Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what is the remuneration and terms of reference of Varun Chandra as the Prime Minister’s special envoy to the US on trade and investment; and whether he is a special adviser, civil servant or direct ministerial appointment.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the Special Adviser Annual Report, and the press release on gov.uk which sets out the responsibilities associated with the role. No additional remuneration will be made for the role of Special Envoy.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the trend in the levels of timeliness of Civil Service Pension payments since Capita took over administration of the MyCSP system on 1 December 2025.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Capita took over the administration on 1 December 2025. Since then, Capita has completed pension payments to approximately 730,000 retired members on time. However, some civil servants and pension scheme members are facing unacceptable delays in accessing their pension payments.
While Capita inherited a significant backlog of cases from the previous provider, MyCSP, this is now worse and we are urgently addressing that. In response, we have set up a dedicated team to work urgently with Capita, with 650 full time staff across Government and Capita clearing critical cases by the end of February 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. This includes specific commitments to restore service levels for priority cases, deploy additional resources, and improve communication with affected colleagues, so that staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2025, to Question 94700, on Tim Allan, whether the records held by the Cabinet Office as part of the declaration of interests process for special advisers show that Tim Allan has any shareholdings or share options in lobbying firm, BB Partners Advisory Holdings Limited.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
There is an established system in place for the declaration and management of special advisers' interests, including their financial 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. Mr Allan sought and received advice on his interests. He has followed every element of the advice received.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate she made of the cost to her Department of implementing the digital ID scheme since September 2024.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Costs in this Spending Review period will be met within the existing Spending Review settlement.
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 16 January 2026 to Question 103786 on Admiralty House: Official Residence, which business unit of the Cabinet Office determines which individual civil servants may use Admiralty House for accommodation; and whether his Department holds data on those civil servants that have used the accommodation in Admiralty House, including the dates of such use.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Admiralty House is occasionally used overnight by Civil Servants where there is operational need. This is in-line with the usage of Admiralty House across successive governments. Temporary overnight stays require permission from the Prime Minister’s Office.
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 14 January 2026 to Question 103782 on Ministers: Official Cars, which team within the Government Car Service prepares the financial accounts for vehicles provided to Government Departments.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The finance team.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the level of the gender pension gap within the civil service pension scheme.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The gender pension gap can be measured in different ways. In order to answer this question, we have used the difference in average pension in payment for men and women, expressed as a percentage of the average pension for men. Based on the latest data available, from 2024, the gap has reduced from 47% in 2016 to 42%.
We fully expect this position to continue to improve as the equality employment legislation reduces historical differences in both the gap in pay and pensions accruing.
The Cabinet Office will be commissioning the Government Actuary’s Department to carry out further analysis of the current position and will then consider next steps.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help close the gender pension gap in the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The gender pension gap can be measured in different ways. In order to answer this question, we have used the difference in average pension in payment for men and women, expressed as a percentage of the average pension for men. Based on the latest data available, from 2024, the gap has reduced from 47% in 2016 to 42%.
We fully expect this position to continue to improve as the equality employment legislation reduces historical differences in both the gap in pay and pensions accruing.
The Cabinet Office will be commissioning the Government Actuary’s Department to carry out further analysis of the current position and will then consider next steps.
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 16 January 2026 to Question 103795 on Government Property Agency: Empty Property, if he will list the addresses of the 13 vacant properties and their last Government occupier.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Details of vacant space across the government estate, aggregated from departmental submissions, are published annually in the State of the Estate Report. This includes total square metre figures by department, but not individual property-level occupancy or address data.
Members of the public can view information on vacant or surplus government-owned properties via the Government Property Finder: https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property
Feb. 03 2026
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