Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for May 2021, for what purpose payments totalling £5,068.01 were made to Enterprise Rent-A-Car on 21 May 2021.
Answered by Will Quince
The payment relates to a number of short term hire car rentals.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department spent in 2021 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a government procurement card.
Answered by Will Quince
In 2021, £125,739 was spent on goods and services with a value of less than £500 through a Government procurement card.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason his Department's spending by electronic purchasing card solution over £500 for August 2022, published on 11 November 2022, replicates the data for July 2022, published on 27 September 2022; and when the correct data for August will be published.
Answered by Will Quince
Due to an administrative error, a duplicate file was published. The correct information is available the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-spending-over-500-august-2022
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2022 to Question 97502 on Department of Health and Social Care: Incentives, whose commercial interests would be affected by the disclosure of the information requested.
Answered by Will Quince
The disclosure of the information requested could affect Edenred’s commercial interests as the Department’s provider of non-cash vouchers.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department’s publication of electronic purchasing card spending over £500, for what purpose his Department paid Revolution Events Ltd (a) £4,672.80 on 22 December 2021 and (b) £5,752.80 from 19-26 September 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
This expenditure relates to the cost of six civil servants’ attendance at the International Records Management Society Conference in May 2021 and May 2022.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care when he plans to provide a substantive answer to Question 97476, tabled by the Rt hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury on 28 November for answer on 1 December.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 97476.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the procurement agreement reached by the UK Health and Security Agency with Instituto Butantan on 29 July 2022, contract reference C96116, what was the nature of the incident that led to the procurement exercise; where in the UK did that incident take place; and what was the impact of that incident on the number of vials of diphtheria antitoxin held in the national stockpile.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) routine procurement exercise for diphtheria antitoxin, contract reference C96116, was to replace expiring stock in the national stockpile and at National Health Service holding centres.
UKHSA holds a small stock of diphtheria antitoxin to replenish National Health Service holding centres when the antitoxin is clinically indicated for use. The centrally held stock is replenished as required when stock is either issued to holding centres or expires. The antitoxin is rarely used in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the value of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for his core Department as performance-related bonuses was in financial years (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20, (d) 2020-21 and (e) 2021-22.
Answered by Will Quince
We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on staff activity related to the review of retained EU laws within his Department's areas of responsibility since 1 September 2021; and what funding his Department has allocated for these purposes for the rest of the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Will Quince
Activity relating to the review of retained European Union law is carried out as part of officials’ normal business activities and there is no specific funding allocated.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what total amount of money has been paid out by his Department in severance payments for former (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers since 29 June 2022; how much of that money has subsequently been repaid to his Department as a result of individuals (A) rejecting the payment or (B) returning to new roles; and in how many cases where individuals were in post for (I) 0-3 months, (II) 3-6 months, (III) 6-12 months and (IV) more than 12 months has their full severance payment been retained as of 2 November 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
The provision of severance payments for Ministers is set out in legislation. Details of the severance payments made to Ministers on leaving office are published in the Department’s Annual Reports and Accounts. The provision of severance payments for special advisers is set out in the Model Contract, including provisions for repayment of severance if reappointed. The cost of severance payments made to special advisers across Government is published annually by the Cabinet Office.