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1700374

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	answering body	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept id	18
	answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
	hansard heading	House of Commons: Staff
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the cost to the public purse has been of equality, diversity or inclusion themed lanyards for House of Commons staff in each of the last three financial years for which information is available; and for what (a) themes and (b) types of lanyard that cost was incurred.
	tabling member constituency	Don Valley
	tabling member printed	Nick Fletcher
	uin	21261
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2024 answer text <p>In 2021–2022 there was no spend on lanyards.</p><p>In 2022–2023, in support of LGBT+ people in Parliament, the House Administration approved a request from ParliOut to spend £380 for 500 rainbow lanyards. ParliOut is the workplace equality network (WEN) for LGBT+ people in Parliament.</p><p>In 2023–2024, in support of LGBT+ people in Parliament, the Administration approved expenditure from ParliOut of £1,639 on 1,500 rainbow/progressive flag lanyards. In support of disabled people in Parliament, the Administration approved expenditure from ParliAble of £475 on purple lanyards bearing the ParliAble logo. ParliAble is the workplace equality network for disabled people in Parliament.</p><p>As the networks are bicameral, their expenditure is split 70% by the House of Commons and 30% by the House of Lords.</p><p>The lanyards are not solely for House of Commons staff. They are worn by any interested passholders, including Members of both Houses and their staff, staff of both Houses, contractors, etc.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 17/04/2024 16:40:47 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4832 label Biography information for Nick Fletcher

1700375

	registered interest
	date	12/04/2024
	answering body	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept id	18
	answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
	hansard heading	House of Commons: Staff
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will make an assessment of the potential merits of asking House of Commons staff not to wear pins or badges that express support for (a) social movements, (b) campaigns and (c) organisations.
	tabling member constituency	Don Valley
	tabling member printed	Nick Fletcher
	uin	21262
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2024 answer text <p>All staff of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS), wherever they work, must carry out their duties and deliver services with complete political impartiality, and must be seen to do so. The wearing of pins or badges which express a personal view on a politically controversial issue would not therefore be appropriate in the workplace. Guidance for House of Commons and PDS staff on political impartiality, which was updated in 2022, can be found in Part 5 of the House of Commons Staff Handbook.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 17/04/2024 16:42:21 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4832 label Biography information for Nick Fletcher

1702025

	registered interest
	date	26/03/2024
	answering body	Restoration and Renewal Client Board
	answering dept id	213
	answering dept short name	Restoration and Renewal Client Board
	answering dept sort name	Restoration and Renewal Client Board
	hansard heading	Palace of Westminster: Repairs and Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Restoration and Renewal Client Board, what the Client Board's planned timetable is for proposals on restoration and renewal to be considered by hon. Members.
	tabling member constituency	Chipping Barnet
	tabling member printed	Theresa Villiers
	uin	902235
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/04/2024 answer text <p>The R&amp;R Client Board last month published the strategic case for the R&amp;R Programme. This set out that three options for how to deliver the R&amp;R works to the Palace will be developed in detail over the next year. This detailed work, which will include robust cost, timescale and risk estimates for all three options, is expected to be presented to the Houses in 2025 to enable an evidence-based decision on how best to restore the Palace.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 18/04/2024 16:36:49 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	1500 label Biography information for Theresa Villiers

1697795

	registered interest
	date	21/03/2024
	answering body	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept id	90
	answering dept short name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	answering dept sort name	Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	hansard heading	Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what assessment the Committee has made of the effectiveness of the handling of MPs expenses claims by IPSA.
	tabling member constituency	Warley
	tabling member printed	John Spellar
	uin	19774
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>The Speaker’s Committee meets IPSA throughout the year to assess its performance, running costs and effectiveness in handling MPs’ expenses. The Committee last met IPSA on 5 March 2024 and a transcript of that session is available on the Committee’s website: <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/14403/pdf/" target="_blank">https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/14403/pdf/</a></p><p>In 2023, 65.3 per cent of MPs and their staff rated IPSA’s service as either good or very good, which was up on this measure in 2019 when 25.1 per cent rated the service in that way. The time taken for IPSA to reimburse MPs’ claims has reduced from an average of 8 days in 2020-21 to 2.6 days in 2023-24. Compliance with IPSA’s scheme is currently at 99.9%.</p><p>Through its scrutiny of IPSA, the Committee is looking at the steps being taken by IPSA to help improve its effectiveness in enabling MPs and their staff to claim for expenses and business costs. IPSA’s ongoing work includes:</p><ul><li>the development of an IPSA online portal to enhance the customer experience by improving the functionality of the system in areas such as claim and form submission;</li><li>the greater provision of centralised services, reducing the financial and administrative burden on MPs and their staff through the centralised provision of goods and services such as constituency office leases, utilities, and equipment;</li><li>the piloting of an online marketplace, allowing MPs and their staff to purchase goods such as office equipment centrally; and</li><li>exploration of alternative models of reimbursement, enabling MPs and their staff to pay for business costs without the need to claim retrospectively.</li></ul><p>The Committee plans to consider IPSA’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2023-24 later in the summer at which point it will assess IPSA’s latest results against its performance indicators.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 26/03/2024 10:33:05 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	318 label Biography information for John Spellar

1690041

	registered interest
	date	19/02/2024
	answering body	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept id	18
	answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
	hansard heading	House of Commons: Repairs and Maintenance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, when lift HoP 85 is expected to be repaired.
	tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
	tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
	uin	14484
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2024 answer text <p>A repair is scheduled in the week commencing 26 February 2024. A component in the lift needs replacing and it has been difficult to source. This lift is due for refurbishment in spring 2025 under the lift refurbishment programme.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 27/02/2024 17:58:45 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker previous answer version 18798 answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1690058

	registered interest
	date	19/02/2024
	answering body	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept id	18
	answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
	hansard heading	Members' Staff: ICT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the policy of the Parliamentary Digital Service is on (a) the rights of access to parliamentary (i) emails and (ii) electronic devices for line managers of hon. Members’ staff and (b) providing access to parliamentary (A) emails and (B) electronic devices to parliamentary staff funded via short money; and whether the Parliamentary Digital Service has issued guidance to political parties on these matters.
	tabling member constituency	Bury North
	tabling member printed	James Daly
	uin	14698
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/02/2024 answer text <p>Members are the Controllers for the personal data held by their Parliamentary offices. This includes the data and information stored on the Parliamentary-provided devices and network accounts of their Parliamentary staff, including staff funded by short money.</p><p>In almost all circumstances, access is only provided to the data held in a Member’s parliamentary account or devices (or those of their staff) by the Parliamentary digital Service (PDS) on the instruction of that Member in their capacity as Controller. This is in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) data processing contract between each Member and the Administration.</p><p>As the Controller, a Member can instruct PDS to grant themselves, or members of their Parliamentary staff, access to the accounts and devices assigned to other staff in their own office.</p><p>Devices funded by short money that have been ordered through PDS are managed by PDS. In line with the UK GDPR data processing contract between individual Members and the Administration, PDS would facilitate access to the information stored on these devices at the instruction of the Controller.</p><p>Although no specific guidance has been issued by PDS to political parties on this issue, the Administrations of both Houses of Parliament have a data processing contract that applies to Controllers using Parliament’s IT systems. The contract for Members of both Houses includes a service description that sets out how Members are using Parliament’s IT systems to process the personal data which they are responsible for.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 29/02/2024 14:38:04 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4854 label Biography information for James Daly

1684361

	registered interest
	date	23/01/2024
	answering body	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept id	18
	answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
	hansard heading	Parliamentary Estate: Road Traffic Control
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much has been spent on traffic marshals in the last six months.
	tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
	tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
	uin	11000
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2024 answer text <p>In the last six months, £920,101 (plus VAT) has been spent on traffic marshals. This figure includes use of traffic marshals to manage the movement of traffic and/or pedestrians (a) in the Palace and along the spine road, (b) in and out of the underground car park, and (c) on laundry road in the Northern Estate. The underground car park currently requires 24/7 marshal cover to support the closure of one of the ramps into the car park, so the cost also includes unsociable working hours, bank holidays and weekends.</p><p>This does not include costs where it has not been possible to extrapolate the cost of marshal provision from the overall contract for works.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 08/02/2024 16:46:32 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker previous answer version 14124 answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

1684123

	registered interest
	date	22/01/2024
	answering body	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept id	18
	answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
	hansard heading	Parliamentary Estate: Road Traffic Control
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much has been spent on traffic marshals in each financial year from 2019-20 to 2022-2023; and what the estimated spend is for financial year 2023-24.
	tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
	tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
	uin	10792
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2024 answer text <p>The figures below reflect the spend on traffic marshals for each financial year (April to March) from 2019 to 2024.</p><p>The figures include use of traffic marshals to manage the movement of traffic and/or pedestrians (a) in the Palace and along the spine road, (b) in and out of the underground car park, and (c) on laundry road in the Northern Estate. The figures are all excluding VAT.</p><p>The figures below do not include costs where it has not been possible to extrapolate the cost of marshal provision from the overall contract for works.</p><p /> <p><strong>Financial years 2019 to 2023 </strong></p><p>2019–2020 £176,069</p><p>2020–2021 £199,471</p><p>2021–2022 £257,534</p><p>2022–2023 £598,534</p><p> </p><p><strong><br>Financial year 2023–2024</strong></p><p>The costs for the 2023–2024 financial year are not comparable to the previous years.</p><p>Prior to 2023–24 the cost of the traffic marshals for the underground car park, required to facilitate the works in New Palace Yard, was covered by the contractor, as part of the project costs, and not included above. These costs are now covered by the House directly as efficiencies had been identified.</p><p>The underground car park requires 24/7 cover due to the closure of one of the ramps into the car park necessary to facilitate the works in the New Palace Yard. The costs include unsociable working hours, bank holidays and weekends.</p><p>For the 2023–2024 financial year, the cost for traffic marshals, excluding underground car park marshals, is forecast to be £647,763.</p><p>For the same period, the cost for the underground car park marshals is forecast to be £1,271,966.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 08/02/2024 16:42:31 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1682548

	registered interest
	date	16/01/2024
	answering body	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept id	18
	answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
	hansard heading	Parliament: Educational Visits
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how often the House of Commons Commission reviews the terms and conditions of the travel subsidy setting out funding available for school trips to Parliament.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	9797
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/01/2024 answer text <p>The House Administration wants to enable schoolchildren across the UK to have the opportunity to visit Parliament. It has therefore been actively considering the impact of rising travel costs and revised constituency boundaries on the Education Travel Subsidy.</p><p>In June 2023, the Finance Committee considered and agreed proposals to increase the subsidy in light of rising travel costs. This was implemented in September 2023, but the Committee asked for additional increases to be considered. A further proposal was brought to the Finance Committee in November 2023 and the Commission in December 2023 to amend some elements of the subsidy and implement further increases. These were agreed and will be applied from April 2024. The changes are expected to increase visit numbers from outside the south-east.</p><p>The Commission noted in December 2023 that a deep dive review of the Education Travel Subsidy programme would take place in the third quarter of 2024/25 which would take account of constituency boundary changes.</p><p>The travel subsidy allows eligible state-funded schools to claim between 50 and 75 per cent of travel costs back, subject to maximum claim caps. Constituencies are set into three geographic based bands, A, B or C to determine eligibility. Further information is given on the Parliamentary website: <a href="https://learning.parliament.uk/en/schools-and-colleges/travel-subsidy/" target="_blank">Travel Subsidy - Parliament UK Education</a>. Recent changes to subsidy level are given below.</p><p>Travel subsidy in 2022</p><ul><li>Band A: Not eligible</li><li>Band B: 50% of receipted travel costs, up to a maximum claim of £800</li><li>Band C: 75% of receipted travel costs, up to a maximum claim of £1600</li></ul><p /><p>Travel subsidy as of 1 September 2023</p><ul><li>Band A: Not eligible</li><li>Band B: 50% of receipted travel costs, up to a maximum claim of £1,000</li><li>Band C: 75% of receipted travel costs, up to a maximum claim of £2,000</li></ul><p /><p>Travel subsidy changes for 1 April 2024 will be announced to Members in the coming weeks.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 19/01/2024 14:51:42 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1682564

	registered interest
	date	16/01/2024
	answering body	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept id	18
	answering dept short name	House of Commons Commission
	answering dept sort name	House of Commons Commission
	hansard heading	Parliamentary Estate: Pests
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many instances of property damage by pests were reported to parliamentary authorities in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	9911
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2024 answer text <p>In the last three years, there have been seven incidents reported to the Maintenance Helpdesk relating to property damage caused by pests:</p><p>2021 – 1</p><p>2022 – 3</p><p>2023 – 3</p><p>Separately, through its routine condition surveys of heritage items over the last three years, the Parliamentary Heritage Collections team has identified 43 objects that have pest presence, pest activity, or pest damage.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 22/01/2024 15:57:46 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker previous answer version 12498 answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney