Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the liquidation of Carillion on their facilities management contract at the British Museum; whether that contract included clauses to deal with potential liquidation; whether there are plans to bring that work back in-house; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Our assessment is that the liquidation of Carillion will require British Museum to replace their former facilities management (FM) contract with a revised strategy which continues to maintain uninterrupted and resilient operations. We have not seen, and would not expect to see, the terms of the museum's contract with Carillion, but it is likely that such clauses exist. At present services continue to be run by the Official Receiver post liquidation. The museum is currently exploring short-term outsourced solutions to transition itself away from Official Receiver reliance, and is separately planning its long-term response to ensure that it has a robust and resilience FM service.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons the approval of the British Museum’s 2017 pay remit for staff had been delayed and what assessment he has been made of the effect of that delay on staff morale.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The British Museum 2017 pay remit is subject to the usual discussions the government has with its Arm's Length Bodies regarding pay and I hope they can be concluded soon. Negotiations about terms and conditions are always unsettling for staff; the aim of government and the British Museum is to reach agreement as quickly as possible to minimise this uncertainty.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with (a) Ofcom and (b) the Phone-paid Services Authority on call connection service access to helplines provided by (i) her Department and (ii) other UK Government Departments.
Answered by Matt Hancock
We hold regular discussions with Ofcom and the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) in relation to the regulation of premium rate services.
Where the PSA has reason to believe that providers of such services may be in breach of their Code of Practice, they may investigate and in serious cases will refer them to its Code Adjudication Tribunal, which has the power to impose sanctions and orders, including fines, refunds to consumers and suspending the service in question.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many equality impact assessments have been carried out in the last three years on public service reforms which impact on (a) departmental staff and (b) members of the public; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Matt Hancock
DCMS is committed to offering all applicants equality of opportunity to ensure that we attract and retain candidates with the most talent and potential. To this end, the DCMS recruitment process does not require applicants to declare unspent criminal convictions at the initial recruitment stage. Applicants are asked to declare unspent criminal convictions as part of basic employment checks when a provisional offer of employment has been made. Decisions concerning appointment to a post where an individual has a conviction history are made on a case-by-case basis.
The department does not retain details centrally that would allow us to identify employees with unspent convictions so the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings his Department has had with representatives of the (a) Taxpayers' Alliance, (b) Confederation of British Industry, (c) Institute of Economic Affairs, (d) Adam Smith Institute, (e) Freedom Association, (f) Politics and Economics Research Trust and (g) Midlands Industrial Council in the last 12 calendar months.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Details of Ministers' andPermanentSecretaries meetings with external organisations are published up to 31March 2015 and can be accessed on Gov.uk at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications
Further publications of Ministerial and Permanent Secretaries meetings will be published in due course.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings his Department has had with trades unions in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
This response covers the period 1 August 2014 – 14 July 2015. A list of the meeting dates are provided below:
· 28 August 2014
· 4 September 2014
· 11 September 2014
· 2 October 2014
· 27 October 2014
· 27 November 2014
· 11 December 2014
· 7 January 2015
· 22 January 2015
· 19 February 2015
· 19 March 2015
· 16 April 2015
· 13 May 2015
· 11 June 2015
· 1 July 2015
· 7 July 2015
· 9 July 2015