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48447

registered interest
date	25/04/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to improve support for small and medium-sized enterprises which are in need of short-term assistance and flexibility through improved partnership working between the HM Revenue and Custom's (HMRC) simplified import VAT accounting duty deferment team and the HMRC debt management and time-to-pay teams; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	196640
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2014 answer text <p>The Simplified Import VAT Accounting (SIVA) scheme is a trade facilitation measure that reduces compliance costs for legitimate traders through the removal of the requirement to provide a guarantee to secure import VAT paid through the duty deferment scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The risk to the tax revenue by traders operating SIVA is potentially very large as the period between the tax due being deferred and being collected by HMRC may result in a failure to pay. The setting of the SIVA approval criteria has to strike a balance between ensuring the trade receive the maximum benefit from the scheme, while at the same time protecting the revenue.</p><p> </p><p>Businesses have to demonstrate on-going compliance with the SIVA requirements. The SIVA team monitor this through internal systems, including any outstanding debts or Time-to Pay agreements requested. When they identify a business experiencing difficulties, they advise them of the potential impact on their SIVA approval. Warning letters are issued by the team to businesses who fail to comply and only if there is evidence of continued non-compliance is the approval removed.</p><p>The current procedures provide an appropriate balance between trade faciliation and protection of the revenue.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 30/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

47132

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	195544
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2014 answer text <p>Under this Government's transparency programme, details of spend are published on GOV.UK which are available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills</a></p><p> </p><p>To provide the level of detail requested in relation to agency fees would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Cardiff Central answering member printed Jenny Willott question first answered 10/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1497 label Biography information for Jenny Willott
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

47134

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept id	26
answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	195566
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2014 answer text <p>Under this Government's transparency programme, details of spend are published on GOV.UK which is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-business-innovation-skills</a>.</p> answering member constituency Cardiff Central answering member printed Jenny Willott question first answered 10/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1497 label Biography information for Jenny Willott
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

47147

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	195546
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.</p><p>Before the last General Election, including for the entire period while the Hon. Member was a minister in this very department, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.</p><p>That's all changed and ministers - supported by Cabinet Office officials - now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.</p><p>We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.</p><p>We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude grouped question UIN 195560 195568 195582 question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

47156

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	195568
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>The Prime Minister's Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.</p><p>Before the last General Election, including for the entire period while the Hon. Member was a minister in this very department, there were no effective cross-Governmental controls on consultancy spend. Nor were spending controls exercised on other areas such as procurement, advertising and marketing, and IT spend.</p><p>That's all changed and ministers - supported by Cabinet Office officials - now closely scrutinise what we spend on consultants and temporary labour. Departments saved over £1billion in 2012-13 (the last year for which we have audited figures) compared to the spending levels in the final year of the last administration, 2009-10. This helped us save taxpayers £10 billion in 2012-13 against a 2009-10 baseline.</p><p>We will continue to spend money on consultants and temporary labour when there is an appropriate business need to do so. Indeed in some cases engaging temporary labour is more flexible and cheaper for the taxpayer than taking on new staff. But we are also ensuring that the Civil Service has the skills needed. Our Capabilities Plan is designed to address long-standing gaps in four particular areas: digital skills, project management skills, commercial skills, and the leadership and management of change.</p><p>We publish all spend data over £25,000 and contracts over £10,000 on Gov.uk and Contracts Finder.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Horsham answering member printed Mr Francis Maude grouped question UIN 195546 195560 195582 question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 115 label Biography information for Lord Maude of Horsham
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

47162

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	CaTreasury
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	195563
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2014 answer text <p>Under this Government's transparency programme, contracts are published on Contracts Finder which is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder</a>.</p><p> </p><p>In addition all Departments publish details of transactions above £25,000. Data for HM Treasury can be found at:</p><p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/25000-spend" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/collections/25000-spend</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 29/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

47177

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	195547
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>In answering this question, we have used the Cabinet Office definition for contingent labour (temporary staff) which includes admin and clerical agency staff, interim managers and specialist contractors: use of such staff for short-term or specialist work can be better value for money than hiring staff on permanent contracts.</p><p>Details of the five companies that my Department has used most often in the last financial year for the provision of contingent labour are set out below:</p><p>Financial Year 2013-14</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Organisation</p></td><td><p>Total Expenditure (excluding VAT)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Capita Resourcing Ltd</p></td><td><p>£1,736,580</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Reed Employment Services</p></td><td><p>£172,702</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Reed Specialist Recruitment Ltd</p></td><td><p>£136,335</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Manpower UK Ltd</p></td><td><p>£40,423</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Premier Employment Group Ltd</p></td><td><p>£22,677</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>To put this in context, my Department has cut spending on contingent labour from £14.4 million in 2009-10 to £3.3 million in 2013-14 as a result of the tightening of its internal management controls, institutionalising these in its systems and adhering to Treasury and Cabinet Office spending rules. This represents a saving of £11.1 million a year (2013-14 compared to 2009-10)</p><p>In addition to the savings on temporary workers, our departmental audited annual accounts for the core Department show that staff costs fell from £216 million in 2009-10 to £99 million in 2012-13, a reduction of 54% in cash terms, or a further saving of £117 million a year.</p><p>These savings also reflect the Coalition Government's agenda of decentralisation, ending the micromanagement of local government, the abolition of regional government, and the broader need to tackle the deficit left by the last Administration.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

47181

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Department for Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Communities and Local Government
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by his Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	195569
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p> </p><p>The table below sets out the ten consultancy firms that were paid the most by my Department in the last financial year</p><p>The data complies with definitions on Consultancy laid down by the Cabinet Office which excludes agency staff and interim (contingent) labour.</p><p><strong>Financial Year 2013-14</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Organisation</p></td><td><p>Total Expenditure (excluding VAT)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Local Partnership LLP*</p></td><td><p>£150,918</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>PricewaterhouseCoopers</p></td><td><p>£108,516</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ove Arup &amp; Partners</p></td><td><p>£66,790</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Amec Environment &amp; Infrastructure</p></td><td><p>£62,509</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ernest &amp; Young LLP</p></td><td><p>£20,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Capgemini UK Plc</p></td><td><p>£17,000</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Grant Thornton UK LLP</p></td><td><p>£8,815</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Giant Professional Limited</p></td><td><p>£6,400</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Oakleigh Consulting Ltd</p></td><td><p>£4,950</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Land Use Consultants</p></td><td><p>£1,345</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>* Local Partnerships is a company that is jointly owned by HM Treasury and the Local Government Association; it provides commercial expertise on matters of infrastructure, legal and contractual complexity and acts for the benefit of the public sector.</p><p>My Department has cut spending on consultancy from £36.6 million in 2009-10 to £0.5 million in 2013-14. This represents a saving of £36.1 million a year (2013-14 compared to 2009-10) and has been achieved through contract renegotiations, terminations and adherence to Cabinet Office controls on consultancy spending.</p><p>To put this in context, based on current estimates (which reflect accounting consequences from machinery of government changes) the DCLG Group is reducing its annual running costs by around 40% in real terms between 2010-11 and 2014-15. This equates to net savings of at least £532 million over this spending review period and includes savings of around £420 million from the closure of the Government Offices for the Regions.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Great Yarmouth answering member printed Brandon Lewis question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4009 label Biography information for Sir Brandon Lewis
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

47182

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which 10 consultancy firms were paid the most by her Department in the last financial year; and how much each of those firms was paid.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	195570
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>The 10 professional services firms that were paid the most in 2013/14 are listed in the table below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Supplier Name</p></td><td><p>Total paid in 2013-14 (£)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>KPMG LLP</p></td><td><p>1,934,209.35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pinsent Masons</p></td><td><p>950,789.80</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Local Partnerships</p></td><td><p>429,919.24</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Grant Thornton UK LLP</p></td><td><p>401,867.88</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Regeneris Consulting Ltd</p></td><td><p>75,187.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Andrew Dumbreck Media Limited</p></td><td><p>62,165.60</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>National Centre for Social Research</p></td><td><p>70,732.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Deloitte (LLP No 2 a/c)</p></td><td><p>49,480.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>CLAS Co-operative Ltd</p></td><td><p>29,820.00</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>SQW Limited</p></td><td><p>29,413.00</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>These are unaudited figures from the Department's financials systems, net of recoverable VAT. The department uses professional services firms for a variety of purposes. In addition to consultancy services, they include expenditure on external legal support and advice on programmes, research fieldwork, evaluation, specialist technical advice and the provision of interim managers. Legal services from the Treasury Solicitors and providers of recruitment services have been excluded in order to arrive at a list of firms that are predominantly providers of consultancy.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maidstone and The Weald answering member printed Mrs Helen Grant question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4018 label Biography information for Mrs Helen Grant
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie

47209

registered interest
date	07/04/2014
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which five companies were used most often to provide temporary workers for his Department in the last financial year; and how much in agency fees was paid to each of them.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Chris Leslie
uin	195550
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Under this Government's transparency programme, details of spend for the Department for Education are published on gov.uk which are available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-education" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-education</a></p><p>To provide the level of detail requested in relation to agency fees would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Norfolk answering member printed Elizabeth Truss question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 4097 label Biography information for Elizabeth Truss
tabling member	422 label Biography information for Mr Chris Leslie