Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
The cost to the public purse is zero as the Department has not undertaken any feasibility studies in the last five years.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
In the last financial year, the Office spent no money on LinkedIn membership fees and £3,332.48 on other subscriptions.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much her Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
Over the last five financial years, the department has spent the following on social media promotion and online advertising:
2024-25: £20,248.40
2025-26 to date: £26,751.60
This spend was on the joint UK Government/Welsh Government campaign to promote the availability of Tata Steel transition funding. The campaign aimed to raise awareness of the support available to steelworkers affected by the decarbonisation transition at Tata Steel UK in Port Talbot, including access to skills funding for those leaving the business. It also highlighted funding opportunities for local businesses impacted by the transition.
There has been no spend on social media advertising using an influencer during this period.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many employees in her Department earn (a) £100,000 and (b) £166,000 or more per year.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
My Department publishes an Annual Report on GOV.UK which contains salary details for senior officials in the Wales Office.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what proportion of her Department's procurement contracts were awarded to UK companies in the last financial year.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder).
Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 inc. VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service. This includes a note of the winning supplier (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search).
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
No staff in my Department currently have permission to work remotely outside the UK.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many and what proportion of officials in her Department were hired via positive action schemes in the last financial year.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
All Civil Service departments work within the Recruitment Principles, as regulated by the Civil Service Commission, to recruit using a fair and open process and appoint on merit.
Departments will only limit a campaign to a specific group as a form of positive action as a proportionate response to achieve a legitimate aim as defined in section 159 of the Equality Act 2010.
The Civil Service is committed to a diverse workforce and culture of openness and inclusivity - not as ends in themselves but as means of delivering better outcomes to the citizens we serve.
The Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-25 Promoting Fairness and Performance, published in February 2022, is positioned as an essential lever to deliver a Modern Civil Service, where our values are to serve with integrity, honesty, objectivity, and impartiality; driving our vision to be a skilled, innovative, and ambitious Civil Service equipped for the future. This strategy sets out a broader definition of diversity, to include geographical, social and career backgrounds alongside the protected groups.
As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, we are committed to ensuring we attract, develop, and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds, to create a modern Civil Service, now and for the future.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many positions in her Department included (a) diversity, (b) inclusion, (c) equity and (d) equality in their job title in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of the salaries of each such job was in each of those years.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
No positions in my Department had diversity, inclusion, equity, or equality in their job titles in the last five years, as such there were no related salary costs.