Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of suppliers to his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are signatories to the Prompt Payment Code.
Answered by Helen Grant - Shadow Solicitor General
The DCMS is a signatory to the Prompt Payment Code. The DCMS does not hold this information for its arm’s length bodies and it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of the amount (a) his Department and (b) its agencies and non-departmental public bodies spent on procurement was paid to small and medium-sized enterprises (i) directly and (ii) through the supply chain in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Helen Grant - Shadow Solicitor General
On 25 February the Government published on GOV.UK departmental spend data with SMEs, directly and through the supply chain, for 2013-4:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/central-government-spend-with-smes-2013-to-2014
This data shows that for 2013-14, 26.1% of government business went to SMEs, exceeding our aspiration of 25%.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of undisputed invoices his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies paid within five days in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by Helen Grant - Shadow Solicitor General
I refer the Hon member to the Department's our last Annual report and Accounts for 2013-14 (pages 48 &49 refer), the notes therein report on the Departments prompt payment as follows:
Policy on Payment of Suppliers:
The Department paid 93.4% (2012-13: 95.2%) of valid invoices within 10 days of receipt and 99.6% within 30 days (2012-13: 99.7%). Following Budget 2010, the Government announced a new target for central Government Departments to pay 80% of valid invoices within five working days. DCMS’s (Department only) performance against the target in 2013-14 was 77.2% (2012-13: 82.3%). The Department does not currently operate a Procure to Pay (P2P) system, which would allow automatic invoice matching and increase performance against the five day target. A P2P system will be introduced as part of the move to shared services that is currently in train across Whitehall. In the meantime, DCMS will continue to monitor and work to improve its performance against the five day target through training of and regular communication with authorising officers in the Department. "
The next set of accounts for the financial year 2014-15, are expected to be laid in July 2015.
Asked by: Chuka Umunna (Liberal Democrat - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many apprentices employed by (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies and associated bodies are aged (i) 16 to 18, (ii) 19 to 24 and (iii) 25 years or older; and how many of those apprentices employed in each form of body and of each age group were previously employed by the Government.
Answered by Helen Grant - Shadow Solicitor General
a) The numbers of apprentices employed by Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which includes GEO, are shown in the table below by age:
| Age | Number of Apprentices |
i) 16 – 18 years old | 2 |
ii) 19 – 24 years old | 3 |
iii) 25 years & older | 0 |
No apprentices were previously employed by the Government.
b). The Royal Parks Agency (TRP) is an executive agency of the Department for Culture,Media and Sport and as an organisation does not employ any apprentices directly.
We do not hold information for our arm’s length bodies.