Cabinet Office

Westminster City Council’s single person discount can only apply to residences that are your sole or main residence, therefore, the Admiralty House residences are currently ineligible for the discount and a discount was not claimed for or applied to the former DPM’s tenure.

All costs relating to the Cabinet Office's annual expenditure are outlined from page 165 onwards, which includes spending by the Government Property Agency as an agency of the Cabinet Office. The report does not enter into granular building level accounts, as has been the case under successive administrations.

I refer the Honourable Member to 73315 which has since been corrected.

The responsibility of the Gresham Estate was transferred to the Office of Government Property (OGP) in 2018. This is an annuity payment which dates back to an Act of Parliament in 1768, when Lord Gresham gave the site to the Crown to use. The Act said he would be paid £500 per annum, and this liability passed to the Gresham Trust when he died, and this is now managed by the Mercers’ Company.

All contractors working in central government will go through National Security Vetting at a level that is appropriate for the work they are expected to deliver, as decided by the relevant departmental body.

As a minimum, all government contractors will be cleared at Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) level. This vetting includes identity checks, employment history, unspent criminal convictions, and the right to work in the UK. If the role is deemed to require additional security clearances, such vetting will be undertaken.

The government will engage the best qualified individual for the role regardless of nationality, as long as they have the appropriate security clearance deemed necessary for the role (including the right to work in the UK).

A response has been issued here.

In recent years, the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) has run a number of internships and placement schemes. They are designed to provide insight about what it is like to work in UKIC to individuals who have particular skills and experience, want to work in a particular area and/or are from demographics and backgrounds under-represented across Government.

The eligibility criteria for specific internship schemes in UKIC are made publicly available on agency websites at the time when they are advertised.

The Government Car Service (GCS) provides vehicles to departments as a shared resource and does not record the use of the vehicle on an individual basis. In relation to the specific greenhouse gas emissions of GCS reported for 2024-25, GCS was transferred from the Department for Transport to the Cabinet Office in April 2025. The Cabinet Office does not, therefore, hold information on GCS prior to this date.

The Cabinet Office frequently engages with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) which is ultimately responsible for the resilience of the energy sector and assessment of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) against its criticality.

DESNZ works closely with industry counterparts to maintain energy security and ensure industry has the tools at their disposal to support security of supply. As the risk landscape continues to evolve, ensuring high standards of infrastructure resilience and security across the energy sector is a key priority for DESNZ and Ofgem.

DESNZ will continue engaging with Ofgem to ensure RIIO-GT3 delivers the investment needed to maintain energy security and resilience through the price control period.

The decision to call in the planning application for the proposed Chinese Embassy was made by the former Deputy Prime Minister, in line with current policy on call-in. This decision is subject to a quasi-judicial process and independent from the rest of government.

The Government Car Service (GCS) issues monthly invoices to each department for the use of its vehicles and drivers. Departments are responsible for determining the appropriate use of these vehicles, whether for Ministers or senior officials. Separate invoicing procedures are not applied for Ministers and officials.

GCS does not directly invoice the Cabinet Office for its services. These transactions are managed through internal budget transfers on a monthly basis.

The training, learning and development needs of vetting officials within United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) is kept under regular review, in line with changes in policy, legislation or the external environment. This approach allows UKSV to maximise skills and meet resourcing requirements whilst ensuring that HMG risk appetite is underpinned by a National Security Vetting provision that is both rigorous and assured.

In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.

United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) is currently meeting its agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) across each product type. UKSV KPIs are set and regularly reviewed in consultation with customer groups to ensure that demand is balanced with maintaining assurance in national security safeguards.

In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.

Please see below the data items as recorded on the notification forms to the Information Commissioner’s Office for the eight incidents referred to on page 58 of the Cabinet Office annual reports and accounts 2024-25:

Incident 1 - Health, name, contact details, date of birth

Incident 2 - Name, account numbers and sort codes

Incident 3 - Names, addresses, dates of birth and medical information

Incident 4 - Name, date of birth, home address and brief medical history

Incident 5 - Names, work email addresses, job roles/grade

Incident 6 - Name, Address, National Insurance Number, economic and financial data

Incident 7 - Name, Address, National Insurance Number, economic and financial data

Incident 8 - Name, allegations of improper conduct

In the majority of the above reported incidents either individual or very small numbers of data subjects were affected by the breach.

Regarding the Capita incident, the types of personal data recorded in the Information Commissioner’s Office notification are as follows:

• Name

• Contact details

• Account numbers and sort codes

• Health data

• Economic and financial data, e.g. credit card numbers, bank details

• Copies of official documents, e.g. driving licences

We will ensure our commitments in the Good Friday Agreement, the Windsor Framework and the Common Travel Area are respected and maintained.

We will design this system to help ensure everyone who has a right to live and work in any part of the UK can do so easily and securely.

We are working with our counterparts in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and will continue to engage to ensure the system works for people on both sides of the border.

We will ensure our commitments in the Good Friday Agreement, the Windsor Framework and the Common Travel Area are respected and maintained.

We will design this system to help ensure everyone who has a right to live and work in any part of the UK can do so easily and securely.

We are working with our counterparts in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and will continue to engage to ensure the system works for people on both sides of the border.

We will ensure our commitments in the Good Friday Agreement, the Windsor Framework and the Common Travel Area are respected and maintained.

We will design this system to help ensure everyone who has a right to live and work in any part of the UK can do so easily and securely.

We are working with our counterparts in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and will continue to engage to ensure the system works for people on both sides of the border.

The Cabinet Office Annual Report and Account 2024-25 was laid on 23 October 2025. Departments seek to lay their 2024-25 annual reports as soon as they are able to do so before the statutory deadline of 31 January 2026.

This publication is in line with those of previous years, and comes earlier than the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Account 2023-24, published in December 2024.

The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme includes Care and Financial Loss awards, which recognise the past and future care needs and associated costs for infected people.

All support scheme beneficiaries, when undergoing their compensation assessment from IBCA, can choose between the ‘core’ and ‘adjusted’ route. Choosing the core route would mean accepting their compensation as a lump sum, or periodic installments. Choosing the adjusted route, would mean a smaller lump sum, and continuing to receive support payments for life.

If someone chooses to continue receiving support scheme payments, their Care and Financial Loss awards (under the core route) will be offset against their support scheme payments.

This means that regardless of which option an infected person chooses, they will receive a form of payment that recognises their increased living, medical, and care costs, associated with their infection.

Those currently on the Infected Blood Support Schemes will continue to be able to apply for discretionary payments until they receive a compensation offer from the Infected Blood Compensation Authority.

There are no plans to publish specific financial details in the public domain.

Admiralty House as a whole was valued at £18.2 Million. The residences formed part of the valuation, however, they were not individually valued separately to the rest of the building.

Pursuant to the previous answer, all details of any payments made to Permanent Secretaries are available in the appropriate Departmental Annual Report and Account for the financial year, or will be published in the annual reports for the upcoming financial year.

No members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme were affected by the Capita data breach as the scheme is administered by MyCSP. However, a small number of members of the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme were affected. All were notified and full support was provided by Capita.

The Cabinet Office ensures employer data accuracy through a mandatory Interface Compliance Process, in place since 2018, which monitors the quality of all data and instructions against a 'right first time' standard. This process flags all Errors and Warnings on monthly submissions. The administrator, MyCSP, does not load the following month's data until all previous errors are corrected, ensuring a continuously maintained data quality. Compliance is audited weekly by the administrator, with summary reports provided to the Cabinet Office.

Civil Service Pension Scheme members were not affected by the Capita data breach, as the incident impacted data held by the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme and their members. Therefore, there was no impact on the a) integrity or b) security of the Civil Service Pension Scheme

Contingency plans are linked to contractual obligations placed on the pension administrator with several options available to the Cabinet Office in the event that a third party is unable to meet its contractual obligations. In the event of a catastrophic failure, the Cabinet Office has the right to step in to manage the contract.

The Sourcing Playbook, which provides policy and guidance on sourcing decisions, is published by the Cabinet Office and is reviewed and updated regularly. The last update was 26 February 2025.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64901fcc5f7bb700127fac5e/Sourcing_Playbook_Final.pdf

Capita contacted all impacted members to inform them of the potential loss of data. Capita provided all impacted members with clear communications and also a subscription to Experian Plus that allowed members to monitor their online records for any signs of potential issues.

Capita also initiated an independent full review of their systems to review security and to identify any further potential data exfiltration. Capita cooperated fully with investigations into the breach with the Information Commissioner's Office and with Cabinet office in assessing any potential risks to the membership of the scheme.

The Cabinet Office (CO), which is responsible for managing the contract with Capita for the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme (RMSPS), ensured the adequacy of Capita's cybersecurity protocols through a robust contractual framework. Capita is required to adhere to Government Security standards and the Security Schedule of the contract, which includes providing annual independent penetration testing by a National Cyber Security Centre-accredited team and maintaining security accreditations such as ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus.

These standards and Capita’s security posture are overseen by CO Information Assurance professionals and captured via regular reporting and audits. It should be noted that all of the accredited RMSPS systems were not compromised during the Capita cyber attack and remained secure; however, a small number of scheme members were unfortunately impacted when some data was extracted from a separate Capita finance file related to compensation payments.

In 2024-25, the Cabinet Office spend fell well below the recommended 0.1% maximum spend laid out in the facility time framework guidance.

Trade Union representatives have a statutory right to be granted reasonable paid time off to undertake trade union duties and reasonable unpaid time to undertake trade union activities. The facility time guidance sets out the requirement to monitor and report on facility time spend in the Cabinet Office.

The gender pay gap for Special Advisers is published annually on GOV.UK as part of the Cabinet Office Gender Pay Gap Report.

The next annual report, covering the most recent period, will be published in due course.

The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers requires special advisers to declare details of gifts and hospitality received in accordance with the rules set out in their departmental staff handbooks. The Special Advisers’ Transparency Guidance available on GOV.UK provides further details of requirements for reporting of gifts, hospitality and meetings with senior media figures.

In compliance with the Business Appointment Rules (BARs) the Cabinet Office is transparent in the advice given to individual applications from senior staff, including special advisers. Advice given to senior civil servants regarding specific business appointments is published quarterly on GOV.UK as part of our ongoing transparency obligations.

We do not comment on specific individuals or BARs applications.

It is a longstanding policy not to comment on individuals. Details of any payments are published in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts

(https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68fb37aec18f97edd2b63756/36.17_CO_ARA_24-25_00-Book_v16A_WEB.pdf).

Guidance on managing public money effectively is issued by HMT Treasury and it sets out rules and responsibilities, as well as best practice to achieve value for money. This guidance details the circumstances in which severance is payable. All special severance payments are approved by HMT.

It is a longstanding policy not to comment on individuals. Details of any payments are published in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68fb37aec18f97edd2b63756/36.17_CO_ARA_24-25_00-Book_v16A_WEB.pdf

Guidance on managing public money effectively is issued by HMT Treasury and it sets out rules and responsibilities, as well as best practice to achieve value for money. This guidance details the circumstances in which severance is payable. All special severance payments are approved by HMT.

In respect of the data breach for the Royal Mail Statutory Pension Scheme members, there was no cost borne by the public purse. However, Capita’s data breach is known to have impacted both private and public sector organisations and is much broader than just pension schemes. We cannot comment on the impact on anything other than the Royal Mail Pension scheme.

Recruitment is delegated to Government Departments based on their workforce strategy.

This notice relates to the development of the Central Digital Platform for procurement. Goaco Group Ltd sought permission from the Cabinet Office to engage the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) to undertake independent data quality analysis, so that the continuous improvement of the Platform is supported by the highest level of expertise available. OCP is an independent non-profit charity and has a presence in Spain and Canada. All development work related to this contract remains onshore in the UK.

As is the long-standing practice, the Cabinet Office as the contracting authority has given notice of amendment to the Goaco Contract to facilitate this work.

Information for Irish Students accessing higher education in the UK is available at https://www.ucas.com/international/international-students/support-for-international-students/students-from-ireland.

Omni and Unlimited are contracted to Cabinet Office Government Communication Service. These agencies have supported GCS in delivering campaigns on the government's priorities and missions.

Influencers have proven to be effective in reaching audiences that traditional marketing channels find hard to reach.

No SAFE framework assessment has been conducted on Guido Fawkes, Sunday Sport or Politico.

Peerages, styles, titles and honours are granted by the Sovereign.

The Sovereign may change the entitlement to the titles and styles such as “Prince” and “Royal Highness” under the Royal Prerogative. An Act of Parliament is required to remove a peerage once conferred.

Honours can only be revoked by the Sovereign, typically following a recommendation by the Forfeiture Committee to the Prime Minister.

In line with the longstanding approach over multiple administrations, it is not appropriate to publish confidential declaration of interests documentation.

As the Noble Lord will be aware, the process for declaring and managing any outside interests in relation to this role has been conducted robustly and in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies and other government guidance. There are mitigations in place to manage any potential issues.

At the meeting in question, UK officials provided an overview of the Bill’s contents and an update on its progress through Parliament. The UK agreed to provide a further update once the Bill receives Royal Assent.

Published costs for the Infected Blood Inquiry can be found on the inquiry webpage. The latest financial report was published on 27 August 2024. Additionally, the Infected Blood Compensation Authority has published an annual report enclosing a financial statement up to 31 March 2025.