Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the compatibility of the Civil Service Code with the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
On 17 January 2024, there was an exchange of letters between the Cabinet Office and the Home Office regarding the future implementation of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill which set out draft guidance to the Civil Service.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-guidance-safety-of-rwanda-bill. Full guidance will be issued when the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum
and Immigration) Bill becomes law.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of requests to receive an official portrait of His Majesty The King by public authorities in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As is usual practice following accession, an Official Portrait has been taken of His Majesty The King to mark the start of the new Reign, for use in public buildings and for other official purposes. His Majesty’s Government will use this portrait for the Official Portrait Scheme, announced by the Deputy Prime Minister in April last year.
The scheme opened in November 2023 to enable certain Public Authorities across the UK to apply for a free, framed official portrait of His Majesty The King for display in their buildings.
The scheme is ongoing and is due for completion by mid year 2024. While the scheme is ongoing, we will not be releasing figures on total uptake but requests have been made by Public Authorities across all four nations of the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of civil servants on temporary contracts in the Cabinet Office are women.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
This data is available in the Public sector employment Dataset published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics. For the most recent data, June 2023, the details requested are found in Table 8.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of civil servants on full-time equivalent contracts at senior civil servant pay band two (SCS2) are women.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
As at April 2023 the percentage of Senior Civil Servants (SCS) at Director level (Payband 2) working full-time who are women is 41.0%.
The answer has been calculated by dividing the number of women at Payband 2 in the Senior Civil Service by the total number of staff in the Senior Civil Service at Payband 2 where sex is known. All Civil Service organisations have been included in the calculation.
On Civil Service recruitment more broadly, in 2022/23 more than half of new entrants to the Civil Service were women (54.1%) up from 51.6% in 2021/22. 53.9% of promotions to the Senior Civil Service were women.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of how much the Government will spend on the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee in the (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
A detailed assessment of the resourcing requirements, and estimated spend associated with the operation of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee will be made once it is fully established.
Following the appointment of the Chair, Lord Janvrin, the Committee's Secretariat is being delivered by existing civil servants as part of their wider duties. Any increase in dedicated resources to support the work of the Committee will be considered in due course.
It is right that as a country we honour Her Late Majesty’s legacy. For more than 70 years, she was our greatest public servant, an anchor of stability in an ever-changing and often uncertain world.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the projected number of full-time equivalent civil servants is that will surpport the work of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
A detailed assessment of the resourcing requirements, and estimated spend associated with the operation of the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee will be made once it is fully established.
Following the appointment of the Chair, Lord Janvrin, the Committee's Secretariat is being delivered by existing civil servants as part of their wider duties. Any increase in dedicated resources to support the work of the Committee will be considered in due course.
It is right that as a country we honour Her Late Majesty’s legacy. For more than 70 years, she was our greatest public servant, an anchor of stability in an ever-changing and often uncertain world.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish his Department's guidance on vetting social media accounts of potential speakers.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
Civil Service Human Resources who sit within the Cabinet Office developed the Due Diligence and Impartiality guidance for all Cross-Government Diversity networks, and this requires the networks to carry out checks on external speakers prior to inviting them to participate in Civil Service events.
The revised guidance advises that cross-Government Diversity Networks conduct checks to avoid invitations being issued to individuals and/or organisations that have provided adverse commentary on government policy, political decisions, approaches or individuals in government that could undermine the Civil Service’s position on impartiality and create reputational damage.
The guidance emphasises that it is imperative that we retain impartiality across the Civil Service, avoiding any politicised events or groups impacting on the working life of civil servants and distracting from the excellent work delivered on Diversity and Inclusion.
The guidance was introduced in November 2021.
This helps to ensure when Cross-Government Diversity Networks organise events the Civil Service is not prejudiced by political views but helps deliver efficient public service for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which companies were contracted and sub-contracted to deliver the Emergency Alert System; and how much each of those companies were paid for their services relating to that purpose.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Emergency Alerts contract was awarded to Fujitsu in line with procurement regulations and transparency guidelines through Crown Commercial Services.
The contract was let on 10th October 2022 and runs until 9th October 2025. The estimated contract value for Year 1 is £1,013,200, with a contingency to increase the value up to £1,600,000 (excluding VAT). Subject to further approval, the total contract value may be uplifted to £5,000,000.00 (excluding VAT) for years 2 and 3 of the contract, if the provider meets the performance objectives specified.
The Cabinet Office operates a triple gateway process of approvals to ensure compliance and transparency in procurements. All contracts are reviewed and approved by delegated Cabinet Office Commercial Heads and then published. All procurements over £10,000 are subject to Commercial approvals. All contracts are then managed by accredited Contract Managers in accordance with Cabinet Office Commercial guidance.
Contract agreements are published within 30 days in accordance with our obligations.
The Government’s number one job is to keep people safe. Emergency Alerts are a critical new tool in the Government’s toolkit for warning and informing people where their lives are at risk, such as flooding and extreme weather.