Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the Prime Minister received a letter from Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, sent on 9 November, in relation to the racial hostility he was subjected to by a Member of Parliament, and when they are intending to respond to the allegations made in it.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This letter relates to the Conservative Party.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people came to the UK each year from 2002 to 2022 on migration grounds, excluding those seeking asylum.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Noble Peer’s Parliamentary Question of 14 March is attached in the answer.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they advised the former Director General of the COVID-19 Task Force, Kate Josephs, at any point about whether or not she should tell her employer, Sheffield City Council, about her attendance at her leaving party held on 17 December 2020.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
I refer the noble Lord to my previous answers to questions HL736 and HL840 of 7 June, and HL1111 of 23 June.
It is never appropriate to either confirm or deny whether the Cabinet Office has had any communications with specific individuals in the course of an investigation in order to preserve the confidentiality and integrity of investigation processes.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord True on 16 June (HL736 and HL840), what specific investigation processes are being referred to; who is carrying out each investigation; who each investigation will report to; and by what date they expect each of the investigations to be complete.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The specific investigation process being referred to is that set out in both the Update of 31 January 2022 and the 25 May 2022 final report outlining the findings of the Second Permanent Secretary’s investigation into alleged gatherings on Government premises. The methodology of the investigation is outlined within the report. The Second Permanent Secretary’s Update made clear what investigation work had been carried out. It is never appropriate in investigations to either confirm or deny whether the Cabinet Office has had any communications with specific individuals in order to preserve the confidentiality and integrity of investigation processes.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) Ms Kate Josephs, former Director General of the COVID-19 Taskforce, since she left the role in January 2021, and (2) Sheffield County Council, regarding the Cabinet Office leaving party Ms Josephs attended on 17 December 2020; and what date any communication took place.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
It would not be appropriate to either confirm or deny whether the Cabinet Office has had any communications with, or in relation to, any individuals in order to preserve the confidentiality and integrity of investigation processes.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have had any correspondence (1) with Ms Kate Josephs, former Director General of the Covid Task Force, since she left the role, or (2) with Sheffield City Council, regarding the Cabinet Office leaving party she attended on 17 December 2020; and if so, on what dates this correspondence took place.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
It would not be appropriate to either confirm or deny whether the Cabinet Office has had any communications with, or in relation to, any individuals in order to preserve the confidentiality and integrity of investigation processes.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord True on 6 April (HL7366), what discussions they have had with the Metropolitan Police about why releasing the number of communications between the Cabinet Office and (1) Kate Josephs, and (2) Sheffield City Council, about the party held on 17 December 2020 is not appropriate in order to preserve the confidentiality and integrity of the investigation processes; and what steps they have taken in response.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
I refer the noble Lord to my previous answers to questions HL6920 and HL7071 of 24 March and HL7366 of 6 April.
In referring to the 'confidentiality and integrity of investigation processes' my response referred not only to the Metropolitan Police processes but the internal investigation carried out by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many messages have been (1) logged, and (2) registered, of Government Ministers (a) sending, or (b) receiving, messages of official Government business on messaging services on their own private communication devices for the years (i) 2020, (ii) 2021, and (iii) 2022, to date; and what are the totals by each Ministry or Department.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
Ministers will have informal conversations from time to time in person or remotely. Significant content relating to government business from such discussions is passed back to officials. Government does not hold information on how many messages are transferred to official systems, and it should be noted that it is the substance of any business that has to be transferred to official systems, not necessarily the messages themselves.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they spent on external consultants in the tax years (1) 2017–18; (2) 2018–19; (3) 2019–20, (4) 2020–21, and (5) 2021 to date.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
It is standard for Government Departments to draw on the advice of external specialists for a range of services. Consultancy includes staff who provide objective advice relating to strategy, structure, management or operations of an organisation and may include the identification of options with recommendations.
The noble Lord may also be aware that the Consultancy Playbook was published in May 2021 alongside the Sourcing Playbook, to provide additional guidance when sourcing consultancy services. This supports our agenda to commission and engage with consultants more effectively, achieving better outcomes, better value for money, and improved civil service capability through the transferral of knowledge and skills.
Consultancy spend, including ALB spend, is published in departmental annual reports and accounts and is reproduced below.
Department | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
BEIS | £62,600,000 | £63,000,000 | £61,900,000 | £55,700,000 | £137,300,000 |
CO | £10,191,000 | £23,992,000 | £36,893,000 | £38,841,000 | £79,779,000 |
DCMS | £22,900,000 | £18,300,000 | £22,500,000 | £32,900,000 | £46,100,000 |
DFE | £12,100,000 | £14,600,000 | £13,100,000 | £12,700,000 | £8,700,000 |
DEFRA | £22,897,000 | £37,553,000 | £54,542,000 | £33,299,000 | £36,337,000 |
DFT | £78,260,000 | £92,490,000 | £145,562,000 | £168,390,654 | £175,720,840 |
DHSC | £389,301,000 | £370,970,000 | £342,051,000 | £290,206,000 | £485,997,000 |
DIT | Nil | £644,000 | £2,761,000 | £897,000 | £5,782,000 |
DWP | £9,700,000 | £45,300,000 | £28,500,000 | £28,500,000 | £29,000,000 |
FCDO | £800,000 | £1,261,979 | £1,927,753 | £2,936,902 | £2,742,044 |
HMRC | £1,212,806 | £2,957,366 | £3,168,518 | £1,700,000 | £8,600,000 |
HMT | £18,000,000 | £18,000,000 | £15,000,000 | £18,000,000 | £17,000,000 |
HO | £13,348,000 | £12,728,000 | £23,400,000 | £33,700,000 | £32,402,000 |
DLUCH | £156,000 | £405,000 | £3,308,000 | £5,229,000 | £20,148,000 |
MOD | £60,500,000 | £49,955,000 | £65,150,000 | £134,627,000 | £109,668,000 |
MOJ | £15,156,000 | £36,337,000 | £30,572,000 | £14,962,000 | £15,742,000 |
Total | £717,121,806 | £788,493,345 | £850,335,271 | £872,588,556 | £1,211,017,884 |
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord True on 24 March (HL6920 and HL7071), why giving dates of any communication regarding (1) Ms Kate Josephs, and (2) the Cabinet Office leaving party she attended on 17 December 2020, is (a) not appropriate at this time, and (b) would undermine a police investigation.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
I refer the noble Lord to my previous answers to Questions HL6920 and HL7071 on 24 March 2022.
It would not be appropriate to either confirm or deny whether the Cabinet Office has had any communications with any individuals in order to preserve the confidentiality and integrity of investigation processes.