Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, whether it is her understanding that the Article 50 notice signifying the intention of the UK to leave the EU is revocable.
Answered by Theresa May
I refer the hon. member to the answers I gave, on 9 October, to him, the right hon. member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden), Official Report, column 52, the hon. member for Bishop Auckland (Mrs Goodman), Official Report, column 60, the hon. member for Hampstead and Kilburn (Mrs Siddiq), Official Report, column 62 and the right hon. member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw), Official Report, column 50.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
Before the last General Election, including for the entire period while the Hon. Member was a minister in this very department, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.
That's all changed and ministers - supported by Cabinet Office officials - now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.
We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.
We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for No. 10 Downing Street in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
Before the last General Election, including for the entire period while the Hon. Member was a minister in this very department, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.
That's all changed and ministers - supported by Cabinet Office officials - now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.
We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.
We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
Before the last General Election, including for the entire period while the Hon. Member was a minister in this very department, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.
That's all changed and ministers - supported by Cabinet Office officials - now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.
We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.
We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by No. 10 Downing Street in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
Before the last General Election, including for the entire period while the Hon. Member was a minister in this very department, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.
That's all changed and ministers - supported by Cabinet Office officials - now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.
We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.
We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total amount of remuneration paid to non-executive directors of Government departments was for the financial year (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2012-13.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
Since the last General Election the Cabinet Office has overhauled, strengthened and formalised the system of non-executive directors which operated under the previous administration.
Remuneration for non-executive board members is detailed in ‘Corporate governance in central government departments: Code of good practice July 2011- Guidance Note’ and is in line that of the Bank of England’s non-executive Directors of Court.
In 2012-2013, 28% of the 67 non-executives either waived their fee or donated it to charity.
Asked by: Chris Leslie (The Independent Group for Change - Nottingham East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people were employed in Number 10 Downing Street in 2012; and how many people are so employed currently.
Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham
The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
As part of this Government’s transparency agenda, information on working in the Cabinet Office is published on gov.uk
The latest organogram for the Cabinet Office may be viewed at http://data.gov.uk/organogram/cabinet-office