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 electronic purchasing card spending over £500 for January and February 2021, for which teams agile training courses were purchased from Tobias Mayer on (a) 19 January 2021 and (b) 2 February 2021; what activities were involved; and how many individuals took part.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The agile training courses purchased from Tobias Mayer on (a) 19 January 2021 and (b) 2 February 2021 were both certified Scrum Master workshops. The training was an introduction to the framework and application of Scrum, which is a framework for developing and sustaining complex products and processes. Both events were attended by one member of staff each.
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 electronic purchasing card spending over £500 for November 2021, what items were purchased from AwesomeMerchandise on 22 November 2021; and for what purpose those items were used.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In November 2021, the Department purchased roller banners and stationery from Awesome Merchandise to raise staff awareness about the Department's vision and purpose.
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 her Department’s publication of spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card for May 2022, (a) for what purpose does her Department’s Higher Education and Further Education directorate require the subscription to Riddle.Com purchased on 6 May 2022, and (b) how many of the quizzes produced using that website since 6 May 2022 have been targeted at (i) internal and (ii) external audiences.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has spent £284,811.85 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a Government Procurement Card (GPC) from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.
Information on expenditure over £500 by the Department by Government Procurement Card (GPC) and electronic Purchasing Card Solution (ePCS) can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-government-procurement-card-gpc-over-500.
All Government Procurement Card (GPC) and electronic Purchasing Card Solution (ePCS) transactions are governed by a strictly applied policy. All transactions must be approved by the Card Holder and authorised by a nominated secondary member of staff. Some purchases and transactions are not allowed. This includes purchases that are not for official business purposes, prohibited purchases (such as alcohol and vouchers), purchases that could be made via an alternative, compliant purchasing route, and other transactions such as the withdrawal or transfer of cash.
Information on spending over £500 by the Department on filming equipment with a GPC/ePCS is available in the attached table. These items were purchased by the central Policy Profession Unit, which is a cross Government unit serving approximately 32,000 civil servants in the Civil Service Policy Profession across the UK. These items contributed towards building communication capacity and to produce photos and filming for Policy Profession events, training, and communications. These items were purchased following a fully costed business case.
Multiply, a new programme for improving adult numeracy, is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. To engage potential students, the Department launched a quick mathematics quiz to help people understand where they might want to improve their numeracy. People are then signposted to relevant courses in their local area. The quiz function is provided by Riddle and can be found here: https://skillsforlife.campaign.gov.uk/courses/multiply/.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department spent in 2021 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a government procurement card.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has spent £284,811.85 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a Government Procurement Card (GPC) from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.
Information on expenditure over £500 by the Department by Government Procurement Card (GPC) and electronic Purchasing Card Solution (ePCS) can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-government-procurement-card-gpc-over-500.
All Government Procurement Card (GPC) and electronic Purchasing Card Solution (ePCS) transactions are governed by a strictly applied policy. All transactions must be approved by the Card Holder and authorised by a nominated secondary member of staff. Some purchases and transactions are not allowed. This includes purchases that are not for official business purposes, prohibited purchases (such as alcohol and vouchers), purchases that could be made via an alternative, compliant purchasing route, and other transactions such as the withdrawal or transfer of cash.
Information on spending over £500 by the Department on filming equipment with a GPC/ePCS is available in the attached table. These items were purchased by the central Policy Profession Unit, which is a cross Government unit serving approximately 32,000 civil servants in the Civil Service Policy Profession across the UK. These items contributed towards building communication capacity and to produce photos and filming for Policy Profession events, training, and communications. These items were purchased following a fully costed business case.
Multiply, a new programme for improving adult numeracy, is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. To engage potential students, the Department launched a quick mathematics quiz to help people understand where they might want to improve their numeracy. People are then signposted to relevant courses in their local area. The quiz function is provided by Riddle and can be found here: https://skillsforlife.campaign.gov.uk/courses/multiply/.
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 her Department’s publication of spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card for April 2022, what items of filming equipment were purchased from (a) SLRHut on 31 March, (b) Photospecialist on 31 March, (c) EssentialPhoto on 1 April, (d) Western Digital (UK) on 4 April, (e) Amazon Marketplace on 7 April, and (f) DJI on 26 April, and for what purpose is each item used by her Department.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has spent £284,811.85 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a Government Procurement Card (GPC) from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.
Information on expenditure over £500 by the Department by Government Procurement Card (GPC) and electronic Purchasing Card Solution (ePCS) can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-government-procurement-card-gpc-over-500.
All Government Procurement Card (GPC) and electronic Purchasing Card Solution (ePCS) transactions are governed by a strictly applied policy. All transactions must be approved by the Card Holder and authorised by a nominated secondary member of staff. Some purchases and transactions are not allowed. This includes purchases that are not for official business purposes, prohibited purchases (such as alcohol and vouchers), purchases that could be made via an alternative, compliant purchasing route, and other transactions such as the withdrawal or transfer of cash.
Information on spending over £500 by the Department on filming equipment with a GPC/ePCS is available in the attached table. These items were purchased by the central Policy Profession Unit, which is a cross Government unit serving approximately 32,000 civil servants in the Civil Service Policy Profession across the UK. These items contributed towards building communication capacity and to produce photos and filming for Policy Profession events, training, and communications. These items were purchased following a fully costed business case.
Multiply, a new programme for improving adult numeracy, is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. To engage potential students, the Department launched a quick mathematics quiz to help people understand where they might want to improve their numeracy. People are then signposted to relevant courses in their local area. The quiz function is provided by Riddle and can be found here: https://skillsforlife.campaign.gov.uk/courses/multiply/.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what was the total value of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for her Department as performance-related bonuses in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20, (d) 2020-21 and (e) 2021-22.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Bonuses paid out as non-cash vouchers is a standard practice across Government. The Edenred contract came into effect in 2017 which allows Departments access to non-cash vouchers for staff.
The Department uses Instant Reward vouchers to reward individuals who have a positive impact on delivery of the Department’s business, with awards usually ranging between £25 and £100.
The total value of non-cash vouchers provided to employees working for the Department is as follows (rounded to the nearest £1,000):
Financial Year | Spend |
2017/18 | £289,000 |
2018/19 | £353,000 |
2019/20 | £329,000 |
2020/21 | £753,000 |
2021/22 | £469,000 |
The rise in spend during 2020/21 was due to a new HR system being launched in the Department, with an increase made to the Instant Reward budget. This was to enable rewards to continue during a wider payroll freeze and a corresponding reduction in other reward budgets.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what total amount of money has been paid out by her 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 her 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 Nick Gibb
The rules around ministerial severance payments are set out in legislation under the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991. Details of the severance payments made to Ministers when leaving office are published in the Departments’ annual reports and accounts.
Similarly, the provision of severance payments for special advisers is set out in the model contract, which is available on GOV.UK, 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.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions the provision of mandatory training for his Departmental staff regarding their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 has been cited by his Department as a defence against Section 109 proceedings since the commencement of that Act.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
Since the commencement of the Equality Act 2010, we have no record that the Department has cited mandatory training of its employees as a defence against Section 109 proceedings.
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 payments were fraudulently charged to his Department’s budget using electronic purchasing cards in the financial years (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, and (c) 2021-22; and what was the total value of fraudulent payments (i) made and (ii) recovered in each of those years.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
The department incurred no financial losses as a consequence of fraudulent usage of electronic payment cards during financial years 2019/20, 2020/21 or 2021/22.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he will respond to Question 34846 from the Rt. hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury, tabled on 12 July 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
I can confirm that a response has been submitted to the right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury to Question 34846.