FOI Ref: FOI/2021/3242
You asked
1. In respect of each of the years 2015-2021, please confirm what funding has been provided to Stonewall by:
Office for National Statistics
2. Please specify whether the funding in 1 above has been in the form of:
(a) direct grants for unlimited purposes;
(b) direct grants for limited purposes (in that event, stating the purpose);
(c) payment for goods or services (specifying the relevant goods and services).
3. Where the funding in 1 above has been by way of payment for goods or services, please specify:
(a) what analysis has been conducted to ascertain whether these goods or services meet contractual and/or legal requirements;
(b) what contractual or other recourse exists to reclaim in respect of goods or services that are defective, substandard or delivered in contravention of the law;
(c) what steps are being taken to seek recourse for any such contractual or legal shortfalls.
4. In respect of the payments referred to in 1 above, please state:
(a) What criteria were applied in deciding to make payments by way of direct grants;
(b) What tendering process was conducted with regard to provision of goods or services;
(c) What alternative suppliers of goods or services were considered.
We said
The ONS continuously reviews all its memberships and the value they offer to ONS as an inclusive employer. Before making policy changes that impact our workforce, the ONS considers a range of stakeholder views and expert advice, including our in-house employment relations team and the Government Legal Department.
1. The following table details all payments made to Stonewall by the Office for National Statistics between 1 January 2015 and 6 December 2021.
| Type | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | £3,846.00 | £4,332.00 | £4,440.00 | £3,000.00 | £3,468.00 | £3,810.00 | £3,000.00 | £25,896.00 |
Download this table Payments by Calendar Year
.xls .csv2. No payments made to Stonewall by the Office for National Statistics relate to grant funding. Details of the payments made to Stonewall over the period can be found in the table below.
| Type | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Membership | £3,000.00 | £3,000.00 | £3,000.00 | £3,000.00 | £3,000.00 | £3,000.00 | £3,000.00 | £21,000.00 |
| Conference Attendance | £846.00 | £630.00 | £1,440.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £810.00 | £0.00 | £3,726.00 |
| Training Programme | £0.00 | £702.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £468.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £1,170.00 |
| Total | £3,846.00 | £4,332.00 | £4,440.00 | £3,000.00 | £3,468.00 | £3,810.00 | £3,000.00 | £25,896.00 |
Download this table Payments by Calendar Year
.xls .csv3. (a) None
(b) Contracts were subject to Stonewall's terms and conditions; ONS does not hold this information.
(c) No contractual breach has been reported.
Please note, for ONS Commercial purposes, the payment of annual membership fees and the attendance of conferences is not categorised as a purchase of either goods or services.
ONS' procurement policy states: "The Organisation's procurement policy is to obtain value by seeking competition for all procurements with a total aggregated whole life value in excess of £10,000."
The payments made that relate to the provision of training services have a total value of £1,170 and the largest individual payment is £468.
4. (a) N/A, no grant funding occurred.
(b) None - as noted above, the sums involved were not subject to ONS' procurement policy.
(c) None, as per previous response.