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78537

registered interest
date	16/07/2014
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	Clerk of the House
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the names are of the candidates who have been short-listed for consideration for the position of Clerk of the House and Chief Executive; and what the country of residence of each such candidate is.
tabling member constituency	Chelmsford
tabling member printed	Mr Simon Burns
uin	206209
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2014 answer text <p>Three candidates are currently shortlisted. It is not the Commission’s practice to disclose confidential personal information, including names of applicants for positions.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso question first answered 21/07/2014 08:04:41 answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso
tabling member	46 label Biography information for Sir Simon Burns

76856

registered interest
date	09/07/2014
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, how many contractors supporting PICT and other information technology projects in the House have had their contracts (a) terminated and (b) not renewed due to poor performance.
tabling member constituency	Dunfermline and West Fife
tabling member printed	Thomas Docherty
uin	204884
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>PICT hold records of all contractors who have left PICT since April 2012. Since contractors are not employees – but employed via an agency or their own Limited Company – any records kept are brief. It is not usual practice to provide references and as a result, reasons for their departure are not recorded.</p><p>The number of contractors whose contracts ended during this period has been follows:</p><p>2012/13 – 29<br>2013/14 – 48<br>2014/15 (to 30 June) – 57</p> answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso question first answered 22/07/2014 10:43:32 answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso previous answer version 11071 answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso
tabling member	3962 label Biography information for Thomas Docherty

77189

registered interest
date	10/07/2014
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	Procurement
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, how much and what proportion of the House of Commons Commission's budget was spent on activities which were contracted out in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14; and how much and what proportion of the House of Commons Commission's budget he expects to be contracted out in 2014-15.
tabling member constituency	Tooting
tabling member printed	Sadiq Khan
uin	205219
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>There are around 800 third party suppliers of services to the House of Commons and given system changes in recent years it would involve disproportionate cost to derive precise figures of contract expenditure by financial year. It is estimated that expenditure has broadly been equivalent to:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Amount (£m)</p></td><td><p>Proportion of spend (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>92.7</p></td><td><p>32.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>87.4</p></td><td><p>47.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>90.7</p></td><td><p>43.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>89.0</p></td><td><p>40.9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>83.7</p></td><td><p>37.0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For 2014/15 the planned amount is around £100 million which represents 40.8% of the combined capital and resource budget.</p> answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso question first answered 22/07/2014 15:55:12 answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso previous answer version 11070 answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso
tabling member	1577 label Biography information for Sadiq Khan

77690

registered interest
date	14/07/2014
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	Pay
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, how many officials employed by the House of Commons, of each grade, have remained at that grade since 2010 but received a pay rise; and how much of a rise each such person at each such grade has received.
tabling member constituency	Exeter
tabling member printed	Mr Ben Bradshaw
uin	205460
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>678 staff in the House of Commons have remained at the same pay band since 2010 and received a pay rise. These pay increases varied depending on factors including where the person fell in the pay band and length of service. Increases fell within the following ranges:</p><ul><li>£73 – £8,388 in the A–E pay bands (520 people);</li><li>£120 – £380 in the Catering Service (134), and</li><li>£318 – £1,230 in the Senior Commons Structure (24).</li></ul> answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso question first answered 22/07/2014 10:42:49 answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso
tabling member	230 label Biography information for Mr Ben Bradshaw

78538

registered interest
date	16/07/2014
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: Software
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, who decided on which days to migrate the IT accounts of hon. Members and hon. Members' staff to Office 365.
tabling member constituency	Dunfermline and West Fife
tabling member printed	Thomas Docherty
uin	206392
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>The Improved Access to Services Project Board agreed the high-level schedule for the migration of parliamentary emailboxes to Microsoft 365. The more detailed decision on which days to migrate the emailboxes of hon. Members and hon. Members' staff was taken by the project team, overseen by the Director of Parliamentary ICT, taking into account factors such as: mailbox access rights (so that users accessing a particular mailbox are migrated at the same time); staff who work for more than one Member; and trying to balance the number of emailboxes accessed by BlackBerry devices across the migration days.</p> answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso question first answered 22/07/2014 10:31:19 answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso
tabling member	3962 label Biography information for Thomas Docherty

78539

registered interest
date	16/07/2014
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: Software
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, column 176-7W, on computer software, what further feedback the Commission has received from (a) hon. Members, (b) hon. Members' staff and (c) other users on migration to Office 365 since that Answer was given.
tabling member constituency	Dunfermline and West Fife
tabling member printed	Thomas Docherty
uin	206393
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>In the period 22 June to 16 July, 3,482 mailboxes assigned to hon. Members and their staff had been migrated. In that period, PICT logged 766 cases from hon. Members and their staff – either by phone or at PICT Local – directly related to issues resulting from the migration of their mailboxes. Parliamentary ICT (PICT) acknowledges that the implementation has not been as simple and straightforward as was hoped, and is aware that it has caused problems for some hon. Members.</p><p>Since the answer to the hon. Member on 8 July, three hon. Members have given PICT written feedback on the migration of their mailbox. One was complimenting the PICT team on making it a smooth process. One was questioning the process and the distinction between the upgrade to Office 2013 and the migration of a mailbox to Microsoft 365. One had a problem with the limit on the number of people who can be added to a single email distribution list in Microsoft 365.</p><p>Two further hon. Members have given positive oral feedback and asked to join the pilot of the wider suite of tools within Microsoft 365. Oral feedback from the teams of House staff who are also piloting the use of this wider suite of tools continues to be positive.</p><p>The Director of PICT would be delighted to meet the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife, or any other interested Member, to discuss the feedback in more detail.</p> answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso question first answered 22/07/2014 10:32:48 answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso
tabling member	3962 label Biography information for Thomas Docherty

78540

registered interest
date	16/07/2014
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: Software
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2014, Official Report, columns 176-7W, on computer software, what estimate the Commission has made of the (a) average and (b) aggregate amount of time spent by (i) hon. Members, (ii) Members' staff and (iii) others in migrating to Office 365.
tabling member constituency	Dunfermline and West Fife
tabling member printed	Thomas Docherty
uin	206394
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>(a) Parliamentary ICT (PICT) estimates that, following the migration of a user’s mailbox to Microsoft 365, it takes the user’s computer (laptop or PC) an average of five minutes to reconfigure Outlook.</p><p>It can take a user an average of approximately five minutes to reconfigure a mobile device – other than a BlackBerry – that uses ActiveSync to connect to parliamentary email. Following that reconfiguration, it can take up to a maximum of 60 minutes for the device automatically to re-connect to parliamentary email.</p><p>BlackBerry devices need to be physically reconfigured by PICT, and this process can take over an hour – the length of time is linked to the age and model of the device. Furthermore, it takes longer to reconfigure a personal BlackBerry device than a BlackBerry issued by PICT. PICT has issued 92 BlackBerry devices for use by hon. Members and their staff to access parliamentary email.</p><p>(b) It is not possible to provide a figure for the aggregate time taken to reconfigure the above devices because more than one device can be reconfigured at the same time.</p> answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso question first answered 22/07/2014 10:34:16 answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso
tabling member	3962 label Biography information for Thomas Docherty

78747

registered interest
date	17/07/2014
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: Security
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, if she will publish the business case for the Security Arrangements Renewal Programme Board's recommendation that when the security contract with the Metropolitan Police Service for search and screening functions at the three main entrances of the Houses of Parliament ends on 31 March 2015, those functions should be provided by a specialised commercial provider.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mrs Mary Glindon
uin	206464
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>The final decision about which organisation will provide security officer services from April 2015 has not yet been taken. Consequently, no procurement process for the provision of the search and screening function at the three main public entrances has begun and no date has been set. The parliamentary authorities continue to work in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to agree and implement a mutually acceptable outcome. In October, the Parliamentary Security Director, as Chair of the Security Arrangements Renewal Programme (SARP) Board, will provide an update to committees of both Houses on progress made in negotiations with the MPS over the summer recess.</p><p>The SARP business case will not be disclosed at this stage for commercial and security reasons. This is usual practice for such documents. A high-level statement of Parliament’s requirements for security post-2015 was communicated to MPS in February, since when it has been refined in discussion with MPS. A much more detailed specification was sent to MPS in June. The parliamentary authorities are now negotiating with the MPS about the scope of services the MPS will provide.</p><p>The expected overall cost of the current contract with the MPS, which is due to expire in March 2015, is £155,380,200. A breakdown of costs associated with the individual parts of the service, including the search and screening function, cannot be provided, on grounds of commercial sensitivity. No financial penalties have been incurred under the current contract, which does not contain a break clause. The contract includes an option to extend for a maximum period of two years if agreed by both parties.</p> answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso grouped question UIN 206463 206465 206466 question first answered 22/07/2014 10:41:58 answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

78749

registered interest
date	17/07/2014
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: Security
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what the timetable is for the Security Arrangements Renewal Programme Board to draw up the specifications for the new contract to provide for search and screening functions at the three main entrances of the Houses of Parliament.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mrs Mary Glindon
uin	206465
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>The final decision about which organisation will provide security officer services from April 2015 has not yet been taken. Consequently, no procurement process for the provision of the search and screening function at the three main public entrances has begun and no date has been set. The parliamentary authorities continue to work in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to agree and implement a mutually acceptable outcome. In October, the Parliamentary Security Director, as Chair of the Security Arrangements Renewal Programme (SARP) Board, will provide an update to committees of both Houses on progress made in negotiations with the MPS over the summer recess.</p><p>The SARP business case will not be disclosed at this stage for commercial and security reasons. This is usual practice for such documents. A high-level statement of Parliament’s requirements for security post-2015 was communicated to MPS in February, since when it has been refined in discussion with MPS. A much more detailed specification was sent to MPS in June. The parliamentary authorities are now negotiating with the MPS about the scope of services the MPS will provide.</p><p>The expected overall cost of the current contract with the MPS, which is due to expire in March 2015, is £155,380,200. A breakdown of costs associated with the individual parts of the service, including the search and screening function, cannot be provided, on grounds of commercial sensitivity. No financial penalties have been incurred under the current contract, which does not contain a break clause. The contract includes an option to extend for a maximum period of two years if agreed by both parties.</p> answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso grouped question UIN 206463 206464 206466 question first answered 22/07/2014 10:41:58 answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon

78750

registered interest
date	17/07/2014
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: Security
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, how much the contract with Metropolitan Police Service to provide search and screening functions at the Houses of Parliament is expected to cost by the the time it ends on 31 March 2015; whether any financial penalties have been incurred during the course of the contract; and whether the contract contains (a) a break clause and (b) an option to extend beyond March 2015.
tabling member constituency	North Tyneside
tabling member printed	Mrs Mary Glindon
uin	206466
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2014 answer text <p>The final decision about which organisation will provide security officer services from April 2015 has not yet been taken. Consequently, no procurement process for the provision of the search and screening function at the three main public entrances has begun and no date has been set. The parliamentary authorities continue to work in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to agree and implement a mutually acceptable outcome. In October, the Parliamentary Security Director, as Chair of the Security Arrangements Renewal Programme (SARP) Board, will provide an update to committees of both Houses on progress made in negotiations with the MPS over the summer recess.</p><p>The SARP business case will not be disclosed at this stage for commercial and security reasons. This is usual practice for such documents. A high-level statement of Parliament’s requirements for security post-2015 was communicated to MPS in February, since when it has been refined in discussion with MPS. A much more detailed specification was sent to MPS in June. The parliamentary authorities are now negotiating with the MPS about the scope of services the MPS will provide.</p><p>The expected overall cost of the current contract with the MPS, which is due to expire in March 2015, is £155,380,200. A breakdown of costs associated with the individual parts of the service, including the search and screening function, cannot be provided, on grounds of commercial sensitivity. No financial penalties have been incurred under the current contract, which does not contain a break clause. The contract includes an option to extend for a maximum period of two years if agreed by both parties.</p> answering member constituency Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross answering member printed John Thurso grouped question UIN 206463 206464 206465 question first answered 22/07/2014 10:41:58 answering member 1399 label Biography information for Viscount Thurso
tabling member	4126 label Biography information for Mary Glindon