TreasuryThe Government published an Impact Assessment to support the ‘Tobacco and Vapes Bill’ on 20 March, which includes estimate of the reduction in tobacco duty over the period 2027 and 2056:<p><a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/58-04/0189/Tobacco_and_vapes_bill_IA.pdf" target="_blank">Tobacco_and_vapes_bill_IA.pdf (parliament.uk)</a></p>The impact of final decisions on tobacco duties will be assessed and reflected in the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast. . Grantham and StamfordGareth Davies2024-03-25false2024-03-25T14:09:18.45Z14TreasuryTreasury2024-03-20Tobacco: Sales1House of CommonsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of banning the sale of tobacco products to people born after 1 January 2009 on tobacco duties.falseShipleyPhilip Davies19577Department of Health and Social Care<p>Further breakdown of customers groupings would identify individual customers and the value of individual vaccine sales. These grouping are varied and include customers such as wholesalers, hospitals, medical centres, travel clinics and other providers of vaccination services. To break this information down to a level that would identify individual purchases could prejudice future commercial relations with the UK Health Security Agency customers.</p>LewesMaria Caulfield2024-03-26false2024-03-26T13:52:31.557Z17Health and Social CareHealth and Social Care2024-03-12UK Health Security Agency: Finance1House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2024 to Question 16638 on UK Health Security Agency: Finance, on what basis the information requested is considered to be commercially sensitive.falseShipleyPhilip Davies18089Department of Health and Social Care<p>The UK Health Security Agency is unable to provide the information requested because it is commercially sensitive.</p>LewesMaria Caulfield2024-03-08false2024-03-08T14:05:56.237Z17Health and Social CareHealth and Social Care2024-03-04UK Health Security Agency: Finance1House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2024 to Question 13942 on UK Health Security Agency: Finance, if she will break down the (a) sources and (b) amounts of the Other customers section.falseShipleyPhilip Davies16638Department for Business and Trade<p>DBT do not centrally hold data on employees with criminal convictions. This information will be captured and considered at application stage by the Government Recruitment Service through the BPSS checks. In line with wider <a href="https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.civil-service-careers.gov.uk%2Fprison-leaver-recruitment%2F%23%3A~%3Atext%3DThe%2520good%2520news%2520is%2520that%2Cwill%2520be%2520immediately%2520sifted%2520out&data=05|02|parly.pqs%40businessandtrade.gov.uk|2d00add2b6394e99196508dc41e4230e|8fa217ec33aa46fbad96dfe68006bb86|0|0|638457695294969417|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D|0|||&sdata=irVOe77HfsqRM4Ihtj%2Bbb5tvd%2FQ4%2B1zLuJCDfldumrA%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank">Civil Service guidance</a>, the Department does encourage applications from those with prior convictions via our recruitment campaigns on Civil Service Jobs. The department also supports the Going Forwards into Employment, Prison Leaver scheme which is an exception to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles.</p>WealdenMs Nusrat Ghani2024-03-12false2024-03-12T17:43:02.713Z214Business and TradeBusiness and Trade2024-03-04Department for Business and Trade: Offenders1House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.falseShipleyPhilip Davies16660Department for Culture, Media and Sport<p>No civil servants at DCMS hold a criminal conviction.</p>Hornchurch and UpminsterJulia Lopez2024-03-12false2024-03-12T16:59:33.91Z217Culture, Media and SportCulture, Media and Sport2024-03-04Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Offenders1House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.falseShipleyPhilip Davies16661Department for Education<p>The department does not collect or hold information on the criminal convictions of its civil servants.</p><p>The department does require that, prior to commencing employment, individuals have cleared the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). This includes a check for live convictions and is the minimum level of clearance for all people working across the Civil Service. These checks are also carried out for existing civil servants moving into the department.</p><p>If checks highlight convictions, the department will consider the appointment if a conviction relates to any of the following: life sentences, arson, sexual offences, hate and terror offences, the department will also consider the specific offence against the nature of the business, i.e., a conviction for fraud may rule you out for a finance role (the department also undertakes an internal fraud database check, which identifies civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned).</p><p>The department is engaged in the ‘Civil Service Prison Leavers’ scheme but has not yet made any appointments. This scheme ensures that if an individual is a prison leaver, then having a criminal conviction is not a barrier to joining the Civil Service. The department only asks about criminal convictions once a job offer has been made and excepted and the BPSS checks completed.</p><p>The department expects its civil servants to abide by the Civil Service Code of Conduct and the departmental standards of behaviour. Employees must inform their manager if they are arrested, are charged and released, refused bail, or convicted of any criminal offence. If they fail to do so, the department will take disciplinary action for non-disclosure.</p>East HampshireDamian Hinds2024-03-12false2024-03-12T17:29:25.84Z60EducationEducation2024-03-04Department for Education: Offenders1House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.falseShipleyPhilip Davies16662Department for Energy Security and Net Zero<p>The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not hold central records of criminal convictions. When joining the department all candidates undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check which checks for unspent criminal convictions. Where a candidate does have unspent criminal convictions, these are shared with the individual vacancy holder for them to consider as this is likely to have impact on individuals’ suitability for the role.</p><p> </p><p>The Department engages with the cross-government Going Forward into Employment (GFIE) schemes, including for prison leavers. The number of civil servants in the department on this scheme is less than 10. Given this number is relatively low the exact number is not provided in order to protect the identity of those individuals.</p>Beverley and HoldernessGraham Stuart2024-03-12false2024-03-12T06:21:28.753Z215Energy Security and Net ZeroEnergy Security and Net Zero2024-03-04Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: Offenders1House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.falseShipleyPhilip Davies16663Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs<p>The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p><p>New appointments to Defra undergo pre-employment criminal record checks. Where a conviction is flagged, appointment is dependent on a role-specific risk assessment. Convictions for the following offences result in the individual automatically failing pre-employment checks and not being appointed: life sentences, arson, sexual offences and hate and terror offences.</p><p> </p><p>Defra has participated in the Going Forward into Employment Scheme for Ex-Offenders and has appointed to posts via this scheme. We can confirm that the numbers appointed under this scheme are currently less than 10. However, exact numbers may enable individuals to be identifiable and the privacy and confidentiality of this information requires us to ensure individuals are properly protected.</p>SherwoodMark Spencer2024-03-19false2024-03-19T14:40:03.163Z13Environment, Food and Rural AffairsEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs2024-03-04Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Offenders1House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many civil servants in his Department have a criminal conviction.falseShipleyPhilip Davies16664Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities<p>Criminal record checks are made prior to appointment and we require individuals to inform the department of criminal convictions after appointment as set out in the staff handbook. The information is not collected centrally.</p>North DorsetSimon Hoare2024-03-12false2024-03-12T16:11:54.717Z211Levelling Up, Housing and CommunitiesLevelling Up, Housing and Communities2024-03-04Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Offenders1House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many civil servants in his Department have a criminal conviction.falseShipleyPhilip Davies16665Department for Science, Innovation and Technology<p>The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology does not hold central records of criminal convictions. When joining the department all candidates undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check which checks for unspent criminal convictions. Where a candidate does have unspent criminal convictions, these are shared with the individual vacancy holder for them to consider as this is likely to have impact on individuals’ suitability for the role. The department is looking at how it can engage with the across government Going Forward into Employment (GFIE) schemes, including for prison leavers.</p>Arundel and South DownsAndrew Griffith2024-03-12false2024-03-12T12:01:40.153Z216Science, Innovation and TechnologyScience, Innovation and Technology2024-03-04Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Offenders1House of CommonsTo ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many civil servants in her Department have a criminal conviction.falseShipleyPhilip Davies166661001975