Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the contract awarded by her Department to Frontier Economics on 16 November 2023 under procurement reference 103726, if she will publish the specification of requirements in that contract.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The invitation to tender (ITT) in relation to procurement reference 103726 has been published on Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the awayday held for staff in her Department's policy group on 29 November 2023, how many members of staff attended; what activities did it involve; and whether any costs were incurred in addition to the hire costs for the venue.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Policy Group away day was attended by approximately 360 people in person, with approximately 35 joining online.
The away day was an opportunity for staff working on different policy areas to develop skills, network with other policy professionals and learn about the sectors the Department supports.
The away day was structured in two parts, with informative visits to various organisations within the Department's sectors within central London taking place in the morning, and a conference taking place at Lord’s Cricket Ground in the afternoon.
The afternoon featured three main activities. These included an interactive session delivered by the Department’s Policy Profession on skills and skills gaps within the Group, a session on communication and the art of explanation by an external speaker, and a session on including the “Youth Voice” in policy, led by one of the Department’s arms-length bodies.
Costs incurred were in relation to venue hire, which included catering and an audio visual package. The venue was chosen after an extensive search and procurement process, as well as for its links to one of the sectors the Department oversees. No costs were incurred for any of the morning visits, nor for any of the afternoon sessions.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Cabinet Office statistics on Permanent and temporary civil servants by sex, age band and department: 2023, published on 31 October 2023, how many permanent civil servants excluding agencies worked for her Department on 31 March (a) 2011, (b) 2016 and (c) 2020.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Please refer to the published data at the below links:
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s data is displayed in the below table providing FTE and Headcount figures at the requested dates:
Year | Headcount | FTE |
2011 | 570 | 560 |
2016 | 1210 | 1160 |
2020 | 1280 | 1250 |
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2022 to Question 97596 on Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Incentives, what the value was of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for her core Department as performance-related bonuses in 2022-23.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Attracting, retaining and motivating highly skilled individuals is essential for the Civil Service to deliver for the British people. This is why pay must be fair and competitive as well as affordable to the taxpayer. Performance-related bonuses and vouchers are a key part of this, and are standard practice across government.
During the financial year period of 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023, DCMS awarded a total of £138,500 in non cash vouchers to staff.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the contract awarded to Momart Ltd on 25 July 2023, procurement reference 103763, what the series of artworks were for which her Department required the services of an artwork shipping and transportation company.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The artwork referenced was transported for display at the British Embassy in Washington DC from the Government Art Collection (GAC), which promotes British art, culture and creativity through displays in UK Government buildings worldwide.
Please see the following table, which includes the series of artworks referenced in the request.
GAC | Artist/Maker | Title | Medium | Date |
15293 | Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens | Design for the Cenotaph | Pen and ink and crayon on paper | October 1919 |
18271 | Frank Bowling | Kaieteurtoo; Poured Paintings | Acrylic on canvas | 1975 |
19033 | Andrew Pierre Hart | Alter-native trace S3:E3s: Valerie and The illusion transmitters | oil on canvas |
|
11021 | John Hoyland | 28.4.73 | Acrylic on canvas | 1973 |
19115/1 | Rana Begum | 1163 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/2 | Rana Begum | 1164 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/3 | Rana Begum | 1165 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/4 | Rana Begum | 1166 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/5 | Rana Begum | 1167 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/6 | Rana Begum | 1168 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/7 | Rana Begum | 1169 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/8 | Rana Begum | 1170 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/9 | Rana Begum | 1171 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/10 | Rana Begum | 1172 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/11 | Rana Begum | 1173 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/12 | Rana Begum | 1174 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/13 | Rana Begum | 1175 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/14 | Rana Begum | 1176 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/15 | Rana Begum | 1177 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/16 | Rana Begum | 1178 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/17 | Rana Begum | 1179 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
19115/18 | Rana Begum | 1180 Foil | spray paint on aluminium foil | 2022 |
18792 | Laura Gannon | Enormous Changes at the last minute | Acrylic and ink on primed linen | 2018 |
19003 | Yinka Shonibare CBE | Diana of Versailles (Diana) | fibreglass sculpture, hand painted Dutch wax batik, watercolour globe | 2019 - 2020 |
3560 | Ivon Hitchens | June Poppy | Oil on canvas |
|
18922 | John Rainey | The Deflatables; XUK | porcelain | 2019 |
19039 | Grayson Perry | Morris, Gainsborough, Turner, Riley | tapestry | 2021 |
4956 | Vanessa Bell | Flowers | Oil on canvas | 1930s |
6416 | Winifred Nicholson | Flower Piece | Oil on canvas | late 1920s |
8177 | Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson | Tiller Girls | Oil on canvas | 1926(?) |
10956 | Bridget Riley | Blaze IV | Reproduction print | 1963 |
12198 | Patrick Heron | Three Cadmiums, Four Discs | Oil on canvas | April 1966 |
12716 | Eileen Agar | Guardian of Memories | Oil, crayon and collage on board | 1938 |
17281 | Yuko Shiraishi | Grey and Red (2) | Oil on canvas | 1994 |
17329/1 | Cornelia Parker | Feather that went to the Top of Everest; Up Down Charm Strange; [In the jacket of Rebecca Stevens, the first British woman to climb Mt. Everest] | Photogram | 1997 |
17329/2 | Cornelia Parker | Feather that went to the South Pole; Up Down Charm Strange; [In the sleeping bag of Sir Ranulph Fiennes on his trip across Antarctica] | photogram | 1998 |
17329/3 | Cornelia Parker | Feather from Benjamin Franklin's Attic; Up Down Charm Strange; [With thanks to the Benjamin Franklin Museum] | photogram | 1998 |
17329/4 | Cornelia Parker | Feather from Freud's Pillow; Up Down Charm Strange; [From his couch] [With thanks to the Freud Museum] | photogram | 1998 |
17329/5 | Cornelia Parker | Raven Feather from the Tower of London; Up Down Charm Strange | photogram | 1998 |
17329/6 | Cornelia Parker | Feather from a Wandering Albatross; Up Down Charm Strange; [With thanks to the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge] | photogram | 1998 |
17513 | Mark Power | GERMAN BIGHT Thursday 24 August 1995; The Shipping Forecast | Silver gelatin print with text sand-blasted on glass | 2000 |
19031 | Kudzanai-Violet Hwami | Tongue on Fire | oil and acrylic on canvas | 2021 |
19106 | Lindsey Mendick | A Girl After My Own Heart | glazed ceramic | 2022 |
19107 | Lindsey Mendick | A Sense of Occasion | glazed ceramic | 2022 |
19108 | Lindsey Mendick | National Treasure | glazed ceramic | 2022 |
19109 | Lindsey Mendick | She's Only Gone and Done It | glazed ceramic | 2022 |
19110 | Lindsey Mendick | Swelling with Pride | glazed ceramic | 2022 |
19111 | Lindsey Mendick | You Do It So Well | glazed ceramic | 2022 |
19114/4 | Rachel Whiteread | Untitled (Bubble); TenTen; TenTen | lithograph on paper | 2022 |
18824/15 | Tacita Dean | Foreign Policy (screenprint edition); TenTen | screenprint on paper | 2019 |
19016/12 | Lubaina Himid | Old Boat, New Weather; TenTen | Screenprint | 2021 |
18007 | Mark Titchner | Everything Beautiful is Far Away | Unique archival inkjet print on Diabond (aluminium and acrylic sheet) | 2003-2005 |
18023 | Mark Titchner | Only the First Step is Difficult | Unique archival inkjet print on Diabond (aluminium and acrylic sheet) | 2005 |
18408 | Alan Kitching | Printing in London 1476-1995 | Coloured letterpress | 1995 |
16803 | Joe Tilson | Apollo Pythion | Lift ground etching | 1990 |
16352 | Sir Howard Hodgkin | Sand | Hand-coloured lithograph | 1983-1985 |
16351 | Sir Howard Hodgkin | Blood | Hand-coloured lithograph | 1983-1985 |
12777 | R B Kitaj | Four in America; In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part | Screenprint | 1970 |
18556 | Raymond Spurrier | Carmel | Screenprint |
|
18846 | Corin Sworn | The Slow Liquidity of Glass | C-type photograph on paper | 2013 |
10094 | Alistair Grant | Blush II | Lithograph |
|
10093 | Alistair Grant | Blush I | Lithograph |
|
17408 | Boyd and Evans | Wupatki, Arizona | Cibachrome photograph | 1999 |
14496 | Bryan Organ | Stars and Stripes | Colour etching and aquatint | 1976 |
14495 | Bryan Organ | Stars and Stripes | Colour etching and aquatint | 1976 |
14494 | Bryan Organ | Stars and Stripes | Colour etching and aquatint | 1976 |
14493 | Bryan Organ | Stars and Stripes | Colour etching and aquatint | 1976 |
18882 | Shauna McMullan | 165 Stars, Found in GWL Lending Library | digital pigment fine art print on paper | 2012 |
18778 | Walter Stoneman | Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) | Photograph | 1941 |
17616 | Marta Marcé | Untitled | Lithograph | 2001 |
18555 | Raymond Spurrier | Rubber Stamp Works, New Orleans | Screenprint |
|
13368 | Noel Forster | Fairfield | Acrylic on linen | 1977 |
18146/4 | Hew Locke | The Prize; The Rivington Place Portfolio | Digital images with silkscreen cut into 43 pieces and re-collaged onto a three dimensional object, with | 2006 |
11512 | John Hoyland | Grey Blue on Green; The New York Suite | Screenprint | 1971 |
11513 | John Hoyland | Red Block on Pink; The New York Suite | Screenprint | 1971 |
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many ministerial red boxes belonging to her Department have (a) been reported missing or lost or (b) had their security features removed in order that they can be purchased for personal use by former ministers from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2023.
Answered by John Whittingdale
There have been no missing or lost ministerial red boxes from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and no red boxes which have had their security features removed between 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2023.
The departmental security unit records and investigates each reported loss from the Department. If appropriate, the police are invited to undertake further inquiries.
It is a long standing convention under successive administrations that Ministers may pay to retain red boxes as a memento of their time in their role, as long as the security features are removed.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s Greening Government Commitments for 2021-25, how many tonnes of food waste were produced from her Departmental estate in Financial Year (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23 up to 31 December 2022.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
DCMS does not hold the figures for this as all the food waste in our main offices is handled by contractors, and we share our buildings with fellow tenants.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s Greening Government Commitments for 2021-25, how many reams of A4 paper were purchased by her Department in Financial Years (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2021-22.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
DCMS is committed to the Greening Government Commitments target of reducing government’s paper use by at least 50% from a 2017 to 2018 baseline.
Our paper purchasing for the financial year 2019-2020 was published in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Report which is available on gov.uk
Our paper purchasing for the financial year 2020-2021 will be published in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Report for 2020-2021, in early 2023.
Our paper purchasing for the financial year 2021-2022 will be published in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Report for 2021-2022.
GGC annual reporting is delayed due to Covid-19 impacts, but the government remains committed to reducing the environmental impact of its estate and operations.
Established in 2010, the Greening Government Commitments (GGCs) set out the actions that the government will take to improve the environmental impact of the government estate and its operations. They demonstrate how the UK government is leading by example and working to improve the environmental performance of its own estate and operations, in line with our 25 Year Environment Plan commitments to improve the environment within a generation.
Since the inception of the GGCs, the government has halved its greenhouse gas emissions and waste, in addition to making many other efficiencies. Progress against the commitments is published in GGC annual reports.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2022 to Question 110636 on Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, if she will publish the unique inventory numbers assigned to the Government Art Collection works (a) removed from and (b) added to 11 Downing Street in November 2021.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As outlined in the previous answer, this relates to the relocation of art within the offices of 11 Downing Street whilst refurbishment was taking place. A list of the items temporarily moved will be placed in the Library of the House.
This includes safely transferring the political cartoons donated by former Chancellors, including Alistair Darling's from 2007, “With hindsight, that wasn’t the best time to ask the Chancellor which music he prefers – Johnny Cash or Northern Rock.”
I hope the Rt Hon Member and her staff will appreciate the importance of preserving such moments from history of the last Labour Government.
The full activity schedule is attached, with lists A,B,C and D on the following pages. I will place a copy of the schedule in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s publication of Government procurement card spending over £500 for November 2022, what the (a) nature and (b) purpose was of the taxi services for which Imperial Transportation was paid £952.02 on 17 November 2022.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The taxi services of Imperial Transportation were procured to transport officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, over 250 miles during a visit to Ottawa and Montreal, Canada for a UK-Canada Public Policy Forum. This was on the official advice of the High Commission in Ottawa, as no government cars were available and the use of public transport was impractical.