Cabinet Office

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

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office of National Statistics.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Freybeg

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

02 March 2026

Dear Lord Freyberg,

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking a) further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 17 February (HL14181), whether the Office for National Statistics has assessed the feasibility and statistical acceptability of aggregating multiple Standard Occupational Classification codes that individually fall below publication thresholds into higher-level sector groupings for publication purposes; and if so, what conclusions were reached (HL14677); and b) what statistical disclosure control techniques, including aggregation, rounding, banding or noise adjustment, are available to the Office for National Statistics to enable publication of sectorlevel occupational data derived from low-count Standard Occupational Classification categories (HL14679).

The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes are routinely used for statistical outputs. SOC codes are designed with a hierarchical structure, ranging from 1-digit codes for the broadest categories, 2 = ‘Professional occupations’ for example, to 4-digit codes for the most detailed categories, 2451 = ‘Architects’ for example. The SOC ‘nested’ structure means multiple Standard Occupation Classification codes are aggregated into higher-level groupings by design. The use of these standard groupings allows for better comparisons over time and with other data sources. Statistical outputs that the ONS produces will use an appropriate level of detail of SOC codes, aiming to balance the need for detailed occupation information, with the possibility of smaller categories falling below the publication threshold. Further information about the SOC classification can be found on the ONS website. There is currently a consultation to update SOC2020 because of the continual evolution of occupations, and to ensure that SOC reflects significant changes in the labour market. Submissions to the consultation are live until 11 May 2026.

All the disclosure control techniques you reference in your question are available to use. Aggregation and banding are the most used methods to increase the number of contributors. The choice of disclosure method depends on the source of data, user needs, disclosure risk and other related factors. The disclosure control methods applied are always designed to maximise the usefulness of the data whilst protecting the confidentiality of the contributors.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/standardoccupationalclassificationsoc/soc2020/soc2020volume1structureanddescriptionsofunitgroups

https://consultations.ons.gov.uk/external-affairs/soc2020-revision-consultation/

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

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office of National Statistics.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Freybeg

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

02 March 2026

Dear Lord Freyberg,

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking a) further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 17 February (HL14181), whether the Office for National Statistics has assessed the feasibility and statistical acceptability of aggregating multiple Standard Occupational Classification codes that individually fall below publication thresholds into higher-level sector groupings for publication purposes; and if so, what conclusions were reached (HL14677); and b) what statistical disclosure control techniques, including aggregation, rounding, banding or noise adjustment, are available to the Office for National Statistics to enable publication of sectorlevel occupational data derived from low-count Standard Occupational Classification categories (HL14679).

The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes are routinely used for statistical outputs. SOC codes are designed with a hierarchical structure, ranging from 1-digit codes for the broadest categories, 2 = ‘Professional occupations’ for example, to 4-digit codes for the most detailed categories, 2451 = ‘Architects’ for example. The SOC ‘nested’ structure means multiple Standard Occupation Classification codes are aggregated into higher-level groupings by design. The use of these standard groupings allows for better comparisons over time and with other data sources. Statistical outputs that the ONS produces will use an appropriate level of detail of SOC codes, aiming to balance the need for detailed occupation information, with the possibility of smaller categories falling below the publication threshold. Further information about the SOC classification can be found on the ONS website. There is currently a consultation to update SOC2020 because of the continual evolution of occupations, and to ensure that SOC reflects significant changes in the labour market. Submissions to the consultation are live until 11 May 2026.

All the disclosure control techniques you reference in your question are available to use. Aggregation and banding are the most used methods to increase the number of contributors. The choice of disclosure method depends on the source of data, user needs, disclosure risk and other related factors. The disclosure control methods applied are always designed to maximise the usefulness of the data whilst protecting the confidentiality of the contributors.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/standardoccupationalclassificationsoc/soc2020/soc2020volume1structureanddescriptionsofunitgroups

https://consultations.ons.gov.uk/external-affairs/soc2020-revision-consultation/

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

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office of National Statistics.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Freybeg

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

02 March 2026

Dear Lord Freyberg

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking whether the Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) records secondary occupations or ongoing professional identities when someone has more than one type of work; and what assessment they have made of how recording only a person’s main job may affect sectors where many people have portfolio careers, such as crafts and the visual arts (HL14678).

The TLFS does collect information on a respondent’s secondary occupation. Where the respondent has a portfolio career such as those mentioned, they can self-determine this as their main or second job. The data collected includes for example, whether this is in an employed or self-employed capacity, the hours usually and actually worked, the pay received and the industry and occupation code of the position. This data is used for a variety of statistical, legislative and policy purposes by a broad range of stakeholders.

Information is collected for up to two jobs. There has previously been a question as to whether information on more than two jobs should be collected. However, there must be a careful balance achieved between data users need, and the respondent burden caused by survey length. While we are not currently in a position to capture more than two jobs, this issue will be thoroughly explored within future developments of the TLFS.

The TLFS also collects data on casual working roles so that those in more informal situations are also captured.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

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

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office of National Statistics.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Mott OBE

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

02 March 2026

Dear Lord Mott,

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 UK hospitality businesses that have ceased trading since November 2024 (HL14742).

Information on the number of businesses which have ceased trading is best obtained from the ONS’s annual business demography release, which has the Inter-Departmental Business Register as its data source. However, the latest year for which figures are available from this data source is 2024.

The ONS publishes more up-to-date estimates of business closures via our quarterly business demography release. The figures in this release are regarded as ‘official statistics in development’. It is not possible to separately identify the hospitality industry in the quarterly data, but figures are available for accommodation and food as a whole. Table 1 shows the number of business closures in the United Kingdom (UK), from the fourth quarter of 2024 to the fourth quarter of 2025.

Table 1: Number of business closures for accommodation and food businesses

Source: Official for National Statistics

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

The Hon Member will be aware that as under successive administrations, the Cabinet Office does not routinely publish responses to FOI requests.

Freedom of Information statistics for all central government departments and other monitored bodies are published on a quarterly and annual basis on Gov.UK at www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics

The Government has now launched a public consultation on the digital ID where we want to hear as wide a range of views as possible.

The scope of the digital ID system is still in development and we are inviting the public to have their say in the consultation as we develop a useful, inclusive and trusted system.

Through this consultation we are asking the public what age they think is appropriate to have digital ID.

The public consultation is now open and I encourage you and your constituents to respond.

The design and delivery of digital ID are subject to the consultation outcomes. The feedback from the consultation will inform our final approach and enable a more accurate assessment of costs.

As the Government has stated previously, any costs in this Spending Review period will be met within existing settlements.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.

This Government is committed to breaking the link between background and success and ending the ceiling on the ambitions of people in Britain. The Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) is working on delivering the Government’s Plan for Change, helping to ensure that equality issues are actively considered in all five missions.

This project will feed into resources to help equip policy makers across government departments working on the Opportunity Mission with an understanding of how people’s lives are impacted by their personal characteristics, to support robust policy development and in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty.

The former Deputy Prime Minister confirmed to her department (MHCLG) that she would occupy the official residence in Admiralty House on a second home basis, and this information was passed onto the Cabinet Office before the council tax second homes premium came into force on 1 April 2025. As such, the former Deputy Prime Minister had properly discharged her duties at this point, which was to confirm the status of her occupation of the flat.

The Government Property Agency (GPA), an executive agency of the Cabinet Office, is responsible for the administration and payment of any tax liabilities for Admiralty House.The Government Property Agency wrote to Westminster City Council in June to confirm that the former Deputy Prime Minister was residing in Admiralty House on a second home basis. Westminster City Council issued a bill applying the second home premium in July, which was paid in full the same day. The bill was paid for the full year of 1 April 2025 - 31 March 2026.

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 Procurement Act (PA23) sets, for the first time, a duty for contracting authorities to have regard to the particular barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and to consider what can be done to reduce or remove them. Initial trends show that the proportion of PA23 tender lots with a planning, tender, transparency or dynamic markets notice tagged as suitable for SMEs has increased to around two thirds of all requirements.

To continue to build on this positive trend, this Government has also published a new, more ambitious, 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).

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.

Information on the annual cost of Government contracts for licensing across the Civil Service is not held centrally.

The Senior Salaries Review Body has not received any request for Multi Academy Trust Chief Executives to be included in their remit.

The Pride Flag was displayed for the following dates across the following building.

70 Whitehall – 30.06.25 – 05.07.25 (6 Days)

I refer the Noble Lady to the Government's response to the Urgent Question tabled on 12th February (Hansard Volume 853, Column 364), the Written Ministerial Statement in the name of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister that same day (HLWS1344), and the Oral Statement on the 23 February (repeated on 24th February, Hansard Volume 853, Column 494), which sets out an update on the Government's process. We will set out further details in due course. The Government wishes to ensure that Parliament's instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was removed from the Roll of the Peerage on 5 November 2025 and his title is no longer used officially. The Government supports this decision taken by His Majesty The King.

The Prime Minister has been clear that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords or use the title. Bespoke legislation is currently required to remove a peerage but the Prime Minister has announced that the Government will create a mechanism to remove peerages from disgraced peers; this work is continuing.

Civil Service recruitment is governed by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which requires that all appointments to the Civil Service are made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

The Cabinet Office does not recruit candidates on the basis of protected characteristics. All appointments are made on merit, in line with the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. Compliance with these principles is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission.

Public Service Pension policy is the responsibility of HM Treasury, including the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS). Any reform of the scheme must align with or ensure legal compliance with HM Treasury policy, and no further reforms are being considered at this time.

I refer you to the Government's response to the Urgent Question tabled on 12th February, the Written Ministerial Statement in the name of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister that same day, and Oral Statement on the 23 February which set out an update on the Government's process for complying with the Humble Address motion. We will set out further details in due course. The Government wishes to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.

I refer you to the Government's response to the Urgent Question tabled on 12th February, and the Written Ministerial Statement, and the Oral Statement on the 23rd February, in the name of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister that same day, which set out an update on the Government's process. We will set out further details in due course. The Government wishes to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.

Visitor information for 10 Downing Street is not retained for the time period specified.

Applicants for the UKIC Summer Internship state their ethnicity as part of the application process. We do not comment on what checks are conducted by UKIC during the recruitment process.

Modern vehicles – including cars and buses – are increasingly using software to support safer driving, to improve diagnostics and to provide a host of other services such as navigation and entertainment.

The Government takes national security extremely seriously and recognises the systemic challenges of increased connectivity and the cyber security implications for almost every area of government policy, including vehicles. The National Cyber Security Centre has published guidance to help organisations understand and manage the associated risks, ensuring that system connectivity is approached in a way that balances security with the significant benefits it provides.

The Department for Transport introduced two new regulations: one to strengthen vehicle cybersecurity and one on software updates (UN Reg 155 and UN Reg 156). The cybersecurity regulation sets out requirements to mitigate potential threats in vehicle construction, to monitor emerging threats and to respond to cyber-attacks.

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

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

I refer to PQ 105699, answered on 21 January, 2026. We have been unable to identify any such central Civil Service initiative.

There are no plans to publish internal-facing guidance to the public domain, as it constitutes HR-to-HR guidance designed for departments to integrate into their respective policies and processes.

Departments facility time data publications, were based on Schedule 2 of the Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017, which specified what data needed to be collected and reported.

This did not include a specific category for the collection and reporting of time spent by trade union representatives on diversity matters. The Regulations were repealed under Section 66 of the Employment Rights Act 2025.

The data for Death Benefit Nominations (DBNs) was successfully migrated from the previous administrator (MyCSP) Compendia solution to the current Hartlink system managed by the current administrator, Capita. While the vast majority of records were digital, any legacy exceptions originally held on paper were maintained as scanned images within the Electronic Document Management system; these images were also fully transitioned to Capita alongside all other member documentation.

Although a functional issue with Capita’s online pension portal at the point of go-live briefly prevented DBNs from displaying correctly to users, this technical matter has been resolved. Members are now able to view their existing nominations through the online system, with the full functionality to amend, delete, or add new nominations as required.

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.

The delays faced by pension scheme members in accessing their pensions are unacceptable.

We recognise the significant pressure on surviving spouses, particularly in cases involving a prior ill-health retirement. Capita has prioritised the most urgent cases and by the end of February, all death in service cases were either settled or progressed to the final stage or awaiting a member response. A similar position will be reached for ill health retirement applications by mid-March.

This prioritisation extends to the surviving spouses of these members; once an ill-health retirement is processed, any subsequent survivor benefit claims are fast-tracked within the highest priority recovery stream to ensure payments reach the bereaved without further undue delay.

We have set up a dedicated team to work urgently with Capita, with 650 full time staff across Government and Capita and restoring normal service as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery.

Alongside these arrangements, Capita has prioritised payment of tax-free pension lump sums for members who had received quotations but were not in receipt of their benefits, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.

The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update (2 March 2026) is available at this weblink: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-update-2-march-2026

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.

The issues and delays facing civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions is unacceptable. In response, we have set up a dedicated team to work urgently with Capita, with 650 full time staff across Government and Capita. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery. It includes specific commitments to restore service levels as soon as possible. For priority cases, we have deployed additional resources and improved communication with affected colleagues, so that staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.

Capita has prioritised the most urgent cases and by the end of February, all death in service cases were either settled or progressed to the final stage or awaiting a member response. A similar position will be reached for ill health retirement applications by mid-March.

Alongside these arrangements, Capita has prioritised payment of tax-free pension lump sums for members who had received quotations but were not in receipt of their benefits, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.

On a) 1 December 2025, Capita inherited 86,000 CSPS cases, which included 15,000 unread emails from the previous provider; they have since opened and assessed all of these emails. We do not yet have the data for the position as of 1 March 2026.

The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time.

The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update (2 March 2026) is available at this weblink: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-update-2-march-2026

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.

The delays faced by pension scheme members in accessing their pensions are unacceptable.

In response to the issues raised during the Westminster Hall debate on 4 February 2026, the Government’s immediate priority remains working with Capita towards the full restoration of service standards.

While the current focus is on efforts to stabilise the service through the intensive recovery plan;, we have deployed additional resources, and improved communication with affected colleagues, so that staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.

The Cabinet Office considers all options for future contracts. Any future procurement exercise will be conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Procurement Act 2023. Existing KPIs have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver tighter performance expectations and higher penalties for severe failure, including financial penalties. These have already applied in respect to Capita’s performance with recent issues and delays in administering the CS Pensions Scheme.

Additionally, we have currently withheld transition milestone payments for work that has not been completed to the required standard. These payments will remain withheld until the milestones are fully delivered.

It is long-standing practice that UK Security Vetting, the body responsible for National Security Vetting across government does not disclose information provided by the security and intelligence services.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 23 October 2025, Official Report, column 1087.

I refer the honourable gentleman to the answer to PQ 111938.

I refer the Hon Member to the former Cabinet Secretary’s letter to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee of 30 October 2025, which sets out the information that was considered as part of the due diligence exercise.

There are no plans to publish such a list.

This information is not centrally held. Over 40 statutory public inquiries have been announced since 2006. The question potentially brings into scope all public inquiries that have taken place since June 2007. However, there is no centrally held data on documents or other communications created over the period specified and submitted to public inquiries by the Cabinet Office. Unfortunately, the cost to the public purse of accurately determining this information to would significantly exceed the current disproportionate cost threshold for answering written parliamentary questions set out in the Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work).

The Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments sets out the processes departments should follow when national security vetting is required. The final decision on whether to proceed with an appointment rests with the appointing minister.

The recommendations from the Cabinet Office leak inquiry have been published and are included in the HM Treasury Budget Information Security Review.

Cabinet Office Officials regularly attend meetings to discuss matters of national security, defence and resilience as well as the associated public communications required to deliver these lines of efforts. The conversation on National Defence was a recommendation in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which the Government accepted. The Ministry of Defence is the lead department for delivering the SDR, with support from the Cabinet Office, and particularly from the National Security Secretariat.

As set out in the Strategic Defence Review, the national conversation will be a multi-year, cross-departmental effort designed to deliver on the whole-of-society approach to national security and defence. This allows the Government, the private sector and public to play their part in strengthening the UK’s resilience to any potential future shocks. This work addresses the risks and threats the UK faces, including those above and below the threshold of an armed attack.

The Cabinet Office is actively leading and coordinating this work through the Home Defence Programme owned by the COBR Director and COBR Directorate, with oversight by the Deputy National Security Advisor (DNSA) for Intelligence, Defence and Security.

As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not comment on security arrangements.

As per the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles, where a competition identifies more appointable candidates than there are available vacancies, a reserve list may be created. This can be used for up to 12 months to fill the same role or other similar roles with closely matching essential criteria. With approval from the Commission, a reserve list can be extended by up to eight weeks.

I refer you to the Government's response to the Urgent Question tabled on 12th February, the Written Ministerial Statement in the name of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister that same day, and Oral Statement on the 23 February which set out an update on the Government's process for complying with the Humble Address motion. We will set out further details in due course. The Government wishes to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.