Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, 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 the total value was of fraudulent payments (i) made and (ii) recovered in each of those years.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Zero.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to his Department’s publication of electronic purchasing card spending for January 2022, for what purpose trivia software was purchased by his Department on 5 January 2022.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Following the results of the 2020 People Survey which recorded staff feeling isolated during the Covid-19 pandemic, officials determined that software like Trivia could help bring together staff who were working from home in challenging circumstances. The department will not be continuing with the subscription in future, now the pandemic is over.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November to Question 73809 on Planning: Reform, how much of the £477 million budget set out in his Department's portfolio of major projects as the total baseline whole life costs of the Planning Reform programme has been spent as of 25 November 2022.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
I refer the Rt Hon member to the answer given here and to this department’s monthly spending report.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November to Question 73809 on Planning: Reform, whether his Department has agreed any external consultancy contracts relating to the Planning Reform programme other than those with (a) The Dextrous Web, procurement references CPD4121195 and CPD4122140, (b) Made Tech Ltd., procurement references CPD4122071 and CPD4122072, and (c) Version 1 Solutions Ltd., procurement reference CPD4124083.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Department has not agreed any other external consultancy contracts relating to Planning Reform. All contract award notices over £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder.
Details of all departmental spend greater than £250 are published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November to Question 73809 on Planning: Reform, how much money his Department has spent as of 22 November on its contracts with The Dextrous Web, procurement references (a) CPD4121195 and (b) CPD4122140, Made Tech Ltd., procurement references (c) CPD4122071 and (d) CPD4122072, and Version 1 Solutions Ltd., procurement reference (e) CPD4124083.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The Department has not agreed any other external consultancy contracts relating to Planning Reform. All contract award notices over £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder.
Details of all departmental spend greater than £250 are published on gov.uk.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what was the total value of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for his Department as performance-related bonuses in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20, (d) 2020-21, and (e) 2021-22.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
As has been the case under successive administrations, departmental spend over £250 is published on gov.uk as part of the department’s monthly spending report.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he plans to answer Question 73809 tabled by the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury on 28 October 2022.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the my answer to Question UIN 73809, on the 21 November 2022.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's portfolio of major projects, how much public money has been spent on (a) internal staff costs and (b) external consultancy relating to delivery of the projects on (i) Planning Reform and (ii) Electoral Integrity from the outset of each project to the end of October 2022.
Answered by Lee Rowley
As regards the Planning Reform programme, contracts covering external consultancy are published on Contracts Finder and Digital Marketplace.
The DLUHC spend on external consultancy on the Electoral Integrity Programme, in the time since the Project transferred to DLUHC and October 2022 was £0.
Staff costs are met from within existing departmental budgets and the Department’s workforce management information is published monthly here.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November to Question 77346 on Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Redundancy Pay, how many special advisers working in his Department had their employment terminated, after their appointing minister ceased to hold office, from 29 June to 9 November 2022; at what pay band each was employed; and whether each had been in post for (a) 0-3 months, (b) 3-6 months, (c) 6-12 months or (d) more than 12 months.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
Information on Special Adviser numbers and costs, including pay bands, is published annually as per the requirements of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, 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 Lee Rowley
The provision of severance payments for ministers is set out in legislation.
Details of the severance payments made to ministers when leaving office are published in 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.