Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister of the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister intends to appoint a new anti-corruption champion.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Government is committed to driving progress on our anti-corruption strategy, as well as stepping up efforts to tackle corruption both domestically and overseas. My Rt Hon Friend, the Member for East Hampshire is the lead Minister on tackling fraud, corruption and illicit finance.
Details of any future appointments will be set out in the usual way.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times his Office has used the services of (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what (i) work was undertaken and (ii) the cost to the public purse was on each such occasion.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Information relating to specific pieces of work undertaken by all consulting firms including details of secondments from consulting firms is not held centrally and is therefore only available at disproportionate cost. In May 2010 the Cabinet Office introduced a control on the use of consultants within central government to reduce spending and to challenge organisations to only use consultants when absolutely necessary. Details of expenditure approvals for consultancy controls are published on: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk and on data.gov.uk: www.data.gov.uk Additionally, all new contracts over the value of £10,000 and payments of over £25,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder Under the Government controls introduced in May 2010, any contract for consultancy the estimated value of which exceeds £20,000 and exceeds 9 months in duration must be approved by the MCO and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Any consultancy contracts that fall outside of this scope must be approved by Cabinet Office Finance as part of the standard departmental financial controls. The full Cabinet Office Controls guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-controls/cabinet-office-controls-guidance-version-40
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of all secondees to his Office from (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what the role was of each of those secondees.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Information relating to specific pieces of work undertaken by all consulting firms including details of secondments from consulting firms is not held centrally and is therefore only available at disproportionate cost. In May 2010 the Cabinet Office introduced a control on the use of consultants within central government to reduce spending and to challenge organisations to only use consultants when absolutely necessary. Details of expenditure approvals for consultancy controls are published on: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk and on data.gov.uk: www.data.gov.uk Additionally, all new contracts over the value of £10,000 and payments of over £25,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder Under the Government controls introduced in May 2010, any contract for consultancy the estimated value of which exceeds £20,000 and exceeds 9 months in duration must be approved by the MCO and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Any consultancy contracts that fall outside of this scope must be approved by Cabinet Office Finance as part of the standard departmental financial controls. The full Cabinet Office Controls guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-controls/cabinet-office-controls-guidance-version-40
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times his Department has used the services of (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what (i) work was undertaken and (ii) the cost to the public purse was on each such occasion.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Information relating to specific pieces of work undertaken by all consulting firms including details of secondments from consulting firms is not held centrally and is therefore only available at disproportionate cost. In May 2010 the Cabinet Office introduced a control on the use of consultants within central government to reduce spending and to challenge organisations to only use consultants when absolutely necessary. Details of expenditure approvals for consultancy controls are published on: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk and on data.gov.uk: www.data.gov.uk Additionally, all new contracts over the value of £10,000 and payments of over £25,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder Under the Government controls introduced in May 2010, any contract for consultancy the estimated value of which exceeds £20,000 and exceeds 9 months in duration must be approved by the MCO and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Any consultancy contracts that fall outside of this scope must be approved by Cabinet Office Finance as part of the standard departmental financial controls. The full Cabinet Office Controls guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-controls/cabinet-office-controls-guidance-version-40
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of all secondees to his Department from (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young, (d) KPMG and (e) other consulting firms in the last three financial years; and what the role was of each of those secondees.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Information relating to specific pieces of work undertaken by all consulting firms including details of secondments from consulting firms is not held centrally and is therefore only available at disproportionate cost. In May 2010 the Cabinet Office introduced a control on the use of consultants within central government to reduce spending and to challenge organisations to only use consultants when absolutely necessary. Details of expenditure approvals for consultancy controls are published on: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk and on data.gov.uk: www.data.gov.uk Additionally, all new contracts over the value of £10,000 and payments of over £25,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder Under the Government controls introduced in May 2010, any contract for consultancy the estimated value of which exceeds £20,000 and exceeds 9 months in duration must be approved by the MCO and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Any consultancy contracts that fall outside of this scope must be approved by Cabinet Office Finance as part of the standard departmental financial controls. The full Cabinet Office Controls guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-controls/cabinet-office-controls-guidance-version-40
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether an equality impact assessment has been undertaken in respect of the policy of including an anti-lobbying clause in government grant agreements.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Departments are currently working with grant recipients on the implementation of the guidance, in relation to the new grants clause. This will include a consideration of equality impact issues, which will be reported centrally to the Cabinet Office for assessment, with regards to finalising the central policy by 1 May 2016.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether local authorities will be required to seek specific permission from Ministers in the Department for Communities and Local Government if they wish to provide an exemption from the anti-advocacy clause in a grant agreement.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The new clause applies to all central government grants. We expect that exemptions will be rare and these will need to be approved by the relevant Minister.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason no formal consultation was issued on the introduction of an anti-advocacy clause into grant agreements.
Answered by Matt Hancock
At present there are insufficient checks and balances to make sure that taxpayers funds are not being diverted away from their intended purpose and wasted on political campaigning and political lobbying. This clause has been successfully piloted by the Department for Communities and Local Government for the last year, without any adverse effect on grant recipients’ ability to campaign using their own funds.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to require National Lottery distributors to include conditions relating to advocacy when they deliver funding on behalf of government departments.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The new clause is applicable to exchequer-funded grants, whether awarded direct or via an Arm’s Length Body.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library a list of all public appointments made between 1 January 2015 and 1 May 2015.
Answered by Matt Hancock
This information is not held centrally. Under the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies April 2012, government departments are required to publicise successful appointments. This is the responsibility of individual departments.