Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has issued guidance to departments on how private corporations wholly-owned by HM Government should exercise their accountability to Parliament, including answering Parliamentary Questions.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Hon. member to PQ 57252.
Detail on arrangements for Parliamentary accountability and governance of government companies and public corporations are set out in Annex 7.3 of Managing Public Money.
While there is no specific guidance aimed at how private corporations wholly-owned by HM Government should exercise their accountability to Parliament. The Guide to Parliamentary Work sets out the wider Government's guidance on Parliamentary Questions.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of engagements for the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement Protocol Specialised Committee in 2025 and 2026.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement established six Specialised Committees to supervise the implementation of distinct elements of the agreement. Each committee is co-chaired by officials from the UK Government and the European Commission.
The list of meetings, agendas and joint statements of the Specialised Committees can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/withdrawal-agreement-joint-committee#meetings-of-the-withdrawal-agreement-joint-committee.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there is a list of extant desk notes held by his Department.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office does not collect a list of extant desk notes.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister, as the King's principal adviser, (a) was consulted on and (b) approved the decision to change the HM Government identity to the UK Government; and whether the Prime Minister was advised by Tim Allan in this regard when Mr Allan was Executive Director of Communications.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are no plans to discontinue the use of “HM Government”.
"UK Government" has long been the term used for the government in public-facing communications. Communications teams are advised to use "UK Government" rather than departmental names and logos for announcements, to provide clarity to the public. This does not affect the use of "His Majesty's Government", which continues on relevant official communications and records.
This guidance was developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders and in accordance with standard protocols in Summer 2025.
Please refer to https://www.communications.gov.uk/guidance/marketing/branding-guidelines/ for guidance on logo use. There are no plans to publish the revised guidance held by the Government Digital Service and the Government Communication Service.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what policy reason the Government has decided not to use the HM Government identity; and if he will publish the revised guidance held by the Government Digital Service and Government Communications Service.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are no plans to discontinue the use of “HM Government”.
"UK Government" has long been the term used for the government in public-facing communications. Communications teams are advised to use "UK Government" rather than departmental names and logos for announcements, to provide clarity to the public. This does not affect the use of "His Majesty's Government", which continues on relevant official communications and records.
This guidance was developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders and in accordance with standard protocols in Summer 2025.
Please refer to https://www.communications.gov.uk/guidance/marketing/branding-guidelines/ for guidance on logo use. There are no plans to publish the revised guidance held by the Government Digital Service and the Government Communication Service.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to his oral statement of 9 February 2026, on Updates on Standards in Public Life, and with reference to the Non-corporate communication channels for government business, of March 2023, in what specific respects is the 2023 Cabinet Office guidance not clear.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The current guidance was issued under the previous government. As part of this government’s commitment to raise information security standards, we plan to review the way that non-corporate communication channels are used in Government and to update the accompanying guidance to reflect the changes in the ways we use technology.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions his Department has had with German counterparts concerning lessons from the January Berlin power outage for the UK's civil preparedness.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office has not directly engaged with German counterparts regarding the January power outage in Berlin. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is the Lead Government Department for energy resilience.
DESNZ officials have closely engaged with the British Embassy Berlin regarding this incident to understand what happened and what lessons can be learnt.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what representations the National Cyber Security Centre received from Labour Together in relation to foreign cyber-attacks on its organisation.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The NCSC does not comment on operational matters. Any reports they receive are treated in confidence.
The NCSC has published guidance on cyber security for political organisations at https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/defending-democracy/political-organisations.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the risks of a) hon. Members and b) Ministers travelling in London Electric Vehicle Company taxis owned by the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Whilst the Government does not comment on specific security assessments, we maintain a robust, cross-departmental approach to ensure that official travel is conducted securely.
The licensing of taxis in London is a matter for Transport for London (TfL). Any vehicle licensed to operate must meet stringent safety and regulatory requirements as set out in TfL’s Conditions of Fitness.
The security of Members is a matter for the Parliamentary Security Department. For Ministers and officials handling sensitive data, the Cabinet Office and individual departments provide comprehensive information security policies and guidance.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they plan to apportion responsibility for the management of another global pandemic between the central and devolved governments.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There is detailed guidance and processes in place which set out the arrangements whereby the UK Government will work with the devolved governments to plan for and manage the response to a pandemic. These are underpinned by the principles for responding to crises agreed with the devolved governments set out in the Amber Book - Managing Crisis in Central Government; and which is available for download from the gov.uk website.
Taken together, these arrangements reinforce the commitment to partnership working, recognising health is a devolved matter but seeking alignment of approaches to ensure consistent outcomes.