Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been paid out of the public purse to (a) the trustees and (b) the estate for the running costs for Chequers in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Chequers is run and managed by an independent trust and is maintained by an endowment administered by the Trustees. The Trust also receives an annual grant-in-aid from public funds towards maintenance and staffing costs. Details of the grant-in-aid are published after the end of the financial year and accounted for in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts, which can be accessed on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much it is planned for the trustees of Chequers to receive any grant in aid over the next four years.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Decisions are made annually on the sum needed to run the estate and the costs of maintaining and repairing the Grade 1 listed building which the Trust has a responsibility to maintain. Ongoing considerations of income help to inform these decisions.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the running costs of No.10 Downing Street has been for each of the past 10 years.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
10 Downing Street is a part of the Cabinet Office estate which is managed as a whole. Separating these costs would not be possible without incurring disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the running costs have been for Admiralty House Flats for each of the past 10 years.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
This information is not held centrally and could only be produced at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost of sickness pay to staff in his Department was in each of the 10 years prior to June 2016.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The table below sets out the cost of sickness pay paid to staff in my Department each year from 1 April 2009 to 30th June 2016. Information about the cost of sickness pay paid to staff in my Department before April 2009 is not available.
| 2009* | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016** |
Statutory Sick Pay | £269 | £1,567 | £5,163 | £2,063 | £4,903 | £3,266 | £6,628 | £4,928 |
Occupational Sick Pay | £139,535 | £203,025 | £528,810 | £406,837 | £405,908 | £439,844 | £465,716 | £290,081 |
Total | £141,813 | £206,602 | £535,984 | £410,911 | £412,824 | £445,124 | £474,358 | £297,025 |
| * From 1 Apr 2009 |
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| **To 30 Jun 2016 | ||
Information about sickness absence in the Cabinet Office is published on the Cabinet Office website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-absence-data
The most recent published figures show that for the year to 30 June 2017, the Cabinet Office has one of the lowest recorded sickness rates across the Civil Service at 2.9 average working days lost when compared to the latest Civil Service average of 7.0 .
My Department is committed to reducing work related absence due to mental illness and has a number of services in place to support members of staff suffering from such conditions. Our Workwell community is staffed by volunteers who aim to make Cabinet Office a happy and healthy workplace through a number of interventions including a listening service for staff. We also offer a 24 hour counselling support helpline through our Employee Assistance Programme provider and advocate early referral to our occupational health service where appropriate, for advice on a number of conditions including mental health.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the Civil Service workforce required to administer a transitional period when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Workforce planning is primarily the responsibility of each department. The Civil Service constantly reviews its capabilities in order to deliver the Government's commitment to leave the EU and get the best deal for the UK. Civil Service HR is working with all departments across the Civil Service to better understand their capacity and capability requirements.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many full-time equivalent civil servants have been assigned work on the UK leaving the EU in the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the cost of that work.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Workforce planning is primarily the responsibility of each department. The Civil Service constantly reviews its capabilities in order to deliver the Government's commitment to leave the EU and get the best deal for the UK. Civil Service HR is working with all departments across the Civil Service to better understand their capacity and capability requirements.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which of his Department's functions are carried out in (a) England and (b) London; and what the administrative costs were of those functions in each of those areas in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
All of the functions of my Department are carried out in England. During 2016/17, on average, 2,557 staff were employed in London and a further 150 in England outside of London.
Administration costs for the year 2016-17 are set out in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible spent on external consultants and advisers in each year since 2015.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The overall amount spent on external consultancy by the Cabinet Office is published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts available on page 52 on the below link. The Crown Commercial Service executive agency hold this information in their own accounts, which are available online.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2015-to-2016
Accounts for 2016-17 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Tommy Sheppard (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost of sickness pay to staff in his Department was in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The cost of sickness pay to staff in the Cabinet Office was £353K between 1 June 2016 and 31 May 2017.