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897958

registered interest
date	04/05/2018
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: Plastics
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2018 to Question 128463, on Parliamentary Estate: Plastics, what the outcome was of the Administration Committee’s consideration of the proposed 25p charge for disposable cups on the parliamentary estate; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	141344
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2018 answer text <p>The Administration Committee discussed a range of initiatives proposed to reduce the consumption of single use disposable plastics on 26 March 2018, including the introduction of the 25p charge for disposable cups on the Parliamentary Estate.</p><p>The Committee endorsed all the proposed measures including the introduction of the 25p charge, which will be implemented before the House returns from the summer recess later this year. They were agreed by the Commission on 14 May.</p><p>A comprehensive statement outlining the strategy being implemented to tackle single-use avoidable plastics over the next 12 months was published on 15 May:</p><p><a href="https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/commons/media-relations-group/news/parliaments-ambitious-plastic-plans-unveiled-/" target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/commons/media-relations-group/news/parliaments-ambitious-plastic-plans-unveiled-/</a></p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 16/05/2018 09:30:06 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

896454

registered interest
date	02/05/2018
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 Commission: Disclosure of Information
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many non-disclosure agreements the House of Commons has signed with employees of the House in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	140802
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2018 answer text <p>In the last five years, the House of Commons has signed a number of settlement agreements with employees (formerly known as compromise agreements). In some cases, the House has reached agreements with individuals through ACAS, which are equivalent to settlement agreements but known as COT3 agreements. The majority of these have brought the employment contract to an end, although there have been a small number of in-employment settlements.</p><p>The figures inclusive of all of settlement and COT3 agreements for each of the last five years are:</p><ul><li>2017 – 8 agreements</li><li>2016 – 15 agreements</li><li>2015 – 5 agreements</li><li>2014 – 14 agreements</li><li>2013 – 11 agreements</li></ul><p><br>Confidentiality clauses are included in all or almost all of these agreements. Confidentiality clauses are intended to protect both the employer and the employee, as well as to ensure that the content of the settlement agreement itself is not discussed (so, for example, neither side will reveal how much, if any, money was paid under the agreement). An agreement will often include an agreed reference or public statement from the employer about the employee, and the confidentiality agreement will state that the only comment made by either party will be in the specified form.</p><p>Since January 2015 such clauses have no longer been included as a matter of course. Each case is considered on its merits. Reasons for including a confidentiality clause can include: supporting an individual to leave in a dignified manner; not publicly undermining managers who have been involved in the case; and discouraging similar future claims.</p><p>The House’s approach to confidentiality clauses follows the 2015 Cabinet Office Guidance on Settlement Agreements, Special Severance Payments and Confidentiality Clauses on Termination of Employment. They also follow this guidance with respect to protected disclosures (“whistleblowing”). Any provision in a settlement agreement which seeks to prevent protected disclosures is unenforceable, and since 2015 this has been made explicit with the following statement added to all agreements: “nothing in this Agreement is intended to prejudice the Employee’s rights related to protected disclosures”. All employees who sign settlement agreements receive advice on the contents of the agreement from an independent lawyer or an independent trade union official, for which the House pays.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 16/05/2018 09:37:04 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

894857

registered interest
date	30/04/2018
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 Tours
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the reasons are for the introduction in October 2018 of a new system of Members' tours of the Palace of Westminster.
tabling member constituency	Ribble Valley
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Evans
uin	139393
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2018 answer text <p>A review of the operating model for guided tours was undertaken because the current commercial contract, with Tour Guides Ltd to provide Blue Badge Tour Guides to take paid-for tours, is coming to an end in October 2018. This contract would not be extendable without a full procurement exercise. The end of the contract term has provided the opportunity to take a fresh look at how Parliament provides all democratic access and paid for guided tours. We want to reduce the complexity of the existing model (there are currently three different pools of tour guides conducting different types of tours, with different rates of pay and status of employment), ensure that quality tours are consistently delivered and ensure public money is spent wisely. We also want to take this opportunity to end Parliament’s use of casual contracts with no guaranteed hours.</p><p>The new operating model simplifies the management of our tours operation as a whole while maintaining the quality and consistency across all types of tours offered. It creates 28 new permanent jobs and ends our use of casual workers with no guaranteed hours. It will also save a modest amount of taxpayers’ money.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 14/05/2018 12:52:41 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	474 label Biography information for Mr Nigel Evans

894858

registered interest
date	30/04/2018
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 Tours
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many in-house guides excluding Blue Badge Guides are planned to lose their jobs when the new system of Members' tours of the House is introduced in October 2018.
tabling member constituency	Ribble Valley
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Evans
uin	139394
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2018 answer text <p>No members of staff will lose their jobs as a result of introducing the new operating model for guided tours. From 1 November 2018 we will no longer offer tours to a pool of 49 tour guides, who are casual workers with no guaranteed hours to guide in Parliament. This is consistent with the House of Commons’ commitment to end the use of casual working arrangements. The new model will create 28 permanent new jobs directly employed by Parliament, with all the benefits of full employment such as pension, paid leave, sick pay and parental leave. All of the new directly-employed guiding roles are open to applications from all guides who currently deliver tours at Parliament on a casual worker basis and will include part-time as well as full-time opportunities. All Parliamentary staff who guide in addition to another directly employed role in either the House Service or the Parliamentary Digital Service will continue to be able to deliver guided tours.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 08/05/2018 20:30:27 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	474 label Biography information for Mr Nigel Evans

894859

registered interest
date	30/04/2018
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 Tours
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what training the Commission plans to provide for the new guides for Members' tours to ensure that the level of current expertise and knowledge is maintained.
tabling member constituency	Ribble Valley
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Evans
uin	139395
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2018 answer text <p>Training for new guides will be provided through the Visitor Services Academy. The academy will be an internal accreditation programme developing the skills and expertise of guides delivering tours under the new operating model, which begins in October. The academy will deliver a structured programme of support and training using both internal and external expertise. Guides will undergo regular monitoring and assessment throughout their training to ensure that the quality of guided tours is maintained. The approach to training has been benchmarked against a number of external organisations and is consistent with that provided at comparable organisations.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 14/05/2018 12:55:18 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	474 label Biography information for Mr Nigel Evans

894860

registered interest
date	30/04/2018
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 Tours
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what qualifications are required for the new guides who will be responsible for Members' tours.
tabling member constituency	Ribble Valley
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Evans
uin	139396
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2018 answer text <p>A formal qualification in guiding is not mandatory. A full programme of training will be provided by Parliament. The new guide positions will be filled through thorough recruitment and selection practices, which includes an application, online testing, assessment days and interviews. This process will ensure that successful applicants have all the skills and qualities required to perform the role to the very high standards required.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 08/05/2018 20:32:34 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	474 label Biography information for Mr Nigel Evans

894861

registered interest
date	30/04/2018
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 Tours
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate the Commission has made of the potential (a) cost of and (b) savings from introducing the new system of Members' tours.
tabling member constituency	Ribble Valley
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Evans
uin	139397
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/05/2018 answer text <p>The new operating model for guided tours, which rationalises the operating models for Member tours, events tours and paid-for commercial tours, will require an upfront investment of £180,000 in 2018/19. It is forecast that, due to the lower running costs of the new operating model, this investment will be recouped and further savings of £300,000 will be achieved over five years. By comparison, the cost of continuing to run the existing operating model (where the same number of tours would be provided by a mixture of outsourcing to a private provider and relying on a pool of casual workers with no guaranteed work) is forecast to be £800,000 more than the new operating model over the same period.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 08/05/2018 20:36:39 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	474 label Biography information for Mr Nigel Evans

894968

registered interest
date	30/04/2018
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: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many kilogrammes of food Parliament has discarded in (a) the last week and (b) the last month for which data are available.
tabling member constituency	Bassetlaw
tabling member printed	John Mann
uin	139399
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2018 answer text <p>For the working week of 23rd to 27th April 2018 (Monday – Friday), 4,845kgs of food waste from catering facilities was discarded.</p><p>For April 2018, 20,790kgs of food waste from catering facilities was discarded.</p><p>Residual food waste from offices is currently captured in the general waste stream and therefore at present we are unable to provide a breakdown of the total amount of food discarded from the Estate.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 14/05/2018 12:38:31 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake previous answer version 56486 answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	1387 label Biography information for Lord Mann

894969

registered interest
date	30/04/2018
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: Food
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what steps the Commission is taking to reduce food waste in Parliament.
tabling member constituency	Bassetlaw
tabling member printed	John Mann
uin	139400
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2018 answer text <p>Food waste from prepared dishes in House of Commons catering outlets is 3% against sales. This is well below the national average for the catering industry of 5%. The Sustainable Restaurant Association has rated the House of Commons as a good practice organisation in respect of food waste. We take various measures to monitor and reduce the amount of food waste from catering outlets. There are a number of ways that we are able to help minimise our food wastage:</p><ul><li>We have menu plans and cycles which enable orders to be thought out in advance.</li><li>We make the vast majority of dishes fresh in-house. This enables us to improvise if products need to be used up and we can use short life products in smoothies, soups and salads for example.</li><li>Stock is regularly counted and order volumes are considerate of stock-in-hand.</li><li>Dates are checked regularly on ambient food products and any short life products are issued to the kitchens and used up.</li><li>For many of the high-volume protein items, these are ordered by unit rather than weight which makes portion control more accurate and less prone to over ordering.</li><li>Venue orders are checked by a purchasing team for accuracy to ensure that orders and volumes are accurate and in line with historic figures.</li><li>Our kitchens make salad items in-house meaning they are able to cook-off and utilise any surplus protein products effectively.</li><li>Stock is always rotated using first in first out principles.</li><li>We utilise various smart storage methods and materials to help prevent premature spoilage.</li><li>Some products are frozen if not used on the day.</li><li>Products which show high levels of wastage are changed, so for example some high frequency/low volume lines are now frozen which enables portion control.</li><li>Any hot food that we have which is reusable is both transferred immediately where it can be used or blast chilled within food safety requirements and used the following day.</li></ul><p><br>In the case of sandwiches, any unsold products are returned to the supplier and they in turn assist with adjusting future order quantities. This has been in force since January 2013 and sandwich wastage is at just 2.5% which is well below industry standards.</p> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 14/05/2018 12:42:26 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	1387 label Biography information for Lord Mann

892349

registered interest
date	26/04/2018
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	Westminster Hall: Cameras
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, for what reason the public were prevented from using single lens reflex cameras in Westminster Hall on 25 April 2018.
tabling member constituency	New Forest West
tabling member printed	Sir Desmond Swayne
uin	138335
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/05/2018 answer text <p>Single lens reflex (SLR) cameras are permitted in Westminster Hall if they are used in line with the regulations governing photography in the Palace. If the advice was given that photographs could be taken on mobile phones but not on SLR cameras this was incorrect. The Visitor Services team and Parliamentary Security Department will reissue briefing instructions to their staff to ensure that the regulations are applied correctly and consistently.</p><p>Filming and photography in Westminster Hall is for ‘personal’ rather than ‘professional’ use unless agreed in advance. Photography is not permitted in the following circumstances:</p><ul><li>Tripods, lighting equipment or trailing cables are involved</li><li>The images are for commercial purposes</li><li>The images include signage or banners for party political purposes</li><li>The images will be used to promote a specific cause or campaign.</li></ul> answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake question first answered 02/05/2018 09:51:59 answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake previous answer version 55431 answering member constituency Carshalton and Wallington answering member printed Tom Brake answering member 151 label Biography information for Tom Brake
tabling member	55 label Biography information for Sir Desmond Swayne