Cabinet Office

It is, and always will be, an absolute priority for this Government to protect our democratic and electoral processes. This is why on 18 November, I set out a Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan to disrupt and deter foreign influence and spying from foreign states.

We recognise that elected representatives are potential targets for foreign influence and interference. In October 2025, the National Protective Security Agency published its guidance on how members of Parliament and their Parliamentary staff can protect themselves from foreign states and its proxies in relation to espionage and foreign interference.

Before his appointment as a special adviser, Mr Allan sought and received advice on his interests. He has followed every element of the advice received.

Mr Allan has formally waived his rights as a shareholder over any matter requiring consent or approval of investors, as well as rights to receive shareholder information. He has also waived his rights to receive any dividend, and will not receive any share options. He agreed not to increase his shareholdings in Strand Partners during his time as a special adviser. Mr Allan has recused himself from engagement with Strand Partners in relation to the firm’s business, and from involvement in any procurement relating to Strand Partners during his period of employment. He retains an investment in the company.

A copy of the Facility Time Framework and its supporting guidance was deposited in the House Library in May of this year.

Palantir is not a strategic supplier and therefore details of contracts are not collated centrally.

Details of central government contracts above £12,000 and public sector contracts above £30,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder and for procurements commenced after 24 February 2025 are published on Find a Tender Service

All special advisers are bound by the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers sets out special adviser's obligations with regards to the media.

The severe space weather risk was first added to the National Risk Register in the 2012 edition in light of lessons from the 2010 Iceland volcanic eruptions.

All risks in the National Risk Register, including those related to severe space weather, are kept under review to ensure that they are the most appropriate scenarios to inform emergency preparedness and resilience activity.

The current procurement rules, which came into force on 24 February 2025, encourage contracting authorities to engage with the market before commencing a procurement. 5,000 pre-market engagement notices have now been published. This engagement is of particular importance under the new rules, where contracting authorities have significant flexibility to design and tailor their competitive procurement procedures.

We have consulted on procurement reforms to further boost domestic supply chains and create more opportunities for businesses across the UK, including across the housing sector. We will be publishing the consultation outcome - and legislative proposals - soon.

The Government does not disclose the security arrangements at official residences.

The existing policy regarding TikTok on government devices remains unchanged. It is a longstanding principle that for security reasons, it would not be appropriate to comment on 10 Downing Street’s IT systems.

Chequers is owned by The Chequers Trust, and therefore payment of Council Tax is not a matter for the government.

The Cabinet Office has no plans to review the existing arrangements for challenging final ombudsman decisions.

Departments and their partner organisations are currently collecting the data for the next ‘high earner’ list. It will be published when the data set is complete and the personal information being released about individuals has been fully quality assured. As set out in my previous answer, salary information for the Senior Civil Service is already in the public domain.

Chequers is owned by The Chequers Trust, and therefore payment of Council Tax is not a matter for the government.

The ALB Review, formally launched on 7th April 2025 is ongoing, its outcomes will be communicated in due course.

The Downing Street estate is held on the department’s fixed asset register for their service potential and are valued in line with their existing use value (EUV) as defined in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Red Book.

Each property is revalued on a rotational basis on a five-year cycle commencing at the point of acquisition. A revaluation for the property as a whole was carried out in the 2022 to 2023 financial year. The flats are not valued individually.

The Staff Network Policy was launched on 23 September 2025 and is applicable to all cross-Civil Service Staff networks, from this date. Departments have been strongly encouraged to adopt or align to this policy for their own departmental networks. The policy establishes a consistent framework to ensure all staff networks operate effectively, in line with the Civil Service code.

The previous administrator, MyCSP continued to make payments up to and including 1 December. Capita assumed control of the payroll from 2 December and continues to pay pensioners continuously in line with the contractual requirements.

The Cabinet Office is monitoring Capita’s services via ‘Early Life Support’ during December. This involves Capita providing regular updates across different workstreams, offering quick issue resolution and performance monitoring to ensure stability. Once this is completed early in 2026, phase 2 will progress which is Capita increasing the functionality and automation within the portal which will increase the member self serve options. The Cabinet Office will monitor this period for approximately 6 months.

An issue was identified with the new scheme website shortly after launch that caused the website and portal to run slowly. Capita immediately identified the issue and worked with Microsoft to rectify the issue. By 4 December, the website was considerably improved and we now have 37,000 members registered on the member portal as of 5 December.

The Cabinet Office replies to requests in line with our obligations under the FOI Act. The Cabinet Office has responded to the Hon Member’s initial request and follow-up request within the statutory time limit.

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

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 5th of December is attached.

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

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 8th of December is attached.

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

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 8th of December is attached.

I refer the honourable Member to my answer to PQ93098.

I refer the honourable Member to my answer to PQ93098.

Before the Second Home premium was introduced in Westminster, the Cabinet Office was aware that the former Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) was occupying Admiralty House (AH) as a second home and that council tax would therefore be payable by Government. In line with long standing precedent under successive administrations, as the property was a second residence the Government was responsible for paying the Council Tax on Admiralty House, not the former DPM. The full amount of tax has been paid.

WCC were notified at the beginning of May that the former DPM was occupying AH as a second home for council tax purposes, and details were provided for WCC to issue a bill accordingly.

GPA wrote to WCC in June to confirm that the second homes premium applied. WCC issued an invoice in July which was paid the same day.

The valuation report contains information that is commercially sensitive, and it is therefore not our policy to place such reports in the Library or share this information publicly.

Before the Second Home premium was introduced in Westminster, the Cabinet Office were aware that the former Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) was occupying Admiralty House (AH) as a second home and that council tax would therefore be payable by Government. In line with long standing precedent under successive administrations, as the property was a second residence the Government was responsible for paying the Council Tax on Admiralty House, not the former DPM. Similarly, the Cabinet Office is responsible for liaising with Westminster City Council (WCC) for matters concerning residency at Admiralty House.

WCC were notified at the beginning of May that the former DPM was occupying AH as a second home for council tax purposes, and details were provided for WCC to issue a bill accordingly.

GPA wrote to WCC in June to confirm that the second homes premium applied. WCC issued an invoice in July which was paid the same day.

The Government Property Agency (GPA) does not routinely publish invoices under £25k. Admiralty House sits within Council Tax Band H and details of the bands, current Council Tax charges, additional premiums and published notices about Council Tax can be found at the following page: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/council-tax/council-tax-band-and-charges

The issuing of council tax bills is a matter for the relevant billing authority.

The Government has a number of official residences that are allocated to ministers to support them to discharge their duties, or on the grounds of security.

Admiralty House has been used as an official residence under successive administrations.

The Government paid council tax on the Ministerial residence in Admiralty House between 9 September and 4 November 2024. In line with longstanding precedent, where a minister occupies an official residence as a second home, the responsibility for payment of council tax falls to the Government.

The Government Property Agency (GPA) collates information in line with the contract via a third party supplier, who report this into the Social Value Portal. The GPA does not therefore directly hold the information.

I refer you to the response given by Minister Gould to PQ43014 in April of this year which asked what the cost to the public purse was of this employee network.

The Civil Service LGBT+ staff network is a volunteer collaborative group of Civil Service staff. The LGBT+ network does not hold a budget, but a department can choose to provide support where there is a business case to do so. We are not aware of any such financial support. There has been no cost to the public purse of the LGBT+ network since 2020. We do not hold any records prior to this date. The LGBT+ network was created in 2003.

The Government does not routinely publish details of operational security matters or specific threats. The Cabinet Office works closely with agencies such as the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), alongside other government departments, to fully understand and address cyber vulnerabilities, proportional to the perceived threat, and support departments. This collaborative effort covers all connected vehicles, including those powered by internal combustion engines, as well as electric and hybrid models.

The Cabinet Office is supporting the Ministry of Defence to determine what new legislative measures may be required to increase readiness in the event of crisis or conflict. In line with the Strategic Defence Review and its recommendation concerning a “whole of society approach”, we expect the legislation to enable the Government to better keep the UK safe in crisis or war by improving the preparedness of key industries and to support the mobilisation of wider defence capacity, including the Reserves. As the lead department, the Ministry of Defence will provide more detail in due course.

As was the case under successive administrations, an itemised list is not routinely published. Total expenditure from the Prime Minister’s allowance on their official residence is disclosed in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.

The Special Adviser Code of Conduct sets out the categories of meetings, gifts and hospitality that are declared publicly. Any relevant meetings within this category will be published via this process in the normal way.

The Cabinet Office is taking a range of steps to strengthen neurodiversity awareness and support available. We have established a dedicated Neurodiversity Network, which provides a platform for colleagues to share lived experiences and access resources that promote understanding of neurodiversity across the department and has a senior active Neurodiversity Champion.

A Disability Line Manager Toolkit has been launched this year providing clear guidance on recognising neurodiversity, outlines common neurodivergent conditions, and highlights key statistics to build awareness among managers. It also explains the support available within the department, including the Workplace Adjustments Passport.

Sessions on the importance of neurodiversity, hosted by our Cabinet Office Diversity Network Champion and Diversity and Inclusion team are run, to help deepen insight and encourage inclusive working practices and we use Line Managers calls to raise awareness.

In addition, the Business Disability Forum, delivers regular Lunch and Learn events on neurodiversity. These sessions provide practical guidance, share best practice, and support managers and teams in fostering an inclusive culture.

There is an established system in place for the declaration and management of special advisers' interests. As has been the case under successive administrations, interests deemed relevant for publication for special advisers in No10 and the Cabinet Office are published on an annual basis by the Cabinet Office.

There is an established system in place for the declaration and management of special advisers' interests. As has been the case under successive administrations, interests deemed relevant for publication for special advisers in No10 and the Cabinet Office are published on an annual basis by the Cabinet Office.

There is an established system in place for the declaration and management of special advisers' interests. As has been the case under successive administrations, interests deemed relevant for publication for special advisers in No10 and the Cabinet Office are published on an annual basis by the Cabinet Office.

A launch date for the Partnership Contingent Decision route cannot be confirmed at this time. The Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) launched the Contingent Decision process for members who opted out of the scheme in July 2025. However, the process for members who switched to the Partnership pension scheme involves additional complexity, requiring the reconciliation of contributions between defined contribution and defined benefit arrangements.

The administration of this work will now be picked up by Capita who took over the CSPS contract on 1 December. Planning work has started to define the process and timeline.

We do not have any specific neurodiversity training available to all Civil Service departments. Civil Service Expectations is an e-learning course for all civil servants which explains why inclusion, diversity and equality is important to the Civil Service and the citizens it serves. We do not actively monitor the training of other departments and departments have delegated authority to develop learning that aligns to their organisational requirements.

Yes. The UK’s constitutional arrangements require an immediate transition of power the day after a general election. A list of individuals is provided to the Cabinet Secretary’s Office by political parties, so that the incoming Prime Minister has the ability to begin work immediately.

This Government is relentlessly targeting waste and driving efficiencies to deliver a leaner Civil Service. At the Autumn Budget the Government announced that back-office administration costs will be reduced by 16% by 2029-30, to save money and focus resources on frontline services.

Examples of these departmental savings include DSIT’s use of AI and automation to free up staff from administrative tasks, which will deliver £7m of efficiencies by 2028-29. Additionally, the MOD will deliver £905m of technical efficiencies by 2028-29 through digitisation and modernisation, acquisition reform, and sustainability initiatives.

Additional, cross-government examples include cutting government credit card spending by £25 million in the first four months since new rules were introduced by the Cabinet Office in March. In addition, the Plan for London, part of the Places for Growth programme, was launched in May this year and will involve the closure of no fewer than 11 buildings by 2030, delivering annual savings of £94 million. Most notably, 102 Petty France, Caxton House and 39 Victoria Street will all be closed during the programme, as it consolidates the central London estate.