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1717143

	registered interest
	date	10/05/2024
	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: Food
	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 House of Commons' policy is on the procurement of (a) food and (b) drinks produced in Britain for use in its canteens and restaurants.
	tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
	tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
	uin	25631
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2024 answer text <p>The House of Commons complies with UK legislative standards when procuring food and drinks from suppliers. Its procurement approach supports and where possible prioritises the purchase of food and drink produced in Britain. For example:</p><ul><li>The Strangers’ Bar offers Members the opportunity to request that a specific cask ale from an independent, regional brewer from their constituency be offered for sale.</li><li>As much as possible, most fresh products purchased by Catering Services are sourced within the UK. This includes meat, poultry, dairy, bread, eggs and most fruit and vegetables (when in season). Bought-in sandwiches use British chicken and cheese boards feature only British cheese. Milk is sourced locally from a British dairy.</li><li>There is a mandatory inclusion of wines from England and Wales on wine lists.</li><li>Speciality cakes and dairy ice cream are only UK-made.</li><li>Bottled water is from British source.</li><li>Promotional activity in catering outlets highlights British food by showcasing a rolling programme of regional goods.</li></ul><p><br>Certain regulations, such as the Government’s Procurement Policy Note of December 2020 and increased use of the UK-based Catering Framework, have allowed for additional freedom for spend on goods and services below certain price thresholds. Within the limits of these regulations, the House where possible seeks to hold competitions which only target producers within the UK.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 16/05/2024 16:38:33 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1716869

	registered interest
	date	09/05/2024
	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: LGBT+ People
	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 Parliament was of (a) events, (b) activities, (c) merchandise and (d) other associated costs relating to Pride Month 2023.
	tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
	tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
	uin	25410
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2024 answer text <p>In 2023, in support of LGBT+ people in Parliament, the House Administration approved a request from ParliOut to spend £375.00 for 50 Pride registration spaces, £439.20 for Pride T-shirts, and £62.93 for Pride flags. Any interested passholders can participate, including Members of both Houses, their staff and staff of both Houses.</p><p>Supporting members of the House Administration who wish to participate in Pride is a way the Administration demonstrates its commitment to one of its four values: inclusion.</p><p>ParliOut is the workplace equality network (WEN) for LGBT+ people in Parliament. As the networks are bicameral, their expenditure is split 70% by the House of Commons and 30% by the House of Lords.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 15/05/2024 11:00:00 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1716927

	registered interest
	date	09/05/2024
	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: Telephone Systems
	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, for what reason the Polycom phone system malfunctioned on 9 May 2024.
	tabling member constituency	Warley
	tabling member printed	John Spellar
	uin	25405
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/05/2024 answer text <p>I am sorry that the right hon. Member and all colleagues continue to experience inconvenience in telephony services which are currently below standard. The latest issue with handsets underlines the need for the solution which the Parliamentary Digital Service is implementing later this year.</p><p>Polycom devices need to communicate with an external supplier to register the device and make/receive calls. Each device communicates with one of two external servers. One of the servers experienced issues on Thursday 9 May and any device that attempted to connect to this server was impacted by the outage. Polycom phones communicating with the working server did not experience an outage.</p><p>The first report the Digital Service received of handsets not working was at 12.13pm on Thursday 9 May. The team declared a major incident shortly afterwards and service was restored at 9.46am on 10 May.</p><p>The Voice Programme is upgrading and replacing the existing telephony infrastructure and when implemented, handsets will have 99.999% reliability of connecting.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 15/05/2024 14:11:41 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	318 label Biography information for John Spellar

1701498

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	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: 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, what the cost to the public purse has been of maintenance work on the Estate in each financial year since 2019-20; and whether the Commission has made an estimate of maintenance costs for the next two financial years.
	tabling member constituency	Midlothian
	tabling member printed	Owen Thompson
	uin	22077
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>The costs of maintenance work on the Estate in each financial year since 2019–20, and the estimate of maintenance costs for the next two financial years are as follows:</p><p> </p><p>2019/20 (Actual Cost): £89m</p><p>2020/21 (Actual Cost): £76.5m</p><p>2021/22 (Actual Cost): £63.2m</p><p>2022/23 (Actual Cost): £96m</p><p> </p><p>2023/24 (Forecast Cost): £79.6m</p><p>2024/25 (Forecast Cost): £78.7m</p><p>2025/26 (Forecast Cost): £95.1m</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 01/05/2024 13:45:03 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4482 label Biography information for Owen Thompson

1702500

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2024
	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 and House of Lords: 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, how many people are employed by (a) the House of Commons and (b) any joint body with the House of Lords (i) in total and (ii) in full time equivalent roles.
	tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
	tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
	uin	22725
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>The headcount of (a) the House of Commons (i) in total is 3,470 and (ii) in full-time equivalent roles, including PDS, is 3,013.</p><p>(b) Two bicameral teams sit within the House of Lords Administration. The headcount of the two teams (the Parliamentary Archives and Parliamentary Commercial Directorate) is: (i) 78, and number of full time equivalent roles is: (ii) 76.4. These figures are inclusive of three full-time secondments.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 01/05/2024 10:00:10 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1701365

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	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: Telephone Systems
	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 assessment the Commission has made of the level of performance of the Polycom phone system.
	tabling member constituency	Warley
	tabling member printed	John Spellar
	uin	21872
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2024 answer text <p>The performance of the current telephony system is not good enough and is falling short of reasonable expectation. The Parliamentary Digital Service is working hard with our suppliers and technology partners to bring the level of service up to an acceptable standard. A new solution has been procured and will be implemented later this year. I apologise to the right hon. Member and all colleagues for the inconvenience they are experiencing.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 26/04/2024 15:18:15 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	318 label Biography information for John Spellar

1702499

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2024
	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	Parliamentary Estate: Security
	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 security passes are valid for use on the Parliamentary Estate by (a) MPs, Peers and their staff; (b) staff supporting Parliamentary activities in each House, (c) staff supporting non-Parliamentary activities, (d) security guards; (e) police officers; (f) contractors and (g) any other category.
	tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
	tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
	uin	22724
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2024 answer text <p>A breakdown of pass data is available, however the categories used do not match up exactly with the categories specified. This is because the House regards every member of the Administration as supporting parliamentary activities, whether directly or indirectly.</p><p>The number of passes on issue changes constantly, so the following represents a snapshot of data recorded on 17 April 2024:</p><p>(a) MPs, Peers and their staff</p><ul><li>MPs: 648</li><li>Peers: 842</li><li>MPs’ staff: 1,987</li><li>Peers’ staff: 345</li></ul><p> </p><p><br>(b) (c) and (d) Staff in both Houses</p><ul><li>House of Commons, House of Lords, and Parliamentary Digital Service: 4,132</li></ul><p><br>(e) police officers</p><ul><li>Metropolitan Police staff including police officers: 608</li></ul><p> </p><p><br>(f) contractors</p><ul><li>Contractors: 4,236</li></ul><p> </p><p><br>(g) any other category</p><ul><li>Former MPs: 329</li><li>Retired Peers: 58</li><li>Political parties and whips: 200</li><li>Partners of MPs/Peers and residents: 765</li><li>Civil servants: 1,793</li><li>Media: 492</li><li>Restoration and Renewal Delivery Authority: 184</li><li>Other: 165</li></ul> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 26/04/2024 15:04:59 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1702497

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2024
	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	Richmond House: 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, how much the recent refurbishment of the reception in Richmond House cost.
	tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
	tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
	uin	22722
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>A new desk was installed in Richmond House reception in April 2024. The desk was supplied and fitted for £9,974.50 excluding VAT.</p><p>The reception desk is made to accommodate three members of staff and is fully portable so it can be used elsewhere on the Estate if needed.</p> answering member constituency Broxbourne answering member printed Sir Charles Walker question first answered 24/04/2024 11:21:59 answering member 1493 label Biography information for Sir Charles Walker
	tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

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