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.
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, what his planned timetable is for the publication of the Government response to that report.
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 Prime Minister, if he will hold discussions with his Egyptian counterpart on (a) political prisoners and (b) other alleged human rights violations in Egypt during the COP27 conference.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave during my statement on 9 November 2022 on COP27, Official Report, Columns 259-277.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has plans to make interim compensation payments to infected blood support scheme beneficiaries before a compensation scheme is established; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michael Ellis
On 16 August 2022, I wrote to Sir Brian Langstaff, Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry, confirming that the Government accepts his recommendation in full. These interim payments are the first step in addressing this historic wrong and recognise the urgent need of infected and affected people.
I have also made a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS279) that was released on Monday, 5th September on this matter.