Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord True on 6 April (HL7366), what discussions they have had with the Metropolitan Police about why releasing the number of communications between the Cabinet Office and (1) Kate Josephs, and (2) Sheffield City Council, about the party held on 17 December 2020 is not appropriate in order to preserve the confidentiality and integrity of the investigation processes; and what steps they have taken in response.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to my previous answers to questions HL6920 and HL7071 of 24 March and HL7366 of 6 April.
In referring to the 'confidentiality and integrity of investigation processes' my response referred not only to the Metropolitan Police processes but the internal investigation carried out by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many messages have been (1) logged, and (2) registered, of Government Ministers (a) sending, or (b) receiving, messages of official Government business on messaging services on their own private communication devices for the years (i) 2020, (ii) 2021, and (iii) 2022, to date; and what are the totals by each Ministry or Department.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
Ministers will have informal conversations from time to time in person or remotely. Significant content relating to government business from such discussions is passed back to officials. Government does not hold information on how many messages are transferred to official systems, and it should be noted that it is the substance of any business that has to be transferred to official systems, not necessarily the messages themselves.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they spent on external consultants in the tax years (1) 2017–18; (2) 2018–19; (3) 2019–20, (4) 2020–21, and (5) 2021 to date.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
It is standard for Government Departments to draw on the advice of external specialists for a range of services. Consultancy includes staff who provide objective advice relating to strategy, structure, management or operations of an organisation and may include the identification of options with recommendations.
The noble Lord may also be aware that the Consultancy Playbook was published in May 2021 alongside the Sourcing Playbook, to provide additional guidance when sourcing consultancy services. This supports our agenda to commission and engage with consultants more effectively, achieving better outcomes, better value for money, and improved civil service capability through the transferral of knowledge and skills.
Consultancy spend, including ALB spend, is published in departmental annual reports and accounts and is reproduced below.
Department | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
BEIS | £62,600,000 | £63,000,000 | £61,900,000 | £55,700,000 | £137,300,000 |
CO | £10,191,000 | £23,992,000 | £36,893,000 | £38,841,000 | £79,779,000 |
DCMS | £22,900,000 | £18,300,000 | £22,500,000 | £32,900,000 | £46,100,000 |
DFE | £12,100,000 | £14,600,000 | £13,100,000 | £12,700,000 | £8,700,000 |
DEFRA | £22,897,000 | £37,553,000 | £54,542,000 | £33,299,000 | £36,337,000 |
DFT | £78,260,000 | £92,490,000 | £145,562,000 | £168,390,654 | £175,720,840 |
DHSC | £389,301,000 | £370,970,000 | £342,051,000 | £290,206,000 | £485,997,000 |
DIT | Nil | £644,000 | £2,761,000 | £897,000 | £5,782,000 |
DWP | £9,700,000 | £45,300,000 | £28,500,000 | £28,500,000 | £29,000,000 |
FCDO | £800,000 | £1,261,979 | £1,927,753 | £2,936,902 | £2,742,044 |
HMRC | £1,212,806 | £2,957,366 | £3,168,518 | £1,700,000 | £8,600,000 |
HMT | £18,000,000 | £18,000,000 | £15,000,000 | £18,000,000 | £17,000,000 |
HO | £13,348,000 | £12,728,000 | £23,400,000 | £33,700,000 | £32,402,000 |
DLUCH | £156,000 | £405,000 | £3,308,000 | £5,229,000 | £20,148,000 |
MOD | £60,500,000 | £49,955,000 | £65,150,000 | £134,627,000 | £109,668,000 |
MOJ | £15,156,000 | £36,337,000 | £30,572,000 | £14,962,000 | £15,742,000 |
Total | £717,121,806 | £788,493,345 | £850,335,271 | £872,588,556 | £1,211,017,884 |
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord True on 24 March (HL6920 and HL7071), why giving dates of any communication regarding (1) Ms Kate Josephs, and (2) the Cabinet Office leaving party she attended on 17 December 2020, is (a) not appropriate at this time, and (b) would undermine a police investigation.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the noble Lord to my previous answers to Questions HL6920 and HL7071 on 24 March 2022.
It would not be appropriate to either confirm or deny whether the Cabinet Office has had any communications with any individuals in order to preserve the confidentiality and integrity of investigation processes.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have had any communication about Ms Kate Josephs, former Director General of the Covid Task Force, since she left that role, regarding the Cabinet Office leaving party she attended on 17 December 2020 with (1) Sheffield City Council, or (2) Ms Josephs; and on what dates any such communications took place.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the Hon. Member to the Cabinet Office update from the Second Permanent Secretary which has been published on GOV.UK and placed in the Library of the House.
It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment further while the Metropolitan Police Service’s investigation is ongoing. At the end of the process, the Prime Minister will ask the Second Permanent Secretary to update her findings, which will be published in line with the Terms of Reference.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have had any correspondence with Ms Kate Josephs, former Director General of the Covid Task Force, since she left role, regarding the Cabinet Office leaving party she attended on 17 December 2020; and if so, on what dates this correspondence took place.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
I refer the Hon. Member to the Cabinet Office update from the Second Permanent Secretary which has been published on GOV.UK and placed in the Library of the House.
It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment further while the Metropolitan Police Service’s investigation is ongoing. At the end of the process, the Prime Minister will ask the Second Permanent Secretary to update her findings, which will be published in line with the Terms of Reference.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Cabinet Office plan to issue new procurement guidance to exclude surveillance camera suppliers linked with (1) modern slavery, and (2) human rights violations; and whether this will apply to public bodies in the education sector.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The Cabinet Office published in Procurement Policy Note 05/19 comprehensive commercial policy and guidance to identify and tackle modern slavery and labour abuse risks throughout the commercial life cycle. This advocates a risk based approach and applies to central government, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Other public sector contracting authorities may wish to apply the approach set out in this PPN.
This is being updated to strengthen the guidance on using the existing grounds in the Public Contracts Regulations for excluding suppliers, and will set out enhanced means of proof and due diligence activities. This will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government who sent the email inviting people to the farewell gathering for Kate Josephs in the Cabinet Office on 17 December 2020; and on what date it was sent.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The Terms of Reference for the Cabinet Office’s investigation have been published on GOV.UK and deposited in the libraries of both Houses. The work will be concluded by the Second Permanent Secretary.
The Government does not comment on the specifics of an ongoing process.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any (1) ministers, (2) special advisers, (3) civil servants, from the Treasury attended the farewell gathering for Kate Josephs in the Cabinet Office on 17 December 2020; and if so, who.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The Terms of Reference for the Cabinet Office’s investigation have been published on GOV.UK and deposited in the libraries of both Houses. The work will be concluded by the Second Permanent Secretary.
The Government does not comment on the specifics of an ongoing process.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people attended the farewell gathering for Kate Josephs in the Cabinet Office on 17 December 2020; and whether any (1) ministers, or (2) special advisers, were present.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The Terms of Reference for the Cabinet Office’s investigation have been published on GOV.UK and deposited in the libraries of both Houses. The work will be concluded by the Second Permanent Secretary.
The Government does not comment on the specifics of an ongoing process.