Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has had recent discussions with the (a) Prime Minister and (b) Chancellor of the Exchequer on Yevgeny Prigozhin and sanctions; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Cabinet Office is not responsible for sanctions placed on Russian nationals. I refer the hon. Member to the urgent question answered by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on 25 January.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Prime Minister will publish the remit of the investigation by the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards into the Right Hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Prime Minister asked the Independent Adviser to investigate this matter, establish the facts and advise on compliance with the Ministerial Code. The Independent Adviser’s findings have subsequently been published on GOV.UK and sets out the circumstances and facts.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister was aware that HMRC were investigating the tax affairs of the Right Hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon when he appointed him to the Cabinet.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Prime Minister asked the Independent Adviser to investigate this matter, establish the facts and provide advice on compliance with the Ministerial Code. The Independent Adviser’s report has subsequently been published on GOV.UK and sets out the circumstances and facts.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish any correspondence between his Department and the former Prime Minister on the appointment of Richard Sharp as BBC Chairman.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Commissioner for Public Appointments has stated his intention to review this competition to ensure the process was run in compliance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. The Government will be happy to assist him to show how the correct processes were followed, and provide access to any necessary papers. The Commissioner will publish a public report in due course. The Government does not otherwise propose to pre-empt that formal review.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to his Answer to the Rt. hon Member for Holborn and St Pancras at Prime Minister's Questions on 11 January 2023, Official Report, column 554, on what evidential basis he said that the International Labour Organisation supported minimum service levels.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
I have been asked to reply. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) recognises minimum service levels can be a sensible solution to protect the public from serious consequences of strikes. Many countries in Europe and around the world who are also signatories to the ILO have minimum service levels in place covering a range of key services.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the number of civil servants who are paid less than the Living Wage Foundation's real living wage.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
This government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, and always adheres to the statutory National Living Wage. This will rise from £9.50 to £10.42 an hour from 1 April 2023, an increase of 9.7%. There are an estimated 5,710 civil servants who are paid less than the 2021/22 Living Wage Foundation's real living wage (£11.05 if based in London, or £9.90 if based outside of London).
Figures are based on the centrally held numbers and salaries of civil servants collected in the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey as at March 2022, and may differ from those provided by individual departments. Civil servants located outside the UK or with an unreported location (6,995) or without a reported hourly rate (an additional 150) have been excluded.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to strengthen counter-fraud measures for public procurement.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Government is committed to rooting out fraud and corruption in public procurement. All contracting authorities must act and be seen to act with integrity.
We have worked closely with the Serious Fraud Office, the Competition and Markets Authority and other experts to strengthen the rules around supplier exclusion through measures in the Procurement Bill and ensure that suppliers with a track record of fraud or corruption will be excluded from procurements, and cannot be awarded public contracts unless they can demonstrate that the circumstances giving rise to the fraud or corruption are not likely to occur again.
In addition, the Government has established the Public Sector Fraud Authority as part of a range of measures to tackle waste and inefficiency across the public sector. The Public Sector Fraud Authority is a new team at the heart of Government which works with departments and public bodies to understand and reduce the impact of fraud.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the report by Sir Robert Francis KC entitled Compensation and Redress for the Victims of Infected Blood: Recommendations for a Framework, published on 7 June 2022, if the Government will take steps to work in partnership with (a) members of the infected blood community, (b) their legal representatives and (c) other stakeholders to (i) develop a compensation framework quickly and (ii) consider what steps can be taken to minimise potential sources of distress in the compensation process.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I recognise the importance of the issue and the desire of the honourable Member to receive an update on Government work in relation to Sir Robert Francis’ recommendations.
It is my intention to provide an update to the House as soon as possible.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the report by Sir Robert Francis KC entitled Compensation and Redress for the Victims of Infected Blood: Recommendations for a Framework, published on 7 June 2022, if he will take immediate steps, with Cabinet colleagues, to begin developing a compensation framework.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I recognise the importance of the issue and the desire of the honourable Member to receive an update on Government work in relation to Sir Robert Francis’ recommendations.
It is my intention to provide an update to the House as soon as possible.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the report by Sir Robert Francis KC entitled Compensation and Redress for the Victims of Infected Blood: Recommendations for a Framework, published on 7 June 2022, whether the Government accepts recommendation 1 of the report on a publicly funded compensation scheme.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
I recognise the importance of the issue and the desire of the honourable Member to receive an update on Government work in relation to Sir Robert Francis’ recommendations.
It is my intention to provide an update to the House as soon as possible.