Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2024 to Question 12079 on Civil Service: Surveys, if he will publish the September to October 2024 People Survey data for staff in 10 Downing Street.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office will not be publishing 2024 People Survey data for staff in 10 Downing Street in line with previous administrations.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2025 to Question 38049 on Non-departmental Public Bodies, if he will list the 249 non-departmental public bodies operating as of March 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office publishes an annual arms length body landscape analysis, which includes non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) around a year in arrears. The most recently published landscape analysis was published on 17 December 2024 and is available here. The list of every ALB that exists as of March 2025 is due to be published in 2026.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the headcount of the civil service (a) including and (b) excluding non-Departmental public bodies was in (i) June 2024 and (ii) the latest period for which data is available.
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 22nd April is attached.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the declarations of interest of each member of the Child Poverty Taskforce.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Child Poverty Taskforce is a ministerial taskforce and members' interests are published regularly, in line with the Ministerial Code.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2024 to Question 18221 on Supreme Court: Judgments, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Supreme Court ruling on the (a) practices of the Cabinet Office and (b) its Arms Length Bodies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As the ruling has no direct impact on the Cabinet Office, no considerations have been made as yet. The Cabinet Office will consider the impact, on the department and its Arms Length Bodies, in due course.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to review Civil Service human resources policies, in the context of the UK Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office review and update policy where necessary to ensure it complies with the latest legal requirements, including the UK Supreme Court Judgment in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to introduce capability-based pay in the civil service.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The government believes pay and reward structures should incentivise expertise and high performance. The Cabinet Office is reviewing capability-based pay arrangements that already exist in the Civil Service to analyse their impact on organisations that have implemented such arrangements already.
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 24 March 2025 to Question 39582 on Public Appointments, if he will provide the information in relation to public appointment competitions within the remit of (a) his Department and (b) 10 Downing Street.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
It is important that any recommendations made by Advisory Assessment Panels, and any exchanges they have with Ministers, remain confidential to ensure the flow of free and frank advice during the public appointment process. To uphold this confidentiality, disclosure of such information would likely affect the effectiveness of central government and other public services and will therefore not be released.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) Cabinet Office and (b) Treasury approval processes are that decide on whether an Arm’s-Length Body can become a non-departmental public body.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The approvals process for new arm’s-length bodies (ALBs), including non-departmental public bodies, is outlined in the Public Bodies Handbook - Part 2. This is a jointly led process between the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury.
The government is additionally conducting a review of all ALBs, including proposals for new ones, to assess them against four principles: (1) Ministers should have direct policy control over decisions that affect the public, (2) duplication across the state should be minimised, (3) stakeholder engagement is not sufficient rationale for an ALB, and (4) some advice should be independently delivered. This is part of the plan to streamline the state by closing, merging or repatriating public bodies into departments unless their separate existence can be justified.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the wage bill of the (a) Civil Service, (b) central Government Departments and (c) public sector was in (i) June 2024 and (ii) the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Salary data for the Civil Service is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics, an Accredited Official Statistics release, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2024. The most recent estimated salary cost figures as at 31st March 2024 were provided in response to Peter Bedford MP’s question on 16th October 2024. Civil Service Statistics 2025 is due to be published on 30 July 2025.
The Cabinet Office does not hold information on the wage bill for the wider public sector.