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Written Question
Government Departments: Procurement
Tuesday 18th May 2021

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on how many (a) Government departments and (b) agencies and non-departmental bodies have regularly refused to use Project Bank Accounts in the last three years; and what the reasons were for not using such accounts.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to PQ185363 on 26 April 2021.


Written Question
Government Departments: Procurement
Monday 17th May 2021

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, where a Department, agency or a non-departmental body has a compelling reason not to use a Project Bank Account what procedure is in place to record that reason and its justification; and who has the authority to sanction that reason.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to PQ185363 on 26 April 2021.


Written Question
Government Departments: Procurement
Monday 17th May 2021

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the lack of data on the use of Project Bank Accounts (PBAs) by Government construction procurers, what steps his Department plans to take to monitor the implementation of its policy that PBAs must be used unless there are compelling reasons not to use them.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to PQ185363 on 26 April 2021.


Written Question
Government Departments: Procurement
Monday 26th April 2021

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to increase the use of Project Bank Accounts by (a) Government departments, (b) Government agencies and (c) non-departmental bodies.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

This Department does not hold specific information on the use of Project Bank Accounts. However, as the PBA policy lead we do engage with departments and their ALBs about their PBA usage, including indicative spend.

Whilst the use of PBAs was being established we collected data on the value of government contracts making use of PBAs. During that period (2011-2015) over £10 billion was spent on a wide range of construction projects using PBAs.

PBAs are the preferred option by government when it is cost effective and efficient, and departments have made a commitment to use PBAs unless there are compelling reasons not to. This has been restated in the Construction Playbook (December 2020), which sets out key policies and guidance for government departments and their arms length bodies on how public works projects and programmes are assessed, procured and delivered. PBAs are just one way the government supports fair payment as part of the Government's Prompt Payment Code.


Written Question
Government Departments: Procurement
Monday 26th April 2021

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data his Department holds on the total value of Government works using a Project Bank Account.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

This Department does not hold specific information on the use of Project Bank Accounts. However, as the PBA policy lead we do engage with departments and their ALBs about their PBA usage, including indicative spend.

Whilst the use of PBAs was being established we collected data on the value of government contracts making use of PBAs. During that period (2011-2015) over £10 billion was spent on a wide range of construction projects using PBAs.

PBAs are the preferred option by government when it is cost effective and efficient, and departments have made a commitment to use PBAs unless there are compelling reasons not to. This has been restated in the Construction Playbook (December 2020), which sets out key policies and guidance for government departments and their arms length bodies on how public works projects and programmes are assessed, procured and delivered. PBAs are just one way the government supports fair payment as part of the Government's Prompt Payment Code.


Written Question
Government Departments: Procurement
Monday 26th April 2021

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information he holds on the use of Project Bank Accounts by (a) Government departments, (b) Government agencies and (c) non-departmental bodies.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

This Department does not hold specific information on the use of Project Bank Accounts. However, as the PBA policy lead we do engage with departments and their ALBs about their PBA usage, including indicative spend.

Whilst the use of PBAs was being established we collected data on the value of government contracts making use of PBAs. During that period (2011-2015) over £10 billion was spent on a wide range of construction projects using PBAs.

PBAs are the preferred option by government when it is cost effective and efficient, and departments have made a commitment to use PBAs unless there are compelling reasons not to. This has been restated in the Construction Playbook (December 2020), which sets out key policies and guidance for government departments and their arms length bodies on how public works projects and programmes are assessed, procured and delivered. PBAs are just one way the government supports fair payment as part of the Government's Prompt Payment Code.


Written Question
Government Departments: Billing
Wednesday 10th March 2021

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the amount Government departments owe in late payments to small businesses since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Government does not maintain a central estimate of late payments owed to small businesses.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic the Government has issued a number of procurement policy notes with the goal of supporting cash flow to suppliers by accelerating payment. These have included a range of approaches such as forward ordering, payment in advance/prepayment, interim payments and payment on order (not receipt).


Written Question
Government Departments: Billing
Thursday 17th December 2020

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data his Department holds on the total value of Government projects paid through Project Bank Accounts for each year from 2016-17.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Data on the use and value of Project Bank Accounts is held by departments, not centrally.


Written Question
Government Departments: Billing
Thursday 17th December 2020

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Government Departments have used Project Bank Accounts since March 2016; how many projects in each Government Department have used Project Bank Accounts since March 2016; and if he will publish a list of all Government clients using Project Bank Accounts since March 2016.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Data on the use and value of Project Bank Accounts is held by departments, not centrally.


Written Question
Department for Work and Pensions: Electronic Government
Thursday 23rd November 2017

Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of the visits to GOV.UK Verify are for the purpose of accessing his Department's services.

Answered by Caroline Nokes

Between Monday 2 January and Sunday 15 October, there were 3,384,342 visits to GOV.UK Verify. Out of these 338,438 (10%) visits were for Check Your State Pension and 387,046 for Universal Credit (11.4%). There were a total of 725,484 visits (21.4%) for DWP and Pensions services.