To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Department for Education: Official Hospitality
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much their Department spent on hospitality in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

The exact information requested is not readily held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Department for Education: Railways
Tuesday 25th October 2022

Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department spent on first class train travel for (a) ministers and (b) civil servants in (i) 2020, (i) 2021 and (iii) 2022.

Answered by Jonathan Gullis

The Department is not able to separate data for ministers and civil servants. Therefore, this data covers all Department and Departmental Arm’s Length Bodies colleagues.

The Department spent the following on first class rail travel:

  • 2020 – £34,070.90
  • 2021 – £13,344.25
  • 2022 – £29,562.90.

First class travel can be booked in exceptional circumstances if one or more of the following applies:

  • where disability or reasons mean that suitable facilities in standard class would not otherwise be secured
  • where there are good grounds for security concerns. For example, significant risk of unwarranted attention from the press or the public
  • when travelling with a Minister who is travelling first class, to carry out Government business in relative privacy
  • where the overall cost of the first class ticket is less than the overall cheapest ticket for standard class. If applicable, evidence of the relevant price comparisons, such as a screen shot from the booking page, must be kept for audit purposes.


Written Question
Department of Education: Taxis
Monday 24th October 2022

Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department spent on taxi cabs for (a) ministers and (b) civil servants in each of the last three years.

Answered by Jonathan Gullis

The amounts spent by the Department on taxi travel for the requested financial years are:

  • 2019/20: £545,972
  • 2020/21: £195,022
  • 2021/22: £200,403.

These are the full amounts for both ministers and civil servants. The Department only has total figures readily available and so does not have the split for ministers and civil servants.


Written Question
Department for Education: Agency Workers
Monday 5th September 2022

Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department has spent on (a) agency workers and (b) agency retainer fees in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021 and (iii) 2022.

Answered by Will Quince

The department does not separate the costs of agency workers, contingent labour, or any associated agency retainer fees in our accounts. A breakdown could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The cost of contingent labour (including agency workers) is published in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts (ARA), and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports. Figures for the 2021/22 financial year are included, although the audit is still ongoing and this value may be subject to change.

The figures below cover the entirety of the Departmental Group, including Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies, for the years specified:

Financial Year

Contingent Labour & Agency Fees (£ million)

2019/20

£30.8 million

2020/21

£32.5 million

2021/22 (subject to audit)

£39.2 million


Written Question
Department for Education: Official Hospitality
Friday 29th July 2022

Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department spent on hospitality in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Answered by Will Quince

The exact information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Department for Education: Pay
Wednesday 27th July 2022

Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the wage ratio was between the highest paid member of staff in his Department and the lowest in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Answered by Will Quince

The department’s wage ratio, based on gross basic salary only, on 1 April each year (the date when any pay award is implemented) is as follows:

  • 2020 – 8.0 : 1
  • 2021 – 7.6 : 1
  • 2022 – 7.4 : 1

Written Question
Department for Education: Consultants
Wednesday 27th July 2022

Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022; and what the name is of each consultancy contracted.

Answered by Will Quince

The department spent the following amounts on consultancy in the respective financial years:

  • 2021/22: £6.8 million*
  • 2020/21: £8.7 million
  • 2019/20: £12.7 million

* Unaudited. As a result, this value may change.

Within the time and value for money considerations applicable, it has been possible to provide an analysis of the 2021/22 value, by supplier. This analysis is attached.


Written Question
Department for Education: Contracts
Wednesday 27th July 2022

Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many contracts that are worth (a) between £1 million and £3 million and (b) over £3 million their (i) Department and (ii) Department’s agencies and non-departmental public bodies (A) have agreed since 2010 and (B) are due to agree within the next 12 months; how much their Department has spent on monitoring each contract in each year since 2010; and how many officials have been working on that monitoring in each year since 2010.

Answered by Will Quince

Details of government contracts from 2016 above £10,000, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, are published on the GOV.UK Contracts Finder site which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder. As Contracts Finder was implemented in 2016, not all records before this time are held centrally.

For the July 2022 to June 2023 period, the total anticipated number of contracts for the department only (not including agencies and non-departmental public bodies) worth between £1 and £3 million is currently three. For the same period, the total number of contracts over £3 million is 136. This is the anticipated project pipeline and the department makes no commitment that the annual value of any contract will be as stated, or the timing of any future procurement exercises will be as stated. The sourcing route for any subsequent procurement has not been determined. For example, it could be via frameworks managed by Crown Commercial Services or open competitions. The department cannot therefore guarantee that these opportunities will be available to all suppliers.

We do not hold spend data on contract monitoring or how many officials work on monitoring in each year from 2010.


Written Question
Department of Education: Contracts
Thursday 21st July 2022

Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total value has been of contracts held by their Department with (a) G4S, (b) Serco and (c) Capita in each year since 2020.

Answered by Will Quince

Following a search of the department’s records, the total value of contracts held by (a) G4S (b) Serco and (c) Capita is as below:

Supplier

Value of contracts 01/01/2020 to 31/12/2020

Value of contracts 01/01/2021 to 31/12/2021

Value of contracts 01/01/2022 to 30/06/2022

G4S

£0

£0

£0

Serco

£4,000,000

£856,375

£856,375

Capita

£28,056,759

£35,816,679

£32,690,536

To note, the total value of the contract listed above is pro-rata over the length of the contract, using annualised contract values.

Details of government contracts from 2016 above £10,000, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, are published on Contracts Finder available here: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.


Written Question
Department for Education: Legal Costs
Thursday 21st July 2022

Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department and its associated agencies spent on legal disputes in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Answered by Will Quince

The department does not hold the total spend information relating to legal disputes, as the financial system does not have a specific structure to extract the data and legal spend is not recorded centrally.

For contract spend, following a search of the department’s special payment register, the department has not made any payments in respect to the settlement of procurement disputes, either in or out of court, during the following three financial years:

  • 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020: £0.00.
  • 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021: £0.00.
  • 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022: £0.00.