Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office has spent £302.40 on X premium for two subscriptions in the last 12 months.

(i) COBR’s National Situation Centre paid for its National Security Watchkeepers to access the X-Premium+ service X Pro. The National Security Watchkeepers use X Pro, and other tools, to monitor open source information to identify national security and civil contingencies risks.

(ii) Fast Stream and Emerging Talent spent £100.80 on X Premium membership in FY25/26. This was mainly because it provides access to an analytics dashboard, not available on the free version, to monitor campaign effectiveness. It also allows for longer posts, enabling us to better engage with our target audience. This membership will not be renewed for the next financial year.

The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.

The Cabinet Office does not hold a central record of the proportion of procurement contracts awarded by each Government Department to SMEs over the last five financial years. The Government is, however, introducing targets for SME spend going forwards.

The Government is also taking a number of further steps to support SMEs.

We have published a National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) which requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).

The Crown Commercial Service has also published an SME Action Plan which sets out the steps it is taking to support Government Departments maximise their procurement spend with SMEs, by removing barriers to participation and opening up opportunities to SMEs through their commercial agreements.

We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.

We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course. These reforms will further support British SMEs to bid for contracts.

The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.

The Cabinet Office does not hold a central record of the proportion of procurement contracts awarded by each Government Department to SMEs over the last five financial years. The Government is, however, introducing targets for SME spend going forwards.

The Government is also taking a number of further steps to support SMEs.

We have published a National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) which requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).

The Crown Commercial Service has also published an SME Action Plan which sets out the steps it is taking to support Government Departments maximise their procurement spend with SMEs, by removing barriers to participation and opening up opportunities to SMEs through their commercial agreements.

We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.

We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course. These reforms will further support British SMEs to bid for contracts.

The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.

The Cabinet Office does not hold a central record of the proportion of procurement contracts awarded by each Government Department to SMEs over the last five financial years. The Government is, however, introducing targets for SME spend going forwards.

The Government is also taking a number of further steps to support SMEs.

We have published a National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) which requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).

The Crown Commercial Service has also published an SME Action Plan which sets out the steps it is taking to support Government Departments maximise their procurement spend with SMEs, by removing barriers to participation and opening up opportunities to SMEs through their commercial agreements.

We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.

We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course. These reforms will further support British SMEs to bid for contracts.

The Cabinet Office does not utilise a single, universal set of assessment criteria for determining whether a supplier is responsible for a critical performance failure. Instead, specific criteria are defined within each individual contract, generally aligning with the standard definitions in the Model Services Contract.

The Cabinet Office remains committed to promoting high standards of supplier performance and compliance with all relevant procurement legislation.

The Government Security Group (GSG) is part of the Cabinet Office and is the centre of the Government Security Function. GSG is responsible for the oversight and coordination of protective security within all central government departments, their agencies, and arm’s length bodies.

GSG works with stakeholders across government to mitigate risks posed to government security from a range of threats, including espionage, and is constantly seeking to develop and strengthen measures to improve its risk mitigation capability.

The responsibility for coordinating the implementation of the Child Poverty Strategy across government lies with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Secretary of State for Education.

Accountability for delivering constituent measures sits with the relevant Secretary of State.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Lord Foster of Bath

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

04 February 2026

Dear Lord Foster,

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of the number of deaths related to climate change in each county in England (HL14056).

The ONS published Climate-related mortality, England and Wales: 1988 to 20221 in 2023. This release used climate and mortality data from 1988 to 2022 to analyse temperature-related mortality in England and Wales. The analysis estimates the relative risk, numbers and rates of death per 100,000 population associated with changing temperatures, based on a statistical model. Publication of updated estimates based on an enhanced statistical model and including data up to 2025 is provisionally planned for mid-2026.

Data is available for each English region and for Wales. However, data is not available by individual county in England.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

In July 2025, the Government published its Resilience Action Plan which set out its approach to enable the whole of society to take action to increase resilience.

The Resilience Guidance Doctrine on GOV.UK brings all resilience guidance together in one place. It supports local responders, including local authorities, to understand how to fulfil their duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and how to work with partners to drive community resilience.

There is also specific guidance in the ‘Local Authorities Preparedness for Civil Emergencies: A Good Practice Guide for Chief Executives’, which provides assistance to local authorities to make sure they are well-prepared to respond and recover from emergencies, including how to work collaboratively with wider partners. In response to the Grenfell Inquiry recommendations, MHCLG has committed to review this guidance further.

Additionally, the Government, UK Resilience Academy, Local Government Association and Society of Local Authority Chief Executives are running a pilot to test a new training offer to local authority chief executives and all relevant staff.

Given the historic nature of the infected blood scandal, the Government recognises that not all medical records will still be available. The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme has been designed to minimise as far as possible the burden on those applying, and as set out in the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2024, eligibility for the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme will be determined based on the balance of probabilities. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority will provide assistance to those who believe their medical records have been lost or destroyed.

Work has taken place across Government and the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to understand steps that can be taken to reduce as many barriers as possible to support the processing of claims. On 3 July 2025, the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office wrote to the Chairs of the PAC and PACAC Committees to set out the measures being taken to prioritise faster payments to victims of the infected blood scandal. One of these measures is to use the powers in the Victims and Prisoners Act to get records from the Infected Blood Inquiry, and using testimony to contribute to the assessment of proof of infection.

The Government launched a public consultation on proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme on 30 October 2025 that ran for the standard 12 weeks and closed on 22 January. This consultation adhered to the Cabinet Office Consultation Principles and was open to the public, with responses particularly encouraged from those in the infected blood community. The Government is considering each response to the consultation with the seriousness the issue deserves, and will publish its response within 12 weeks of the consultation’s closing date. An Equality Impact Assessment is not required to be carried out for public consultations, but the Government will provide one alongside any legislation arising from the implementation of the consultation’s outcome.

In its Additional Report, the Inquiry recommended that the Government reconsider how the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme provides compensation to those currently receiving Special Category Mechanism (SCM) payments or its equivalents. The Government accepted this recommendation.

The public consultation proposed that anyone currently receiving SCM or equivalent payments through the Infected Blood Support Schemes would be automatically eligible for a Severe Health Condition award. The Government has also consulted on how eligibility should be established for people who are not registered with an Infected Blood Support Scheme (IBSS) but who experience the same impact on their day-to-day life for the same reasons.

The Technical Expert Group (TEG) is convening a series of roundtables with key organisations and charity representatives to discuss aspects of the Infected Blood Inquiry Additional Report recommendations for the compensation scheme, to inform their advice to the Government. This targeted engagement is separate to the Government’s consultation. The TEG held roundtables on 15 and 17 December 2025, which focused on establishing the eligibility criteria for living infected people who are not currently registered with an IBSS, in relation to the award to recognise impacts associated with SCM, and its equivalents. The attendee list was informed by the key representatives in the infected blood community that the Government regularly engages with. To ensure transparency, the minutes of meetings of the TEG are published on GOV.UK. The minutes of these roundtable meetings were published on 29 January 2026.

The TEG invited further written responses from the representatives to supplement the discussion of the roundtables. The TEG therefore received written responses after the initial roundtables on SCM had been held. The TEG have, since then, reviewed these written responses and will be making sure they too are properly reflected in a summary document which will be published on GOV.UK.

The Government launched a public consultation on proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme on 30 October 2025 that ran for the standard 12 weeks and closed on 22 January. This consultation adhered to the Cabinet Office Consultation Principles and was open to the public, with responses particularly encouraged from those in the infected blood community. The Government is considering each response to the consultation with the seriousness the issue deserves, and will publish its response within 12 weeks of the consultation’s closing date. An Equality Impact Assessment is not required to be carried out for public consultations, but the Government will provide one alongside any legislation arising from the implementation of the consultation’s outcome.

In its Additional Report, the Inquiry recommended that the Government reconsider how the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme provides compensation to those currently receiving Special Category Mechanism (SCM) payments or its equivalents. The Government accepted this recommendation.

The public consultation proposed that anyone currently receiving SCM or equivalent payments through the Infected Blood Support Schemes would be automatically eligible for a Severe Health Condition award. The Government has also consulted on how eligibility should be established for people who are not registered with an Infected Blood Support Scheme (IBSS) but who experience the same impact on their day-to-day life for the same reasons.

The Technical Expert Group (TEG) is convening a series of roundtables with key organisations and charity representatives to discuss aspects of the Infected Blood Inquiry Additional Report recommendations for the compensation scheme, to inform their advice to the Government. This targeted engagement is separate to the Government’s consultation. The TEG held roundtables on 15 and 17 December 2025, which focused on establishing the eligibility criteria for living infected people who are not currently registered with an IBSS, in relation to the award to recognise impacts associated with SCM, and its equivalents. The attendee list was informed by the key representatives in the infected blood community that the Government regularly engages with. To ensure transparency, the minutes of meetings of the TEG are published on GOV.UK. The minutes of these roundtable meetings were published on 29 January 2026.

The TEG invited further written responses from the representatives to supplement the discussion of the roundtables. The TEG therefore received written responses after the initial roundtables on SCM had been held. The TEG have, since then, reviewed these written responses and will be making sure they too are properly reflected in a summary document which will be published on GOV.UK.

The Government launched a public consultation on proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme on 30 October 2025 that ran for the standard 12 weeks and closed on 22 January. This consultation adhered to the Cabinet Office Consultation Principles and was open to the public, with responses particularly encouraged from those in the infected blood community. The Government is considering each response to the consultation with the seriousness the issue deserves, and will publish its response within 12 weeks of the consultation’s closing date. An Equality Impact Assessment is not required to be carried out for public consultations, but the Government will provide one alongside any legislation arising from the implementation of the consultation’s outcome.

In its Additional Report, the Inquiry recommended that the Government reconsider how the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme provides compensation to those currently receiving Special Category Mechanism (SCM) payments or its equivalents. The Government accepted this recommendation.

The public consultation proposed that anyone currently receiving SCM or equivalent payments through the Infected Blood Support Schemes would be automatically eligible for a Severe Health Condition award. The Government has also consulted on how eligibility should be established for people who are not registered with an Infected Blood Support Scheme (IBSS) but who experience the same impact on their day-to-day life for the same reasons.

The Technical Expert Group (TEG) is convening a series of roundtables with key organisations and charity representatives to discuss aspects of the Infected Blood Inquiry Additional Report recommendations for the compensation scheme, to inform their advice to the Government. This targeted engagement is separate to the Government’s consultation. The TEG held roundtables on 15 and 17 December 2025, which focused on establishing the eligibility criteria for living infected people who are not currently registered with an IBSS, in relation to the award to recognise impacts associated with SCM, and its equivalents. The attendee list was informed by the key representatives in the infected blood community that the Government regularly engages with. To ensure transparency, the minutes of meetings of the TEG are published on GOV.UK. The minutes of these roundtable meetings were published on 29 January 2026.

The TEG invited further written responses from the representatives to supplement the discussion of the roundtables. The TEG therefore received written responses after the initial roundtables on SCM had been held. The TEG have, since then, reviewed these written responses and will be making sure they too are properly reflected in a summary document which will be published on GOV.UK.

The Government launched a public consultation on proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme on 30 October 2025 that ran for the standard 12 weeks and closed on 22 January. This consultation adhered to the Cabinet Office Consultation Principles and was open to the public, with responses particularly encouraged from those in the infected blood community. The Government is considering each response to the consultation with the seriousness the issue deserves, and will publish its response within 12 weeks of the consultation’s closing date. An Equality Impact Assessment is not required to be carried out for public consultations, but the Government will provide one alongside any legislation arising from the implementation of the consultation’s outcome.

In its Additional Report, the Inquiry recommended that the Government reconsider how the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme provides compensation to those currently receiving Special Category Mechanism (SCM) payments or its equivalents. The Government accepted this recommendation.

The public consultation proposed that anyone currently receiving SCM or equivalent payments through the Infected Blood Support Schemes would be automatically eligible for a Severe Health Condition award. The Government has also consulted on how eligibility should be established for people who are not registered with an Infected Blood Support Scheme (IBSS) but who experience the same impact on their day-to-day life for the same reasons.

The Technical Expert Group (TEG) is convening a series of roundtables with key organisations and charity representatives to discuss aspects of the Infected Blood Inquiry Additional Report recommendations for the compensation scheme, to inform their advice to the Government. This targeted engagement is separate to the Government’s consultation. The TEG held roundtables on 15 and 17 December 2025, which focused on establishing the eligibility criteria for living infected people who are not currently registered with an IBSS, in relation to the award to recognise impacts associated with SCM, and its equivalents. The attendee list was informed by the key representatives in the infected blood community that the Government regularly engages with. To ensure transparency, the minutes of meetings of the TEG are published on GOV.UK. The minutes of these roundtable meetings were published on 29 January 2026.

The TEG invited further written responses from the representatives to supplement the discussion of the roundtables. The TEG therefore received written responses after the initial roundtables on SCM had been held. The TEG have, since then, reviewed these written responses and will be making sure they too are properly reflected in a summary document which will be published on GOV.UK.

The Government launched a public consultation on proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme on 30 October 2025 that ran for the standard 12 weeks and closed on 22 January. This consultation adhered to the Cabinet Office Consultation Principles and was open to the public, with responses particularly encouraged from those in the infected blood community. The Government is considering each response to the consultation with the seriousness the issue deserves, and will publish its response within 12 weeks of the consultation’s closing date. An Equality Impact Assessment is not required to be carried out for public consultations, but the Government will provide one alongside any legislation arising from the implementation of the consultation’s outcome.

In its Additional Report, the Inquiry recommended that the Government reconsider how the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme provides compensation to those currently receiving Special Category Mechanism (SCM) payments or its equivalents. The Government accepted this recommendation.

The public consultation proposed that anyone currently receiving SCM or equivalent payments through the Infected Blood Support Schemes would be automatically eligible for a Severe Health Condition award. The Government has also consulted on how eligibility should be established for people who are not registered with an Infected Blood Support Scheme (IBSS) but who experience the same impact on their day-to-day life for the same reasons.

The Technical Expert Group (TEG) is convening a series of roundtables with key organisations and charity representatives to discuss aspects of the Infected Blood Inquiry Additional Report recommendations for the compensation scheme, to inform their advice to the Government. This targeted engagement is separate to the Government’s consultation. The TEG held roundtables on 15 and 17 December 2025, which focused on establishing the eligibility criteria for living infected people who are not currently registered with an IBSS, in relation to the award to recognise impacts associated with SCM, and its equivalents. The attendee list was informed by the key representatives in the infected blood community that the Government regularly engages with. To ensure transparency, the minutes of meetings of the TEG are published on GOV.UK. The minutes of these roundtable meetings were published on 29 January 2026.

The TEG invited further written responses from the representatives to supplement the discussion of the roundtables. The TEG therefore received written responses after the initial roundtables on SCM had been held. The TEG have, since then, reviewed these written responses and will be making sure they too are properly reflected in a summary document which will be published on GOV.UK.

The details of any agreements, including specific clauses, are subject to ongoing negotiations with the EU. We will not provide a running commentary on the progress of those negotiations, although I would note termination provisions are routine in international agreements.

I refer the Hon Member to my answer on 14 January 2026 (PQ 103782).

I refer the Hon Member to my answer on 26 November 2025 (PQ 92286).

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Rt Hon. gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 3rd February is attached.

Number 10 and the Cabinet Office are continuing to work together and with departments to consider a range of options for Taskforces across the Prime Minister’s priorities, and will determine how many will be created.

They will be funded from existing budgets with prioritised business case approvals and increased delegated authority limits, if necessary, from the Treasury.

Departmental Ministers will remain accountable for their policy areas and will have a direct line to the top of government in Number 10, the Cabinet Office, and the Treasury to help support delivery.

Taskforces focus on Prime Ministerial priorities and will remove obstacles to delivery, drawing on lessons from the Vaccine Taskforce and other relevant examples.

They will have the freedom to hire the best talent from within the civil service at pace and expedited approvals for short-term appointments of external expertise.

Departmental Ministers will be accountable for their policy areas as now and will have a direct line to the top of government in Number 10, the Cabinet Office, and the Treasury to help support delivery.

The relevant factors when considering findings and recommendations made by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman will be specific to each case.

The Government does not centrally record information regarding Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman recommendations.

I refer the Noble Lord to my answer of 16 December 2025, Official Report, PQ HL12682.

PQ HL12682 Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to paragraph 3 of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, published in September 2024, whether the Prime Minister's chief of staff has been authorised by the Prime Minister to represent the views of the Prime Minister to the media. HL12682

Cabinet Office response: All special advisers are bound by the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers sets out special advisers obligations with regards to the media.

There are no plans to abolish the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Spend on influencer costs (exclusive of agency fees) since July 2024 to the date of this PQ is £365,331. This figure is reflective of currency conversion rates at the time of the request.

Please note, some data has been withheld due to commercial and wider sensitivities.

The NEPRO3 framework is not managed or administered by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS).

CCS does not monitor the compliance of Bloom Procurement Services Ltd with the NEPRO3 framework, and it does not have a role in auditing any fees or margins that may be applied by Bloom Procurement Services Ltd to departments.

The Government's approach to transparency and open data is set out on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-to-publish-central-government-transparency-data.

Summary information relating to the Cabinet Office fixed asset register is available in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25.

Ministerial travel is carefully considered to ensure both efficiency and the interests of the taxpayer are prioritised.

While the Cabinet Office can facilitate helicopter travel in exceptional circumstances, routine helicopter journeys for ministers are no longer carried out under this Government.

Helicopter travel has been commissioned under the Cabinet Office Central Travel Contract on five occasions since April 2025. Only one of these flights was for a government minister.

24 Prime Ministerial helicopter tasks were facilitated under the Command Support Air Transport Fleet between 01 February 2021 and 04 September 2023.

The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.

The Government’s reforms to the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs), like in the manufacturing sector.

We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.

We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course. These reforms will further support British SMEs, like in manufacturing, to bid for contracts.

The purpose of the Ethics and Integrity Commission is to promote the highest standards in public life. Its terms of reference set out its responsibilities and remit, which can be found at the following link: https://eic.independent-commission.uk/what-we-do/terms-of-reference/

As set out in the terms of reference, the Ethics and Integrity Commission does not investigate individual cases.

Since July 2024, guidance has been updated to reflect the new Royal Coat of Arms following the accession of His Majesty The King.

A strategic decision has been made to adopt "UK Government" as the primary identity for all public-facing communications.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 20 May 2025, Official Report, PQ 49763.

GCS does not use Storyzy to monitor content relating to gender issues.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer of PQ108665.

There are currently no plans to publish the full list of publications assessed under the SAFE framework as the area remains subject to ongoing policy development. Premature publication of the inclusion list would have negative impacts.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer of PQ108665.

There are currently no plans to publish the full list of publications assessed under the SAFE framework as the area remains subject to ongoing policy development. Premature publication of the inclusion list would have negative impacts.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 3rd February is attached.

The process for all members wishing to access their Civil Service Pension is the same and can be viewed at https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/memberhub/

The guidance for members to claim their pension benefits is available on the Civil Service Pension website.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Lord Patten

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

02 February 2026

Dear Lord Patten,

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the number of unemployed graduates who are claiming benefits; and what is the proportion of females and males represented in that number (HL13936).

The ONS collects information on the labour market status of individuals through the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK. People are classed as unemployed if they were not doing paid work in the reference week, or had a job they were temporarily away from, and are actively seeking and available to start work.

Respondents who are not in employment and are aged between 16 and 69 years are asked if they are claiming any state benefits or tax credits, as well as information regarding any qualifications they have.

The estimated number of unemployed people in the UK aged between 16 and 69 years, who claim any state benefits or tax credits, and have a degree or equivalent qualification, for September to November 2025, the latest LFS period available, is 190,000. This number is made up of an estimated 58% women and 42% men.

Because the identification of whether someone claims benefits is based on survey responses, the total number will differ from administrative counts of claimants.

Labour Force Survey (LFS) are considered ‘official statistics in development’ until further review. Previous challenges with response rates, response levels and weighting approach led to increased volatility. While these have lessened following improvement action, we still advise some caution when interpreting changes in recent periods.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

Senior appointments within the Church are undertaken under the Standing Orders of the Church of England laid down by the Church’s elected body, the General Synod, which govern the Crown Nominations Commission, the committee which nominates Archbishops and diocesan Bishops. Safeguarding ability is an essential requirement for all senior positions, necessitating enhanced DBS checks and specialist training as well as being assessed as part of the application paperwork and at interview.

In the Plan for Change document, there are linked statistics in the final "Statistical Sources" section Plan for Change – Milestones for mission-led government. These continue to be published and updated in line with best practice guidance for statistical releases.

The Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC), which launched on 13 October 2025, was established by strengthening and reforming the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL).

Its purpose is to promote the highest standards in public life, as set out in its Terms of Reference. The EIC has published an implementation plan, which sets out an 18-24 month plan for the transition of the CSPL into the EIC, which can be found at the following link:

https://eic.independent-commission.uk/wp-content/themes/eic/download-document.php?file=EIC-Implementation-Plan.docx.pdf

This government remains committed to reducing barriers to trade and cutting red-tape. There are clear areas where closer alignment with the EU can benefit UK businesses, as demonstrated by our negotiations on a food and drinks agreement. However, the government’s red lines are clear: there will be no return to the Single Market, Customs Union or freedom of movement.