Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her predecessors (a) received requests from and (b) made representations to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the (i) presence and (ii) potential cost implications of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) within state-funded education facilities between 13 February 2020 and 5 July 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.
Ministers and officials have regular discussions with colleagues from His Majesty’s Treasury on a range of issues.
The 2021 Spending Review announced a budget of £19 billion of capital funding to support the education sector between 2022/23 and 2024/25. In addition to the Department’s targeted work on RAAC, we have continued to invest in improving the condition of schools and colleges, with over £15 billion allocated since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for 2023/24, informed by consistent data on the condition of the estate. On top of this, the Department will transform 500 schools through the school rebuilding programme, prioritising buildings in the poorest condition and those with evidence of potential safety issues. In addition, £2.8 billion of capital investment has been allocated to further education colleges in England to transform and improve the condition of the post-16 estate, provide new places in post-16 education, and provide specialist equipment and facilities for T Levels.
The Department will spend whatever it takes to keep children safe. This includes paying for the emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including alternative classroom space where necessary, and supporting schools with remedial works which is our immediate focus. The Department is rightly focused on supporting schools and colleges. Where schools need additional help with revenue costs like transport to other locations, we are actively engaging with every school affected to put appropriate support in place. The Department will then also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.
The Department will always put the safety and wellbeing of children and staff in schools and colleges at the heart of its policy decisions. The Government has taken more proactive action to identify and mitigate RAAC in education settings than the devolved administrations in the UK, or indeed, governments overseas.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, 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 Nick Gibb
There is no record of any ministerial red boxes from the Department having been either reported missing or lost, or having 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.
The Department keeps a record of all its current ministerial red boxes, and they are all accounted for within the Department and are owned wholly by the Department. All Departmental property is recorded and registered in the appropriate manner and accounted for by the relevant accounting officer.
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, but the Department has no record of this happening from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2023.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2023 to Question 177720 on Department for Education: Staff, how many survey respondents from her Department (a) neither agreed nor disagreed with the five statements or (b) offered no response.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The table below shows the Leesman score achieved by Department staff who took part in the survey in September 2022.
Question | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Total |
It enables me to work productively | 126 | 36 | 116 | 278 |
It supports me sharing ideas/knowledge amongst colleagues | 116 | 62 | 99 | 277 |
It creates an enjoyable environment to work in | 112 | 56 | 106 | 274 |
It contributes to a sense of community at work | 116 | 43 | 117 | 276 |
It's a place I'm proud to bring visitors to | 76 | 116 | 80 | 272 |
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 166164 on Government Departments: Staff, how many and what proportion of respondents to the most recent Leesman office survey undertaken by her Department (a) agreed and (b) disagreed with the statements about their main workplace that (i) it enables me to work productively, (ii) it supports me sharing ideas and knowledge amongst colleagues, (iii) it creates an enjoyable environment to work in, (iv) it contributes to a sense of community at work, and (v) it's a place I'm proud to bring visitors to.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government Property Agency (GPA) is committed to delivering great places to work. To support this, it is important that civil servants are able to provide feedback about their workplaces. GPA has engaged Leesman, a world leader in measuring workplace experience, using their independent, objective and transparent office surveys that enables global benchmarking.
The table below shows the Leesman score achieved by Department for Education staff who took part in the survey in September 2022.
This data was taken specifically from staff based in the London Sanctuary Buildings office and respondents represent a small percentage of the Department’s workforce.
Department for Education (September 2022) | Agree | Disagree |
It enables me to work productively | 126 | 116 |
It supports me sharing ideas/knowledge amongst colleagues | 116 | 99 |
It creates an enjoyable environment to work in | 112 | 106 |
It's a place I'm proud to bring visitors to | 76 | 80 |
It contributes to a sense of community at work | 116 | 117 |
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) iPhone 12, (b) iPhone 13 and (c) iPhone 14 devices were purchased for use by staff in her core Department in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has not purchased any iPhone 12, 13, or 14 devices for use by Department staff in the period 2020 to 2022.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for September 2021, what materials to support learning and development activities were purchased from Total Merchandise on 16 September 2021; and for which division’s away day were they required.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This funding was used to purchase resources to facilitate the running of a division-wide event. This event was designed to enable staff to be prepared to deliver work in support of schools during the 2021/22 academic year. The event involved professional development activity for their key work areas as well as training materials for teams to take away. Tote bags were purchased to contain those resources and badges and supporting materials were purchased as a reminder to staff of the activity that had taken place. This activity and the materials were delivered to around seventy staff, representing approximately £8.50 per member of staff for that year. At the time of purchase, the directorate was Regional Delivery Directorate West Midlands.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for November 2021, what the name was of the speaker hired by the Education and Skills Funding Agency from Speakers Associates on 23 November 2021; and for how long that person spoke to staff at that event.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The speaker was Jermaine Harris. He gave a keynote speech at the event for three hours and held sessions prior to the event also lasting three hours.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 in December 2021, for what journey her predecessor required the services of TBR Global Chauffeuring on 22 December 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
TBR Global Chauffeuring provided transfer services between events within Glasgow when the former Secretary of State attended COP26.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, 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 Nick Gibb
The collection of food waste was introduced on a test basis in the 2021/22 financial year, at the Department for Education’s (DfE) Manchester Piccadilly, London Clive House, and London Sanctuary Building sites. The total food waste collected during this test period was 14.8 tonnes.
Food waste data for the 2022/23 financial year, up to 31 December 2022, is being collected from the whole DfE estate. All Greening Government Commitments data is collected retrospectively. As of 10 January 2023, the data requested for the third quarter of the 2022/23 financial year has not been validated. The Department can provide food tonnage data for the whole DfE office estate for the first two quarters of the 2022/23 financial year, and this figure is 10.7 tonnes.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 107080 on Department for Education: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, how many purchases with a value less than £500 were made against her Department’s budget through a Government procurement card in 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Between 1 January and 31 December 2021, there were 2,277 purchases made that had a value less than £500 by the Department, inclusive of the Executive Agencies (ESFA, TRA, STA, Located & Capital).