Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54812 on Government Departments: media, what guidance is issued by the Government Communication Service on the procurement of external public relations companies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) provides a framework agreement that enables contracting authorities to access suppliers who provide services in this area. As with any procurement through established framework agreements, CCS provides guidance to ensure any procurement is conducted in compliance with UK procurement regulations. Guidance can be found on the CCS webpage: https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/RM6125.
Individual contracting authorities are responsible for their own procurement processes under this framework agreement. Any campaign spending of £100,000 or more must go through the Government Communication Service’s advertising, marketing and communications (AMC) spend control process. Guidance is available at the following link: https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/marketing/delivering-government-campaigns/professional-assurance/
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that suppliers (a) linked to forced labour in Xinjiang and (b) named in allied sanctions lists are excluded from public procurement frameworks.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government is committed to tackling human rights abuses including modern slavery and human trafficking in public supply chains.
On 24 February 2025 the Procurement Act came into force, providing contracting authorities with stronger powers to exclude suppliers from public procurements where there is compelling evidence of modern slavery within their supply chains. Contracting authorities are encouraged to review a wide range of information on suppliers when seeking to determine whether an exclusion ground applies, including sanction lists.
The Act’s new debarment powers also enable us to take stronger and broader action in relation to supplier misconduct which we will use, where appropriate, to effectively hold organisations to account.
The Cabinet Office has, in addition, published extensive risk-based policy and guidance for commercial teams to tackle labour rights abuses in UK and global supply chains.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 62084 on Government Departments: Procurement, which public bodies have undertaken expenditure through framework RM6125 since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Information on individual contracts, including any agreed through a Crown Commercial Service framework, are publicly available on Contracts Finder at the following link: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk. Contracts Finder provides information about contracts worth over £12,000 (including VAT) with the government and its agencies.
It is the responsibility of the relevant contracting authority to upload contract information on Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 185 of the report entitled Census 2021: General report for England and Wales, published on 21 June 2025, which local authorities had a confidence interval of (a) up to 5%, (b) up to 6% and (c) 6% or more.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 10th July is attached.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria the Cabinet Office uses to prioritise national risks within the Government Resilience Framework.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government Resilience Action Plan takes an ‘all hazards’ approach, focusing on improving the general resilience of the nation to all risks, and investing in common systems and tools to respond. The wide range of specific risks the government plans for are continually assessed in the National Security Risk Assessment, which now operates on a dynamic model and incorporates challenge through a refreshed Expert Advisory Programme.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the role of local resilience forums are in delivering the objectives of the UK Government Resilience Action Plan.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK government recognises the foundational importance of Local Resilience Forums to our national resilience. The Resilience Action Plan sets out our plans to strengthen the public sector resilience system through the roll-out of further data to support local partners to plan for and respond to risks more effectively.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) anonymised CVs and (b) name-blind recruitment on diversity outcomes in Government departments.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, we are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds to create a modern Civil Service.
Anonymous CVs and name-blind recruitment, which are already used widely across the civil service, limit the impact that bias may have on recruitment, so that candidates are judged on the skills and experience they have outlined.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is planning to take to (a) consult further with the infected blood community and (b) involve that community in the development of the Government's response to the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This Government is committed to engaging openly and transparently, and taking on board feedback from the infected blood community. The Cabinet Office regularly engages with over 30 key representatives and organisations in the community. I have met with a number of these representatives several times and will continue to do so.
The Government will consider the Infected Blood Inquiry’s Additional Report carefully, and respond in due course.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when (a) was the most recent and (b) is the next scheduled meeting of the George Cross Committee.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The most recent George Cross Committee meeting took place on Thursday 13 March 2025. We do not release the dates of committee meetings ahead of time. This ensures minimising the chance of lobbying of committee members.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the publication entitled UK Government Resilience Action Plan published on 8 July 2025, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of emergency alert systems in rural areas with (a) poor and (b) no mobile signal.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Emergency Alerts are broadcast through mobile phone masts, and will be received by phones connected to the targeted masts. 95% of the UK landmass has 4G/5G coverage.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is continuing to work with the UK telecommunications industry to deliver 4G and 5G mobile connectivity to places where there is limited or no coverage.
Emergency alerts are part of a collection of warning and informing systems that we use in the UK for emergency response scenarios. Other methods include local sirens and knocking door-to-door when safe, as well as providing advice through media such as TV and radio.