Lord Mendelsohn – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mendelsohn on 2014-03-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many staff are currently employed for more than 50 per cent of their working week to support the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions in his role as Accounting Officer; and what are their job titles.

Lord Freud

In one sense, all DWP staff support the Accounting Officer through their individual responsibilities to work confidently within the system of control for which the Accounting Officer is ultimately responsible, to ensure the effective operation of a major government department, which will make some £136.4 billion in welfare payments this year.

More narrowly, the Accounting Officer is directly supported in his role by his Finance Director General, the 40 Senior Civil Servants that comprise that DG’s senior management team; and – in turn – by other colleagues when they handle issues which require explicit Accounting Officer involvement.