Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of prioritising cyber security in public procurement contracts for national infrastructure projects.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This Government recognises that cyber crime is a significant threat to our economy, to our businesses, and to the livelihoods of our workers.
As set out in the National Procurement Policy Statement, contracting authorities are required to identify the cyber and other security risks associated with their procurements and take appropriate action to mitigate them.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to publish data relating to carbon offsetting for all government flights.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government does not have a general policy of carbon offsetting flights.
Prime Ministerial flights are carbon offset where that is possible. The yearly payment to carbon offset flights using the G-GBNI aircraft is calculated at the end of each financial year based on the flights that have taken place to ensure accuracy.
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 15 September 2025 to Question 74665 on Civil Service: Workplace Pensions, whether civil servants who are members of Classic, Classic Plus and Premium are able to (a) claim those pensions at 60 and (b) accrue pensionable contributions from Alpha whilst they remain in Crown service; and whether Nuvos members can do the same at 65.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Members of Classic, Classic Plus, Premium and Nuvos can claim their pensions on partial retirement (subject to them reducing their pensionable earnings by 20% by working less hours or at a lower grade) and continue in service accruing Alpha benefits (on that new lower salary). The pension they claim will be reduced (abated) if, when added to their new salary, the total exceeds their pay before partial retirement.
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 21 October 2025, to Question 76829, on Arms Length Bodies: Equality, whether any assessment has been made of the level of compliance by Arms Length Bodies with the May 2024 EDI spending control guidance.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
As part of the requirements of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Expenditure Guidance, external EDI expenditure must be reported to the Cabinet Office by departments and Arms Length Bodies who employ civil servants. There is no additional assessment on compliance by ALB’s and reported expenditure is published annually.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that digital identity does not become a de facto requirement for participation in (a) commerce, (b) governance and (c) daily life.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government’s new digital credential will focus on use cases that are most impactful for the public and will be designed to make interactions with public services easier.
We will invite views on such use cases through the public consultation that will launch in the new year.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what number and proportion of housebuilding in the most recent year for which ONS holds figures was built in each constituent nation of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt. Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 28th November is attached.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to provide alternative identity verification routes for individuals who do not wish to submit (a) facial and (b) other biometric data in the context of the proposed introduction of digital ID cards.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We are inviting the public to have their say in the upcoming consultation as we develop a safe, secure, and truly inclusive system for the UK.
The consultation will gather views on the scheme, including any concerns around facial and biometric data associated with a digital ID. No final decisions will be made until after the consultation.
We will ensure that the digital ID scheme complies with all data protection legislation, and user privacy will be at the heart of the design of the scheme at every stage of development and delivery.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the deposited letter from the Acting National Statistician of 22 May 2025, pursuant to the answer of 29 May 2025, to Question 53545, on Office for National Statistics: Buildings, and with reference to the Table 1 statistics on daily attendance in each of (a) Darlington, (b) Manchester and (c) Edinburgh, how many civil servants do the figures relate to in each building, and what was the frequency of their attendance on which the 5% statistic was calculated by ONS.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 26th November is attached.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to item 2.1 of the minutes of the 25 April 2025 meeting of the Advisory Panel on Consumer Prices (Stakeholder), what recent progress the Office for National Statistics has made on evaluating the potential impact of the use of groceries scanner data on the headline rates of (a) CPI, (b) CPIH and (c) RPI.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 1st December is attached.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of suicide rates among men in West Dorset over the last five years.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 27th November is attached.