Pamela Nash

Details of my visits within the United Kingdom are published on the gov.uk website.

We are consulting on how best to implement the policy as part of a wider review into how to broaden and strengthen support for postgraduate researchers. We will be working with employers, universities and students to make sure the scheme meets the most pressing needs.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects and publishes data on student entrants, enrolments and qualifiers at UK Higher Education Institutions.

New tighter rules governing ‘off-payroll’ appointments in central government were established in May 2012 when the Chief Secretary to the Treasury published the Review of the Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees.

The recommendations of the Review mean that the most senior staff must go on the payroll, and departments are now able to seek assurance in relation to the tax arrangements of their long-term, high paid contractors.

The Treasury has carried out two evaluations of compliance with the rules which were published on 11 March 2014 and 5 March 2015. The most recent review revealed that the large majority of central government departments are operating the rules effectively. The Treasury issued £3 million in fines in 2014 and 2015 to a small number of departments who did not fully comply with the requirements of the guidance.

Data on the number of off payroll staff engaged in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and its Partner Organisations since August 2012 has been published in BIS Annual Reports and Accounts:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bis-tax-arrangements-for-off-payroll-appointees-august-2012-to-march-2013

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bis-tax-arrangements-for-off-payroll-appointees-april-2013-to-march-2014

Earlier data is not available.

The Department does not hold information on the average amount of customer debt owed to energy supply companies.

The number of people engaged off payroll by the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) and the Non Departmental Public Bodies, for which it is responsible, are published each year in its Annual report and Accounts. These are available on our website and can be found by following the links set out below.

2013-14 (Average number of persons employed) (Page 96)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-and-accounts-2013-to-2014

2012-13 (Average number of persons employed) (Page 150)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-and-accounts-2012-13

2011-12 (Table 5 Staff in post) (Page 232)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-and-accounts-2011-to-2012--2

2010-11 (Average number of persons employed) (Page 96)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-2010-to-2011

The tables in 2011-12 also includes totals for all previous years since DECC was created in 2008.

The information requested is contained in the following tables.

The table below shows the average number of staff engaged off-payroll over the past five years by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI), and the Treasury Solicitor’s Department (TSol).

1 Off payroll staff includes temporary (agency) and contract staff, including lawyers, other professionals and administrators. None of the above mentioned staff members are civil servants. The majority are temporary staff engaged through employment agencies to cover short term vacancies and to secure specific specialist legal and support skills.

Prior to April 2014 the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) did not maintain a centralised record of staff employed off-payroll and it is not possible to provide information at the level of detail requested. The SFO can, however, provide an average number of temporary staff employed since April 2010. These figures are as follows:

At the end of December January 2015 there were 86 temporary staff working at the SFO.

The average number of staff in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) who were engaged off-payroll during each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which figures are available is shown in the table below.

¹ The figures in the table have been calculated by taking relevant workforce statistics published each month and deriving an average for each financial year. It is possible, therefore, that the number of unique individuals employed during any financial year was higher than that indicated.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

Audited information about staff engaged off-payroll has been published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts for the last 2 full financial years (2012/13, 2013/14) and these are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-annual-reports-and-accounts .

Audited information for 2014/15 will be published in the 2014/15 Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts in due course.

The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.

Audited information about staff engaged off-payroll has been published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts for the last 2 full financial years (2012/13, 2013/14) and these are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/cabinet-office-annual-reports-and-accounts .

Audited information for 2014/15 will be published in the 2014/15 Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts in due course.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Before the last General Election, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls over spend on consultancy and temporary labour.

Now Ministers, supported by Cabinet Office officials, closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Last year, departments saved over £1.4 billion from consultants and temporary labour compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10 - a 57% reduction. This helped us save taxpayers £14.3 billion through efficiency and reform in 2013-14 against a 2009-10 baseline. Central Government spending on general consultancy alone was £316 million in 2013-14: around a quarter of the 2009-10 figure of £1,234 million. Such expenditure was £363m in 2010-11, £209m in 2011-12 and £212m in 2012-13.

We will spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.

We publish all spend data over £25,000 and central government contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder”.

New tighter rules governing ‘off-payroll’ appointments in central government were established in May 2012 when the Chief Secretary to the Treasury published the Review of the Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees.

The recommendations of the Review mean that the most senior staff must go on the payroll, and departments are now able to seek assurance in relation to the tax arrangements of their long-term, high paid contractors.

The Treasury has carried out two evaluations of compliance with the rules which were published on 11 March 2014 and 5 March 2015. The most recent review revealed that the large majority of central government departments are operating the rules effectively.

Off-payroll engagements for more than £220 per day and that last for longer than six months:

Data Source: DCMS Annual Reports 2012-13 and 2013-14

The following Arm’s Length bodies have not used off-payroll engagements for more than £220 per day and that last for longer than six months:

For appointments prior to this and below this threshold, the cost to provide the numbers would be disproportionate.

a) Recruitment agency fees are contained within the invoices submitted by the agency, the rate of charge will vary depending on the individual candidate’s pay rates but this charge is not separately identified on the invoice hence the Department is unable to separate agency charges from the overall payment to the agency for each candidate.

b) The total spent on outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff over the past 5 years is as follows:

2014-15 £0

2013-14 £0

2012-13 £63,000

2011-12 £0

2010-11 £63,000

(Figures are inclusive of recoverable VAT)

c) The total spent on Staff Training over the past 5 years is as follows:

2014/15 £174,347**

2013/14 £225,289

2012/13 £133,106

2011/12 £303,975

2010/11 £392,484

** current to 31st Dec 2014

(Figures are net of recoverable VAT)

The Department has no employees with a zero hours contract.

The number of staff who were engaged off-payroll in the Department for Education (including its Executive Agencies) can be found online at www.data.gov.uk.

The Department for Education does not collect data on the number of staff engaged off-payroll in its associated bodies.

The Department records centrally the total amount spent on recruitment, but this is not broken down between money spent on recruitment agencies, executive search consultants, advertising expenditure and other recruitment costs, so we are unable to provide this figure.

The table below shows spend on outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff.

The table below shows spend on staff training.

The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts set out the number of off-payroll workers employed by the Core Department, its Executive Agencies and Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies each year. The table below shows the information requested in each financial year from 2009-10 to 2013-14 (the last financial year for which a set of accounts has been published).

Note: the figures for the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency reflect the organisation’s then structure, which was created from a merger of the Animal Health agency and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency on 1 April 2011. The figures do not reflect the restructuring into the Animal and Plant Health Agency on 1 October 2014, when some areas of work undertaken previously by Fera (Food and Environment Research Agency) were brought into the new organisation.

Information on the number of off-payroll engagements in 2013/14 is included in DFID Annual Reporting. This information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-annual-report-and-accounts-2013-to-2014. Information on previous years can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

New tighter rules governing ‘off-payroll’ appointments in central government were established in May 2012 when the Chief Secretary to the Treasury published the Review of the Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees.

The recommendations of the Review mean that the most senior staff must go on the payroll, and departments are now able to seek assurance in relation to the tax arrangements of their long-term, high paid contractors.

The Treasury has carried out two evaluations of compliance with the rules which were published on 11 March 2014 and 5 March 2015. The most recent review revealed that the large majority of central government departments are operating the rules effectively. The Treasury issued £3 million in fines in 2014 and 2015 to a small number of departments who did not fully comply with the requirements of the guidance.

The UK Government has provided the following support (£m):

Information regarding specific projects is available on the Development Tracker (www.dfid.gov.uk).

In 2012, the Treasury published its Review of the Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees. It began requiring Departments to report on these arrangements in their Annual Reports and Accounts, and to implement tax assurance processes. The Department for Transport’s Annual Reports and Accounts are all available on gov.uk. The off-payroll assurance process for the current financial year is ongoing and final results will be published in the Annual Report and Accounts in June. Data is not available, other than at disproportionate cost, for years prior to 2012, and for those being paid less or who have been engaged to work for less than six months.

I can confirm that £293,667.50 worth of savings have accrued to the public purse from closures of driving test centres in Scotland since 2010-11.

The number of driving test centres that have closed in each of the last five years in England, Scotland and Wales is:

2010/11 – 29

2011/12 – 11

2012/13 – 13

2013/14 – 3

2014/15 – 4

The number of driving test centres that have opened in each of the last five years in England, Scotland and Wales is:

2010/11 – 14

2011/12 – 7

2012/13 – 14

2013/14 – 8

2014/15 – 0

The number of driving test centres that have closed in Scotland is:

2010/11 – 5

2011/12 – 2

2012/13 – 5

2013/14 – 1

2014/15 – 1

The number of driving test centres that have opened in Scotland is:

2010/11 – 3

2011/12 – 3

2012/13 – 3

2013/14 – 1

2014/15 – 0

The number of driving test centres that have closed in England is:

2010/11 – 22

2011/12 – 9

2012/13 – 7

2013/14 – 1

2014/15 – 3

The number of driving test centres that have opened in England is:

2010/11 – 9

2011/12 – 3

2012/13 – 10

2013/14 – 7

2014/15 – 0

The number of driving test centres that have closed in Wales is:

2010/11 – 2

2011/12 – 0

2012/13 – 1

2013/14 – 1

2014/15 – 0

The number of driving test centres that have opened in Wales is:

2010/11 – 2

2011/12 – 1

2012/13 – 1

2013/14 – 0

2014/15 – 0

No driving test centres were reopened at the same property.

Changes have occurred in the number of driving test centres since 2010/11 as a result of the Multi-Purpose Test Centre (MPTC) investment programme.

The lease interest in Airdrie Driving test centre is currently being renewed.

The number of driving test centres that have closed in each of the last five years in England, Scotland and Wales is:

2010/11 – 29

2011/12 – 11

2012/13 – 13

2013/14 – 3

2014/15 – 4

The number of driving test centres that have opened in each of the last five years in England, Scotland and Wales is:

2010/11 – 14

2011/12 – 7

2012/13 – 14

2013/14 – 8

2014/15 – 0

The number of driving test centres that have closed in Scotland is:

2010/11 – 5

2011/12 – 2

2012/13 – 5

2013/14 – 1

2014/15 – 1

The number of driving test centres that have opened in Scotland is:

2010/11 – 3

2011/12 – 3

2012/13 – 3

2013/14 – 1

2014/15 – 0

The number of driving test centres that have closed in England is:

2010/11 – 22

2011/12 – 9

2012/13 – 7

2013/14 – 1

2014/15 – 3

The number of driving test centres that have opened in England is:

2010/11 – 9

2011/12 – 3

2012/13 – 10

2013/14 – 7

2014/15 – 0

The number of driving test centres that have closed in Wales is:

2010/11 – 2

2011/12 – 0

2012/13 – 1

2013/14 – 1

2014/15 – 0

The number of driving test centres that have opened in Wales is:

2010/11 – 2

2011/12 – 1

2012/13 – 1

2013/14 – 0

2014/15 – 0

No driving test centres were reopened at the same property.

Changes have occurred in the number of driving test centres since 2010/11 as a result of the Multi-Purpose Test Centre (MPTC) investment programme.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on the 03 July 2014 to Question UIN 202811.

Since the last Question given on the 03 July 2014 Minister for Pensions Rt. Hon. Steve Webb MP attended the Gleneagles Conference in September 2014 and Minister for Disabled People Mark Harper MP attended the Commonwealth Games in July 2014.