Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of maintaining under-utilised (a) buildings, (b) other property and (c) land held by Government departments in the last 12 months.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The requested information is not centrally held by the Cabinet Office and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the Department. Estates operations, performance and finances are for the operating department to manage themselves.
The Government Property Strategy, published August 2022, commits to a smaller, better, greener estate, disposing of surplus, under-utilised and poor quality property to enable efficiency savings and bring in capital receipts. The full report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-property-strategy-2022-2030
Managing Public Money sets out protocols for the disposal and transfer of surplus property and land assets at Annex A4.15, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money.
Departments can upload data on properties or land that are no longer required for operational purposes on the Government Property Finder (https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property) and / or Register of Surplus Land (https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/28c593bf-85fa-4676-a47b-45189d396ed9/land-register-of-surplus-land).
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants were employed in each (a) Government department and (b) other public sector bodies by (i) head count and (ii) full time equivalent in each year since 1997.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Civil Service employment on both a headcount and full-time equivalent basis by government departments and their executive agencies and Crown NDPBs has been published on a quarterly basis since 2005 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of Public Sector Employment Statistics. The ONS statistics are our preferred headline measure for overall Civil Service and departmental employment. Departmental information back to 2005 can be accessed from the following ONS releases:
2011 to 2023
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
Information on Civil Service employment, on both a headcount and full-time equivalent basis by government department and their executive agencies and Crown NDPBs, is also available and published annually by Cabinet Office as part of Civil Service Statistics and can be accessed from the webpages below:
2006 to 2023 https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost was of civil service salaries in each year since 1997.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office does not hold actual outturn salary cost information for all Civil Service departments and organisations since 1997.
However, estimated nominal Civil Service salary costs have previously been calculated for the years 2010 to 2023. These are provided in Table 1 below.
Table 1
Year | Estimated nominal salary cost (£ billions) |
2010 | 12.7 |
2011 | 12.4 |
2012 | 11.6 |
2013 | 11.4 |
2014 | 11.6 |
2015 | 11.7 |
2016 | 11.6 |
2017 | 11.8 |
2018 | 12.4 |
2019 | 13.2 |
2020 | 14.0 |
2021 | 15.4 |
2022 | 16.6 |
2023 | 17.8 |
Source: Civil Service Statistics
Figures are based on Civil Service salaries as at 31st March in each year, and have been adjusted for missing values. They have not been adjusted for inflation (i.e. they are nominal values).
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) total and (b) full-time equivalent head count was of the civil service in each year since 1997.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Civil service employment on both a headcount and full-time equivalent basis since 1997 is shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Civil Service employment on both a headcount and full-time equivalent basis since 1997 (thousands)
Reference point | Headcount | Full-time Equivalent (FTE) |
Mar-97 | 496 [1] | 495 |
Mar-98 | 484 [1] | 481 |
Mar-99 | 497 | 475 |
Mar-00 | 509 | 485 |
Mar-01 | 519 | 494 |
Mar-02 | 529 | 502 |
Mar-03 | 552 | 521 |
Mar-04 | 565 | 534 |
Mar-05 | 558 | 525 |
Mar-06 | 555 | 521 |
Mar-07 | 538 | 504 |
Mar-08 | 518 | 485 |
Mar-09 | 519 | 485 |
Mar-10 | 522 | 487 |
Mar-11 | 508 | 465 |
Mar-12 | 459 | 424 |
Mar-13 | 443 | 409 |
Mar-14 | 435 | 401 |
Mar-15 | 434 | 400 |
Mar-16 | 419 | 387 |
Mar-17 | 419 | 389 |
Mar-18 | 430 | 399 |
Mar-19 | 446 | 414 |
Mar-20 | 456 | 423 |
Mar-21 | 505 | 468 |
Mar-22 | 512 | 480 |
Mar-23 | 521 | 489 |
Sep-23 | 529 | 496 |
Sources:
1997-1998 Civil Service Statistics, Cabinet Office. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics
1999-2023 Public Sector Employment Statistics, ONS
Notes:
1. All data refer to total Civil Service employment for both permanent and temporary/casual employees, except for 1997 and 1998 headcount numbers. The figures for 1997 and 1998 do not include temporary/casual employees in the headcount totals as they are not available.
2. ONS Public Sector Employment Statistics is the preferred headline measure for Civil Service employment since 1999. Civil Service Statistics, published annually by the Cabinet Office, provides more detailed demographic information for the Civil Service workforce, and prior to 1999, also provides the preferred headline measure for Civil Service employment.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3785 on Corporation Tax: International Cooperation, when he next plans to (a) review and (b) make an assessment of the potential impact on (i) UK-based businesses and (ii) foreign direct investment of implementation of the OECD Pillar 2 minimum corporation tax measures.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Tax Information and Impact notes will be published alongside any future legislation on Pillar 2 in a Finance Bill.
As set out in my answer on 5 December, a Tax Information and Impact note was published in March 2023 which set out the impact on UK businesses of the current legislation.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent progress his Department has made on implementing the Government Efficiency Framework; and if he will make an estimate of the impact of that framework on costs to the public purse (i) so far and (ii) in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
All departments are expected to use the framework to measure and categorise efficiencies.
The framework aims to standardise and simplify definitions and processes across the finance function, building on work already being done by departments as part of business as usual budgeting and financial management processes. As such, we do not expect there to be any direct implementation costs.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to reduce costs across Government departments in each of the next five years; and what estimate he has made of the resulting annual savings, by department.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Spending Review 2021 set UK Government Departmental budgets for the rest of this Parliament (up to 2024-25).
Individual Departmental budgets beyond 2024-25 will be set at the next Spending Review.
To control spending and reduce debt in accordance with the fiscal rules, the government is maintaining a consistent focus on tackling productivity across the public sector. I am leading an ambitious Public Sector Productivity Programme, which will reduce costs across government by changing the way we deliver public services, cutting down waste and reducing the amount of time spent on administrative tasks.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2023 to Question 3789 on Apprentices: Taxation, what the total expired unused Apprenticeship Levy funds were in each month since May 2019.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government introduced the apprenticeship levy to incentivise larger businesses to develop and invest in their own apprenticeship programmes whilst ensuring the availability of funding for smaller employers wanting to offer apprenticeships. Through the levy, the government is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to £2.7 billion in the 2024/25 financial year to support employers of all sizes to boost the skills of their workforces. As the apprenticeship levy is UK-wide, income from the levy also supports the Devolved Administrations to invest in their skills programmes.
Employers in England who pay the apprenticeship levy can access funds for apprenticeship training and assessment by registering for an apprenticeship service account. The funds in employers’ accounts reflect the ‘English percentage’ of an employer’s levy contribution and include a 10% top-up from the government. The department does not record industry, sector or organisation type when levy-paying employers register an apprenticeship service account. For this reason, data which shows which sectors were most or least likely to spend their funds cannot be provided. The department does hold information relating to individual employer accounts but it would not be appropriate to disclose this information without consulting with employers.
Employers can use their levy funds for apprenticeships in their own business or transfer up to 25% of their funds to other businesses. Funds that levy payers do not draw on are used to fund apprenticeships in small and medium sized businesses who do not pay the levy. Levy payers are not expected to use all funds available to them, though they are able to do so.
The funds in apprenticeship service accounts are available for levy-paying employers to draw on for 24 months before they expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis. The table attached shows the total funds that expired from levy-paying employers apprenticeship service accounts in each month since May 2019. The decline in levy expiry value for October 2021 was due to a delay transferring levy into employer accounts. As a result, employers were granted an additional month to spend those funds, to ensure that the 24-month window to spend funds was maintained.
The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts are not the same as the apprenticeships budget which funds apprenticeships in England for employers of all sizes. As such, expired funds from employers’ accounts do not represent funding that is lost to the system. Rather, the department directs this funding to supporting apprenticeships in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to English and mathematics training for apprentices and to additional payments to employers, training providers and apprentices. On average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget has been spent over the last two financial years.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which (a) sectors and (b) employers were (i) most and (ii) least likely to utilise the funds provided through the apprenticeship levy in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government introduced the apprenticeship levy to incentivise larger businesses to develop and invest in their own apprenticeship programmes whilst ensuring the availability of funding for smaller employers wanting to offer apprenticeships. Through the levy, the government is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to £2.7 billion in the 2024/25 financial year to support employers of all sizes to boost the skills of their workforces. As the apprenticeship levy is UK-wide, income from the levy also supports the Devolved Administrations to invest in their skills programmes.
Employers in England who pay the apprenticeship levy can access funds for apprenticeship training and assessment by registering for an apprenticeship service account. The funds in employers’ accounts reflect the ‘English percentage’ of an employer’s levy contribution and include a 10% top-up from the government. The department does not record industry, sector or organisation type when levy-paying employers register an apprenticeship service account. For this reason, data which shows which sectors were most or least likely to spend their funds cannot be provided. The department does hold information relating to individual employer accounts but it would not be appropriate to disclose this information without consulting with employers.
Employers can use their levy funds for apprenticeships in their own business or transfer up to 25% of their funds to other businesses. Funds that levy payers do not draw on are used to fund apprenticeships in small and medium sized businesses who do not pay the levy. Levy payers are not expected to use all funds available to them, though they are able to do so.
The funds in apprenticeship service accounts are available for levy-paying employers to draw on for 24 months before they expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis. The table attached shows the total funds that expired from levy-paying employers apprenticeship service accounts in each month since May 2019. The decline in levy expiry value for October 2021 was due to a delay transferring levy into employer accounts. As a result, employers were granted an additional month to spend those funds, to ensure that the 24-month window to spend funds was maintained.
The funds available to levy-paying employers through their apprenticeship service accounts are not the same as the apprenticeships budget which funds apprenticeships in England for employers of all sizes. As such, expired funds from employers’ accounts do not represent funding that is lost to the system. Rather, the department directs this funding to supporting apprenticeships in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to English and mathematics training for apprentices and to additional payments to employers, training providers and apprentices. On average, 98% of the English apprenticeships budget has been spent over the last two financial years.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the unemployment rate in Essex.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In Essex, and across the country, our Jobcentre teams are supporting people back into work and helping those in work to progress. We have comprehensive range of support in place and are working with local and national employers to help fill vacancies quickly, delivering sector based work academy programmes (SWAPs), recruitment days, job fairs, and work trials.
The Essex Jobcentre team continue to build partnerships with local employers to fill vacancies. Throughout November, claimants in Witham were invited to Chelmsford Jobcentre for recruitment events linked to The Range and One Beyond, filling vacancies in retail and hospitality. During January the team are working with local employers in the education, healthcare, security, retail and social care sectors, with bespoke events to help fill vacancies.
Claimants in Essex also have access to an extensive range of SWAPs, across a range of sectors, with opportunities planned for January in the large goods vehicle industry, energy, and animal care sectors. We continue to encourage claimants to participate in events at the London Stansted Airport Academy to support further airport recruitment.