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1277736

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2021
	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: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what assessment has been made of trends in the level of sickness-related absence of staff working on the Parliamentary estate since March 2020.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	138925
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2021 answer text <p>Levels of sickness absence are regularly reviewed and discussed weekly in the Covid operations group and in the weekly Trade Union meetings.</p><p>Sickness data is recorded for staff where they are unavailable to work due to illness. As the estate has seen different levels of required staff attendance over the last 12 months, comparison between periods is of limited use.</p><p>Absence rates have been reviewed against those from other areas of the public sector. Increases in absence can be identified in March 2020, December 2020 and January 2021.</p><p>The absence rates in the House have remained at comparable levels to previous years and below the wider public sector.</p><p /><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Description</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>APR</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>MAY</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>JUN</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>JUL</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>AUG</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>SEPT</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>OCT</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>NOV</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>DEC</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Average working days lost per employee</p></td><td><p>5.09</p></td><td><p>4.94</p></td><td><p>4.71</p></td><td><p>4.66</p></td><td><p>4.58</p></td><td><p>4.43</p></td><td><p>4.33</p></td><td><p>4.23</p></td><td><p>5.39</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>% long term sick</p></td><td><p>58.55%</p></td><td><p>59.24%</p></td><td><p>59.09%</p></td><td><p>61.33%</p></td><td><p>62.01%</p></td><td><p>62.10%</p></td><td><p>63.68%</p></td><td><p>66.06%</p></td><td><p>52.61%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p /><p>Please note the data is based on a rolling 12-month period, so the data for December 2020 is from 01/01/2020 to 31/12/2020.</p><p>The average working days lost per employee is the number of working days lost in the rolling 12-month period divided by the staff headcount.</p><p>The % long term sick is the percentage of sickness absences which were part of a period of absence of over 28 calendar days in the rolling 12-month period.</p> answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart question first answered 26/01/2021 18:39:32 answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart previous answer version 76239 answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1182690

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2020
	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 Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, which nationalities are represented among House of Commons staff.
	tabling member constituency	Edinburgh West
	tabling member printed	Christine Jardine
	uin	25179
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/03/2020 answer text <p>Excluding staff in the Parliamentary Digital Service, the nationalities represented among House of Commons staff are in the Table attached.</p> answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart question first answered 10/03/2020 18:28:05 answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart attachment 1 file name HoC-Nationalities-of-staff.pdf title Nationalities represented among HoC staff previous answer version 11399 answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart
	tabling member	4634 label Biography information for Christine Jardine

1278380

	registered interest
	date	19/01/2021
	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: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what recommendations have been received from Public Health England since November 2020 on the circumstances in which the suspension of work on the Parliamentary estate would be advisable owing to the increased risk of infection from covid-19.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	140175
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2021 answer text <p>Public Health England has confirmed that the measures put in place to ensure the House remains Covid secure are appropriate to manage the risk of infection. As the risks are being managed, Public Health England has issued no advice around where suspension of work on the estate may be necessary.</p> answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart question first answered 26/01/2021 17:44:08 answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart previous answer version 76987 answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1278378

	registered interest
	date	19/01/2021
	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: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what advice has been received since November 2020 from Public Health England on the risks of people continuing to work on the Parliamentary estate contracting covid-19; and if he will publish that advice.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	140174
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2021 answer text <p>Public Health England has supported the House in responding to Covid-19 throughout the past 12 months. Its advice, in conjunction with the working safely guidance which is available to all workplaces, has been incorporated into the <em>Working safely on the Parliamentary estate during the coronavirus outbreak risk assessment</em>. This document has been updated to reflect any changes any in the situation, with the most recent published on 14 January. The assessment is available for anyone to view on the Parliamentary website:</p><p><a href="https://www.parliament.uk/contentassets/d23db9b1eb174243ae97bda14ca82613/hop-v4-hop-covid-risk-assessment--issued.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/contentassets/d23db9b1eb174243ae97bda14ca82613/hop-v4-hop-covid-risk-assessment--issued.pdf</a></p> answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart question first answered 26/01/2021 17:42:39 answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart previous answer version 76986 answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1187198

	registered interest
	date	23/03/2020
	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: Remote Working
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to ensure staff working for (a) hon. Members, (b) the House of Commons and (c) shared services who can work from home are doing so.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Edgbaston
	tabling member printed	Preet Kaur Gill
	uin	33694
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/04/2020 answer text <p>Enabling remote working for Members’ staff, Commons staff and shared services staff is a key priority in the Parliamentary Digital Service response to Covid-19.</p><p>One aspect of this focus is the provision of emergency laptops to those who are normally equipped with desktop computers. There is a reasonable laptop stock available, but it should be noted that market supply has been severely disrupted.</p><p>A digital coaching service for Members and their staff has been mobilised to provide help and best practice guidance on working remotely. Parliamentary Digital Service has distributed advice and guidance to all Members and their staff explaining how to access parliamentary services remotely, including from their own personal computers, how to connect to local printers from Parliamentary laptops and optimising the use of Skype for Business. This guidance is being updated daily and extended based on need.</p><p>All services managed by the Digital Service can be accessed remotely from a Parliamentary laptop. There are a few procedural services which require specific additional remote access tools to use. These can be enabled upon request if required. It is not expected that any of the parliamentary services used by most Members and their staff would fall into this category.</p><p>The Digital Service has a three-phase strategy in its response: respond, embed and enhance. The first two are focused on helping users make best use of the parliamentary services. The “enhance phase” which is mobilising now is working with the senior leadership of Commons and the Lords to assess what additional capabilities are required and can be deployed in the Covid-19 context over the coming months.</p> answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart question first answered 21/04/2020 08:00:37 answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart
	tabling member	4603 label Biography information for Preet Kaur Gill

1170386

	registered interest
	date	13/01/2020
	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	ICT: Parliamentary Estate
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps Parliament is taking to (a) protect and (b) improve the rights of workers in the global information and communications technology sector through its (i) policies on and (ii) processes for procuring that technology on the parliamentary estate.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	2472
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2020 answer text <p>The Parliamentary Procurement and Commercial Service (PPCS), which manages procurement processes for the Parliamentary Digital Service, has no explicit policies in place associated with these matters primarily because, in keeping with wider HM Government procurement policies, we source nearly all of our information and technology (ICT) requirements through the digital marketplace managed by the Crown Commercial Service (part of the Cabinet Office hosted Government Commercial Function).</p><p>Where a bespoke PPCS contract is entered into (whether in ICT or other categories), our standard terms include provisions enforcing the Living Wage and for certain Discrimination, Safeguarding &amp; Human Rights. These will shortly be supplemented by provisions associated with the Modern Slavery Act where contractors will be obligated to assist Parliament with an investigation should Parliament harbour a reasonable suspicion that a “Specified Offence” has been or is being committed by any member of the supply chain, directly or indirectly in connection with the performance of the contract in question. Breach of this condition would entitle Parliament to terminate the contract in question with immediate effect.</p><p>Additionally, the Parliamentary Procurement and Commercial Service in partnership with the Parliamentary Digital Service, seeks to ensure that suppliers evidence through their tender submissions and throughout the duration of the contract:</p><ul><li>compliance with health and safety law and best practice for the benefit of their staff and ours;</li><li>implementation of equal opportunities, inclusivity and diversity policies in relation to staff when performing the contract;</li><li>they ensure staff concerned with providing the goods and services work in conditions that are beneficial to their welfare, including being paid a fair wage for their work.</li></ul> answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart question first answered 21/01/2020 18:00:23 answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1187587

	registered interest
	date	24/03/2020
	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: Electronic Voting
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the Commission is holding discussions with other Parliaments moving to establish secure electronic voting systems by use of (a) email and (b) other methods during the covid-19 outbreak; and if the Commission will ensure that technical work to allow electronic voting in the UK Parliament is undertaken to enable proposals on the introduction of a secure electronic voting system to be put before the House; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	34323
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/04/2020 answer text <p>The House of Commons Commission has held no discussions with other Parliaments about electronic voting by use of email or other methods during the Covid-19 outbreak.</p><p>Any decision to implement electronic voting would need to be agreed by the House first. The Commission’s responsibility in this matter would be limited to the financial and staffing implications of the decision, which would include the technical work to allow electronic voting to take place.</p><p>The House has not made a decision to introduce electronic voting. In July 2019, the Procedure Committee began an inquiry into voting procedures in the House of Commons that included a consideration of “the desirability and/or feasibility of alternatives to current arrangements”. That inquiry was interrupted by the general election and the Committee has not made any decision on whether to reopen it.</p> answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart question first answered 21/04/2020 08:01:13 answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1176839

	registered interest
	date	06/02/2020
	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: ICT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2020 to Question 2472, what the budget was for information and communications technology equipment for the Parliamentary estate in each year from 2010 to 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	13449
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>The expenditure on equipment by the Parliamentary Digital Service and its predecessor, the Parliamentary ICT Department, has been used rather than the budget to show what has actually been incurred on equipment purchases.</p><p>Information is not available prior to 2012/13 at the level requested and may not include all expenditure by the House of Lords. Figures for 2019/20 are to date.</p><p><br><strong>Total spend</strong></p><p>2012/13 £858k</p><p>2013/14 £1,372k</p><p>2014/15 £1,458k</p><p>2015/16 £4,808k</p><p>2016/17 £6,106k</p><p>2017/18 £4,892k</p><p>2018/19 £7,876k</p><p>2019/20 £2,270k</p> answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart question first answered 13/02/2020 08:05:34 answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1176840

	registered interest
	date	06/02/2020
	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: ICT
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2020 to Question 2472, what proportion of the budget for information and communications technology equipment for the Parliamentary estate was spent independently of the Crown Commissioning Group in each year from 2010 to 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	13450
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2020 answer text <p>The proportion of the total expenditure for information and communications technology equipment for the Parliamentary estate, excluding some expenditure on House of Lords equipment, under non-Crown Commercial Service (CCS) contracts, or frameworks, is shown in the table. Information is not available prior to 2012/13.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>FY</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total spend </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Non-CCS % </strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>£858k</p></td><td><p>38.0%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>£1,372k</p></td><td><p>7.1%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>£1,458k</p></td><td><p>13.7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>£4,808k</p></td><td><p>3.5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>£6,106k</p></td><td><p>29.6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>£4,892k</p></td><td><p>8.2%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>£7,876k</p></td><td><p>13.5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>£2,270k</p></td><td><p>3.3%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Figures for 2019/20 to January 2020.</p><p>The large increases in 2012/13, 2016/17 and 2018/19 on non-CCS spend occurred when large purchases were made on Parliamentary contracts awarded under the OJEU process.</p> answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart question first answered 13/02/2020 08:27:23 answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1278261

	registered interest
	date	19/01/2021
	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	Remote Divisions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2021 to Question 136483 on Remote Divisions, what information the Commission holds on how many hon. Members were (a) unable to use the electronic method of voting and (b) used the back-up system provided for electronic voting during the two weeks that electronic voting was used in the House of Commons in 2020; what discussions the Commission has had with the Leader of the House on electronic voting in the House of Commons during the period of the national covid-19 lockdown that has been in place since January 2021 to help prevent the transmission of covid-19; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	140026
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2021 answer text <p>Electronic voting was used for 10 divisions between 12 May and 20 May inclusive. Members voted using MemberHub. The Public Bill Office operated a back-up system: if a Member could not register their vote using MemberHub, they contacted the Public Bill Office during the division and their vote was recorded. The table below shows how many Members registered their vote using the back-up method, and the total number of votes cast in each division.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Date</p></td><td><p>Division number</p></td><td><p>Total votes cast</p></td><td><p>Votes cast using back-up system</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>12 May 2020</p></td><td><p>41</p></td><td><p>611</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>13 May 2020</p></td><td><p>42</p></td><td><p>605</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>43</p></td><td><p>574</p></td><td><p>6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>44</p></td><td><p>419</p></td><td><p>6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>45</p></td><td><p>571</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>18 May 2020</p></td><td><p>46</p></td><td><p>603</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>20 May 2020</p></td><td><p>47</p></td><td><p>608</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>48</p></td><td><p>614</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>49</p></td><td><p>609</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>585</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br>The Commission received an update on the House Service’s response to the pandemic at its meeting on 11 January, and agreed a number of measures to further improve the safety of people on the Parliamentary estate. Electronic voting was raised at the meeting, and there is a range of views among Commissioners on this issue. However, the means by which Divisions are conducted are ultimately a matter for the House to determine.</p> answering member constituency Perth and North Perthshire answering member printed Pete Wishart question first answered 21/01/2021 17:59:38 answering member 1440 label Biography information for Pete Wishart
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas