Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2025 to Question 86666 on Government Departments: Advertising, and with reference to paragraph 223 of his Department's publication entitled Guide to Parliamentary Work, updated on 19 November 2024, if he will set out the public interest basis for not disclosing the full list of publications assessed under the SAFE framework.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
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.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2026 to Question 104160 on Publications: Gender, which publishers were assessed but not included in the inclusion list.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
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.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 5 January 2026, to Question 100882, on Disinformation, whether Storyzy is used to monitor content relating to gender issues.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
GCS does not use Storyzy to monitor content relating to gender issues.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish guidance for members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme who are employed by civil service contractors on how they can access their pensions.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
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.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of unemployed graduates who are claiming benefits; and what is the proportion of females and males represented in that number.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to review the (a) role and (b) voting rights of bishops in the House of Lords.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are no plans to review the role and voting rights of the Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords.
The Government has set out an ambitious programme of House of Lords reform in its manifesto, including a commitment to replace the House of Lords with an alternative second chamber that is more representative of the regions and nations. The Government will consult on proposals for an alternative second chamber, seeking the input of the British public on how politics can best serve them.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2026 to Question 92580 if he will list the 39 business cases that were approved.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Due to commercial sensitivities, business case titles not covered by the Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) are not published.
All projects and programmes on the GMPP must publish a Summary, Full, or Programme Business Case on GOV.UK within four months of receiving HM Treasury approval. A copy must also be deposited in the House of Commons Library.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 70478 on Disinformation, if he will publish the (a) contract and (b) terms of reference for the Storyzy service.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Please find contractual information relating to the Storyzy service at the following link:
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/57daa888-59d7-4ae2-8f9f-3977a4aa80a4?origin=SearchResults&p=1
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Ministers in his Department have received coaching in a foreign language funded by his Department since July 2024.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
No Cabinet Office Ministers have received any coaching in foreign languages funded by the department since July 2024.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the level of respondent burden to provide evidence on the need for an additional data point in the consultation entitled Assessing User Needs for Additional Response Options for the new Ethnicity Harmonisation Standards, which opened in October 2025.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
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.