Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help improve reciprocal visa-waiver arrangements with the EU.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
HMG officials and Ministers, including myself, regularly engage the EU and EU Member State counterparts on a range of issues affecting UK nationals. The UK and the EU allow for visa-free, short-term travel in line with their respective arrangements for third country nationals.
The UK allows EU citizens visa-free travel for up to six months; the EU allows for visa-free travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period which is standard for third nationals travelling visa-free to the EU. UK nationals planning to stay longer will need permission from the relevant Member State. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the Crown Commercial Service contractfinder entry, Provision of a Systematic evidence review on the impact of the pandemic on mental health, published March 2025, Procurement reference: CCZZ24A16, awarded to the Centre for Strategy and Evaluation Services, if he will publish the report.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is independent of government. The systematic evidence review on the impact of the pandemic on mental health, commissioned by the UK Covid-19 Inquiry to support its investigation into the impact of the pandemic on society, will be published on the Inquiry's website during hearings for Module 10, to be held between 16th February 2026 and 5th March 2026.
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 103787 on Governments Departments: Advertising, if he will provide a breakdown of spending by (a) programme and (b) campaign.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Please see below for the category breakdown of the figure provided in Question 103787:
Digital - £144,968,019
Out of Home - £21,566,434
Press - £6,200,349
Radio - £10,760,710
Television - £31,404,544
This spend is across a number of government departments and a campaign breakdown is not readily available to the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the UK-EU Summit - Common Understanding, 22 December 2025, whether he plans to make additional financial contributions to the European Union as a consequence of the new provisions on Development and disaster cooperation.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We have agreed to regular UK-EU dialogue on development issues and to seek to enhance our cooperation on international disaster and humanitarian response.The details of any agreements, including financial contributions, are subject to ongoing negotiations with the EU.
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 105247 on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who took the decision to recall the papers.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The redactions to the information were agreed at the appropriate level by Cabinet Office officials, following engagement with The National Archives. Papers were not recalled from The National Archives, which is where the closed extracts remain.
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 104797 on WPP Media: Contracts, what the latest estimated value is of each individual Lot of the RM6364 framework between 2026 and 2030; and whether the total framework for government Media and Creative Services remains £2,340,000,000 including VAT.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
For the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) framework RM6364 Media and Creative Services, the estimated maximum values for each of the eight lots over the 2026-2030 period are available at the following links:
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/003578-2026
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/000238-2026?origin=Dashboard
The total estimated framework value remains £2,340,000,000 including VAT (calculated at the rate of 20%).
It should be noted that these are maximum estimated values; actual spend on each lot will be determined by individual public sector bodies based on their specific requirements over the life of the framework.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to help improve cross-government coordination to counter hostile state narratives promoted through domestic voices.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Defending Democracy Taskforce has a mandate to drive forward a whole-government response to the full range of threats to our democracy, including foreign information operations.
This response includes the Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan, which I announced in the House in November.
Coordinated by the Cabinet Office with the support of Departments across Whitehall, this plan is designed to disrupt the ecosystem of proxy organisations and individuals used by foreign states to facilitate interference.