Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how Mitie Group Plc has performed against the Government Property Agency’s Facilities Management contract requirement to give its staff an effective voice.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government Property Agency contracts with Mitie for the provision of Total Facilities Management services for some of the Whitehall estate and London, 10 South Colonnade.
The Government Property Agency has not currently undertaken a formal assessment of Mitie’s internal policies nor specifically raised concerns about Mitie’s treatment of their staff. Mitie has assured us that they are consulting with their employees and recognised representatives about the proposed changes and that a solution can be found through negotiation and agreement.
An informal assessment indicates that Mitie holds an annual all employee engagement survey and local activities such as staff newsletters, town halls and engagement forums. They have consulted with their employees working at 10 South Colonnade on the proposed pay harmonisations and held meetings with those affected. This is consistent with principle six of the Cabinet Office Principles of Good Employment Practice.
GPA has a Social Value Plan in development that will, amongst other things, ensure social value is properly taken into account in the award of new GPA contracts.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of whether Mitie’s indication to some of its staff working on civil service contracts that it will fire and rehire them if they do not agree to change their pay dates is compatible with the social value that Mitie is required to deliver through civil service contracts.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government Property Agency contracts with Mitie for the provision of Total Facilities Management services for some of the Whitehall estate and London, 10 South Colonnade.
The Government Property Agency has not currently undertaken a formal assessment of Mitie’s internal policies nor specifically raised concerns about Mitie’s treatment of their staff. Mitie has assured us that they are consulting with their employees and recognised representatives about the proposed changes and that a solution can be found through negotiation and agreement.
An informal assessment indicates that Mitie holds an annual all employee engagement survey and local activities such as staff newsletters, town halls and engagement forums. They have consulted with their employees working at 10 South Colonnade on the proposed pay harmonisations and held meetings with those affected. This is consistent with principle six of the Cabinet Office Principles of Good Employment Practice.
GPA has a Social Value Plan in development that will, amongst other things, ensure social value is properly taken into account in the award of new GPA contracts.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what contracts the Government Property Agency has for facility management with Mitie.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government Property Agency contracts with Mitie for the provision of Total Facilities Management services for some of the Whitehall estate and London, 10 South Colonnade.
The Government Property Agency has not currently undertaken a formal assessment of Mitie’s internal policies nor specifically raised concerns about Mitie’s treatment of their staff. Mitie has assured us that they are consulting with their employees and recognised representatives about the proposed changes and that a solution can be found through negotiation and agreement.
An informal assessment indicates that Mitie holds an annual all employee engagement survey and local activities such as staff newsletters, town halls and engagement forums. They have consulted with their employees working at 10 South Colonnade on the proposed pay harmonisations and held meetings with those affected. This is consistent with principle six of the Cabinet Office Principles of Good Employment Practice.
GPA has a Social Value Plan in development that will, amongst other things, ensure social value is properly taken into account in the award of new GPA contracts.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to Paragraph 5 of the Civil Service Management Code, what guidance governs (a) the circumstances in which Ministers may make undertakings that legislation which does not bind the Crown will be applied as if it did so and (b) the procedure for issuing such undertakings; and if he will publish that guidance.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As referenced in my answer to PQ 5182 on 26 May 2021, the Civil Service has not applied any legislation which is not binding on the Crown as if it were so binding. Paragraph 5 simply makes clear that departments must fully comply with legislation that binds the Crown. There is no guidance covering when legislation that does not bind the crown should be applied as if it did so.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2021 to Question 5182 on Civil Service: Conditions of Employment, if he will specify (a) whether the legislative provisions which apply to civil servants but are not binding on the Crown refers solely to those arising from paragraph 5 of the Civil Service Management Code or (b) what other such legislative provisions apply on that basis.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As referenced in my answer to PQ 5182 on 26 May 2021, the Civil Service has not applied any legislation which is not binding on the Crown as if it were so binding. Paragraph 5 simply makes clear that departments must fully comply with legislation that binds the Crown. There is no guidance covering when legislation that does not bind the crown should be applied as if it did so.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 5 of the Civil Service management code, if he will provide details of all legislation that Ministers have undertaken to apply as if it were binding on the Crown.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Civil Service has not applied any legislation which is not binding on the Crown. However, certain legislative provisions, which do not apply to the Crown, apply to Civil Servants as set out within the Civil Service Management Code and within departmental policies.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the current cost of all communication staff within the scope of the centralisation of communication project.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Reshaping Government Communication Service programme will further strengthen and unify the Government Communication Service (GCS), to be an even more effective and efficient service. Cabinet Office is leading the programme and working closely with ministerial departments and other public sector bodies. The programme has completed its discovery phase and is in its design phase, both of which will contribute to the outline business case and will help to identify the potential savings.
All communications staff are considered to be in scope for the RGCS programme. Last year, we received some initial data from departments and Arms Length Bodies, however more work will be done over the coming months to gather the necessary data to inform decision making.
The Cabinet Office has confirmed that its intention is for departments to have core teams for press, social media and rebuttal. We are working with departments to consider what a streamlined service could look like, in order to support statutory, operational or programme delivery.
Cabinet Office is continuously tracking and reviewing spending on cross-government campaigns, to ensure our communications are efficient. We will not spend more than is needed to be effective. Cabinet Office publishes expenditure on government communication spend, including our national campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on gov.uk as part of routine government transparency arrangements at the link below:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-spend-data.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the current spend on communications for those bodies within the scope of the centralisation of communication project.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Reshaping Government Communication Service programme will further strengthen and unify the Government Communication Service (GCS), to be an even more effective and efficient service. Cabinet Office is leading the programme and working closely with ministerial departments and other public sector bodies. The programme has completed its discovery phase and is in its design phase, both of which will contribute to the outline business case and will help to identify the potential savings.
All communications staff are considered to be in scope for the RGCS programme. Last year, we received some initial data from departments and Arms Length Bodies, however more work will be done over the coming months to gather the necessary data to inform decision making.
The Cabinet Office has confirmed that its intention is for departments to have core teams for press, social media and rebuttal. We are working with departments to consider what a streamlined service could look like, in order to support statutory, operational or programme delivery.
Cabinet Office is continuously tracking and reviewing spending on cross-government campaigns, to ensure our communications are efficient. We will not spend more than is needed to be effective. Cabinet Office publishes expenditure on government communication spend, including our national campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on gov.uk as part of routine government transparency arrangements at the link below:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-spend-data.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the restructuring of Government communications, what criteria were used in setting the expected maximum figure of 30 communications staff per Department.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Reshaping Government Communication Service programme will further strengthen and unify the Government Communication Service (GCS), to be an even more effective and efficient service. Cabinet Office is leading the programme and working closely with ministerial departments and other public sector bodies. The programme has completed its discovery phase and is in its design phase, both of which will contribute to the outline business case and will help to identify the potential savings.
All communications staff are considered to be in scope for the RGCS programme. Last year, we received some initial data from departments and Arms Length Bodies, however more work will be done over the coming months to gather the necessary data to inform decision making.
The Cabinet Office has confirmed that its intention is for departments to have core teams for press, social media and rebuttal. We are working with departments to consider what a streamlined service could look like, in order to support statutory, operational or programme delivery.
Cabinet Office is continuously tracking and reviewing spending on cross-government campaigns, to ensure our communications are efficient. We will not spend more than is needed to be effective. Cabinet Office publishes expenditure on government communication spend, including our national campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on gov.uk as part of routine government transparency arrangements at the link below:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-spend-data.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of staff are in scope of the centralisation of communication project, by (a) Department and (b) Arm’s Length Body.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Reshaping Government Communication Service programme will further strengthen and unify the Government Communication Service (GCS), to be an even more effective and efficient service. Cabinet Office is leading the programme and working closely with ministerial departments and other public sector bodies. The programme has completed its discovery phase and is in its design phase, both of which will contribute to the outline business case and will help to identify the potential savings.
All communications staff are considered to be in scope for the RGCS programme. Last year, we received some initial data from departments and Arms Length Bodies, however more work will be done over the coming months to gather the necessary data to inform decision making.
The Cabinet Office has confirmed that its intention is for departments to have core teams for press, social media and rebuttal. We are working with departments to consider what a streamlined service could look like, in order to support statutory, operational or programme delivery.
Cabinet Office is continuously tracking and reviewing spending on cross-government campaigns, to ensure our communications are efficient. We will not spend more than is needed to be effective. Cabinet Office publishes expenditure on government communication spend, including our national campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on gov.uk as part of routine government transparency arrangements at the link below:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-spend-data.