Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse was of the recent Airports Commission report into aircraft capacity.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
On setting up the Commission in 2012, the Department set a budget of £20.35m to allow for building, staff and IT costs, expert consultancy, publishing, travel and hosting public consultation events over the four financial years 2012/13 to 2015/16.
Sir Howard Davies and his fellow commissioners have not been paid for their work.
The cost to date is around £12.7m. The exact cost will be known once the Commission Secretariat has been completely dissolved, following which we intend to publish the final figures.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many awaydays his Department has held for officials in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date; and what the cost was of each such event.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department for Transport comprises the Central Department and five Agencies, Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Highways Agency (HA), Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA).
The Government Car & Despatch Agency (GCDA) ceased to be an executive agency on the 1st October 2012 when its functions were transferred to the central department.
We are unable to provide information on the number of awaydays held over this period and their cost because this is not readily available and to collect this would incur disproportional costs.
The Department is committed to investing in development to ensure that it’s people have the right skills at the right time to deliver our challenging agenda.
Where possible, the Department uses its existing in-house training resources rather than external trainers. In addition, training events, awaydays etc are not held in chargeable venues unless there is no alternative and there is a clear and quantifiable work related outcome.
Consideration is also given as to whether the intended aims of development can be met by means other than a formal course, such as workplace learning or e-learning – the latter of which is freely available via Civil Service Learning. All training is delivered in accordance with Cabinet Office Learning and Development controls.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what subscriptions to (a) magazines and (b) television channels his Department funds.
Answered by Claire Perry
The spend analysis system in the Department does not have a specific category for magazine subscriptions.
In addition to paying the license fee, the Department subscribes to a House of Commons television service provided by Chubb Information Systems.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been spent on refurbishing (a) gymnasium and leisure facilities, (b) cafeteria and (c) interior decoration in (i) his Department and (ii) buildings owned by his Department in (A) 2013 and (B) 2014 to date.
Answered by Claire Perry
The requested information is provided in the table below:
Organisational unit | a) 2013 | a) 2014 | b) 2013 | b) 2014 | c) 2013 | c) 2014 |
DfT Central - Headquarters building1 | Nil | Nil | Nil | £107,593 | £104,830 | Nil |
- Rail Accident Investigation Branch | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | £1,715 | £978 |
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency2 | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | £21,252 |
Highways Agency | Nil | Nil | £896 | Nil | £12,646 | £25,770 |
Notes: 1) Interior decorations relate to legal (lease) obligations as well as spend associated with refurbishment undertaken to improve space efficiency. 2) Costs relates to headquarters refurbishment undertaken to improve space efficiency following lease exit. | ||||||
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's policy is on alcohol consumption on the premises (a) in general and (b) during parties in his Private Office.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department’s general alcohol policy is contained in its Staff Handbook and applies to the consumption of alcohol during parties in the Secretary of State’s Private Office. The general policy is set down below:
‘1.6 Alcohol is prohibited in some of the Department's premises (see local instructions) and where there is no formal ban, line managers are expected to ensure that office parties do not cause disruption to the work of the office. All staff are expected to be scrupulous in observing the law on drinking and driving.’
Local instructions are set down below:
· Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) policy prohibits the consumption of alcohol on its premises during working hours and consequently, staff hold their parties in their own time and off site. In addition, employees are expected to be in a fit and safe condition to undertake their duties and not be under the influence of alcohol during the working day. When representing the Agency at an external function employees must adopt a responsible attitude towards their drinking. Drinking is also prohibited when driving on official business.
· Highways Agency (HA) policy also prohibits consumption of alcohol during work time, including all breaks. This means that attendance at work under the influence and/or the consumption of alcohol is forbidden and this is due to the safety critical working environment of some of their employees.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much has been spent on what (a) media training and (b) social media training for (i) him and (ii) Ministers in his Department since May 2010.
Answered by Claire Perry
The Department spent £1,907.40 on media training for my Hon Friends, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the Hon Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Robert Goodwill) and the Minister of State, Baroness Kramer, in October 2013.
No social media training has been provided for Ministers in this period.