional indemnity insurance that covers defamation. I also note that the House of Lords Commission recently agreed in principle to provide professional indemnity insurance to members of this House.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 19 February (HL2184), how many of the 20 Integrated Data Service projects and 600 Secure Research Service projects referred to in that answer have a lead researcher whose primary affiliation is given as (1) academic, (2) central government, (3) commercial, (4) local government, (5) non-commercial, and (6) the Office for National Statistics.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the noble Lord’s Parliamentary Question of 14 March is below and attached.
The Lord Clement-Jones CBE
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
22 March 2024
Dear Lord Clement-Jones
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 19 February (HL2184), how many of the 20 Integrated Data Service (IDS) projects and 600 Secure Research Service (SRS) projects referred to in that answer have a lead researcher whose primary affiliation is given as (1) academic, (2) central government, (3) commercial, (4) local government, (5) non-commercial, and (6) the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (HL3276).
Of the monthly average of 600 projects running in the SRS during 2023, 382 were led by those affiliated with the academic community. There were no academic lead projects within the Integrated Data Service for the same period.
For the same period, the number of projects led by central government on the SRS was 43; these include agencies, public bodies, devolved administrations, ministerial and non-ministerial and public research bodies. The number of central government lead projects on the IDS was 10.
The number of commercial lead projects on SRS projects was 81; these include private sector organisations, primarily think tanks and consultancies. There were no lead researchers within this affiliation attached to the 20 IDS projects.
The number of local government affiliated lead projects in SRS was 6. There were no lead researchers within this affiliation attached to the 20 IDS projects.
The number of non-commercial affiliated lead projects in SRS was 69; these include those categorised as third sector/voluntary. There were no lead researchers within this affiliation attached to the 20 IDS projects.
The number of Office for National Statistics lead researchers on SRS projects was 19. The subsequent number for the 20 IDS projects was 10.
We have recently communicated the timetable for the transition to IDS to our SRS users and over the next year, the IDS will scale its data at pace and onboard a range of users from across all the aforementioned user groups in SRS, leading to a more varied distribution of user types accessing projects on the IDS. The IDS has an ever-growing list of prospective use cases that it will onboard throughout 2024 as the service scales its data catalogue and analytical tooling capabilities.
In light of your interest in the IDS and to provide additional context around the SRS and IDS figures in this and our previous responses, I would like to personally offer our team to come and showcase the service, discuss future prospects around the SRS and IDS and answer any further questions you have. We would be delighted to attend a location at your convenience, if this is an attractive proposition.
Yours sincerely,
Sir Ian Diamond
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost of running the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Integrated Data Service in 2023; how many projects were active in the Integrated Data Service in 2023; and what are the equivalent figures for the ONS Secure Research Service for the same period.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Noble Lord’s Question of 5th February is attached.
The Lord Clement-Jones CBE
House of Lords London
SW1A 0AA
13 February 2024
Dear Lord Clement-Jones,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking (1) what was the cost of running the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Integrated Data Service in 2023; (2) how many projects were active in the Integrated Data Service in 2023; and (3, 4) what are the equivalent figures for the ONS Secure Research Service for the same period (HL2184).
The approximate costs of running the nascent Integrated Data Service in 2023 were £4,200,000, including infrastructure costs that permit future scaling of the service.
There were 20 active projects within the Integrated Data Service in 2023.
The cost of running the ONS Secure Research Service in 2023 were £7,000,000.
The Secure Research Service had a total of 842 projects during 2023. On average, there were around 600 live projects at any one time during 2023.
Equivalent operating costs and projects numbers should be interpreted with caution. The Integrated Data Service (IDS) is in development and currently operates within a BETA maturity phase. In September 2023 IDS received Digital Economy Act (2017) accreditation for data provision, making IDS the first cloud-native trusted research environment to be accredited for data provision under the legislation and opening the opportunity to scale.
The IDS is built to be future proofed, to better enable the Government’s data sharing agenda in a more effective and efficient way. The IDS will grow at pace over the remainder of the programme with a pipeline of additional and transformational capability, data, projects and users which exceed the capabilities of the Secure Research Service (SRS). Improved data integration and cross-sector collaboration enabled through cloud technologies will drive significant uptake.
The SRS is a long-standing and mature Trusted Research Environment which has operated in its current form since 2017, having previously operated as the Virtual Microdata Laboratory (VML) from 2004. The SRS grew rapidly upon achieving DEA accreditation in 2019, which enabled greater expansion of its data catalogue and user base. An improved trajectory is anticipated for the IDS with many SRS’s data sets, as well as projects (where applicable) migrating to the IDS as part of a transition that is underway.
Yours sincerely.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond