Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the speech by the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister on 20 January, what the budget will be for the new National School of Government and Public Services.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National School of Government and Public Services will be part of the Cabinet Office. Its annual budget will be defined through normal Cabinet Office processes with any relevant information published as part of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts. The creation of the National School is expected to deliver efficiency savings of between £4m-£15m across the spending review period 2026-29.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) the introduction of a compensation scheme to support those facing financial hardship as a result of the delays in administering pensions and lump sums and (b) the prioritising of hardship cases including unpaid retirees, people retiring imminently, ill-health retirement cases and bereavement cases.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme transferred to Capita on 1 December.
The issues and delays facing some civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions is unacceptable.
In response, we have set up a dedicated a surge team of 150 staff to work alongside the 500 Capita staff to clear the backlog. There is an agreed recovery plan in place that prioritises the most urgent cases including bereavements, ill health and hardship cases and has clear timelines and targets for full-service restoration for all members.
No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension and we are putting in place direct support for people facing delays in their first payments. We are also actively working with all partners to ensure affected members do not suffer permanent financial loss as a result of this issue.
The Cabinet Office has set out arrangements whereby employing departments are able to make interest-free hardship loans to those who are waiting for their pension benefits.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what resources he has allocated to help ensure the timely and efficient processing of the 86,000 cases inherited by Capita from My CSP.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. Administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme transferred to Capita on 1 December.
The issues and delays facing some civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions is unacceptable.
In response, we have set up a dedicated a surge team of 150 staff to work alongside the 500 Capita staff to clear the backlog. There is an agreed recovery plan in place that prioritises the most urgent cases including bereavements, ill health and hardship cases and has clear timelines and targets for full-service restoration for all members.
No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension and we are putting in place direct support for people facing delays in their first payments. We are also actively working with all partners to ensure affected members do not suffer permanent financial loss as a result of this issue.
The Cabinet Office has set out arrangements whereby employing departments are able to make interest-free hardship loans to those who are waiting for their pension benefits.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Government Property Agency’s total expenditure was in 2024–25 on measuring, collecting, reporting or validating greenhouse gas emissions across the Government estate; and what the Agency’s projected annual expenditure is for each of the next five financial years on those activities.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
This information is not available. GPA do not manage the greenhouse gas emissions data across all of the government estate.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government Commercial Agency is taking to help improve access to Government procurement processes for (a) Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and (b) other suppliers with expertise in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.
The Cabinet Office does not hold a central record of the proportion of procurement contracts awarded by each Government Department to SMEs over the last five financial years. The Government is, however, introducing targets for SME spend going forwards.
The Government is also taking a number of further steps to support SMEs.
We have published a National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) which requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).
The Crown Commercial Service has also published an SME Action Plan which sets out the steps it is taking to support Government Departments maximise their procurement spend with SMEs, by removing barriers to participation and opening up opportunities to SMEs through their commercial agreements.
We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.
We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course. These reforms will further support British SMEs to bid for contracts.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of procurement contracts awarded by each Government Department were to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.
The Cabinet Office does not hold a central record of the proportion of procurement contracts awarded by each Government Department to SMEs over the last five financial years. The Government is, however, introducing targets for SME spend going forwards.
The Government is also taking a number of further steps to support SMEs.
We have published a National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) which requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).
The Crown Commercial Service has also published an SME Action Plan which sets out the steps it is taking to support Government Departments maximise their procurement spend with SMEs, by removing barriers to participation and opening up opportunities to SMEs through their commercial agreements.
We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.
We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course. These reforms will further support British SMEs to bid for contracts.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on X premium, and on which tier, in the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office has spent £302.40 on X premium for two subscriptions in the last 12 months.
(i) COBR’s National Situation Centre paid for its National Security Watchkeepers to access the X-Premium+ service X Pro. The National Security Watchkeepers use X Pro, and other tools, to monitor open source information to identify national security and civil contingencies risks.
(ii) Fast Stream and Emerging Talent spent £100.80 on X Premium membership in FY25/26. This was mainly because it provides access to an analytics dashboard, not available on the free version, to monitor campaign effectiveness. It also allows for longer posts, enabling us to better engage with our target audience. This membership will not be renewed for the next financial year.
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 26 November 2025 to Question 92012 on Cabinet Office: training, if he will publish a breakdown of costs for the £5,288.40 spent on the away days.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The cost of Cabinet away days are disclosed in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts. Some of the costs were inadvertently omitted from the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25 due to an administrative error. The total cost incurred was £8,248.40
The Cabinet away day taking place at The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office came at a cost of £2,960 for catering.
The Cabinet away day taking place at Lancaster House came at a cost of £5,288.40, covering expenses for AV, catering, security and staff.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether life peers who are on a Leave of Absence may be removed from the Roll of the Peerage.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The June 2004 Royal Warrant provided for the creation and maintenance of the Roll of the Peerage. Under the terms of the Warrant, any person entered on the Roll may apply to be removed from it, including life peers who are on a Leave of Absence.
The Government has announced that it will introduce legislation to allow peerages to be removed from disgraced peers.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress his Department has made on achieving the Government’s objectives for supporting Small and Medium-sized Enterprises participation in public procurement.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.
The Cabinet Office does not hold a central record of the proportion of procurement contracts awarded by each Government Department to SMEs over the last five financial years. The Government is, however, introducing targets for SME spend going forwards.
The Government is also taking a number of further steps to support SMEs.
We have published a National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) which requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs).
The Crown Commercial Service has also published an SME Action Plan which sets out the steps it is taking to support Government Departments maximise their procurement spend with SMEs, by removing barriers to participation and opening up opportunities to SMEs through their commercial agreements.
We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.
We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course. These reforms will further support British SMEs to bid for contracts.