Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what consideration he has given to the role of post offices in (a) onboarding and (b) supporting people who suffer from (i) identity and (ii) digital exclusion during the roll out of the digital identity scheme.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The new digital ID will be designed to be inclusive. We will launch a public consultation and have already started to engage with a range of expert organisations and community groups.
We will deliver a comprehensive inclusion programme to ensure everyone eligible is able to access this new digital ID and benefit from it. We are considering options like a digitally enabled physical alternative for those without access to technology, as well as in-person onboarding support for those who struggle to engage digitally, such as post offices, and a dedicated case working function for those who may struggle to initially prove their identity and access the system.
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 13 October 2025 to Question 70512 on Government Hospitality: Wines, what the cost of each transaction from Berry Bros was since 4 July 2025; and which items were purchased.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As has been the case under successive administrations, a detailed breakdown of each item in a purchase is not routinely published. Details of Government Procurement Card spending over £500 is published on gov.uk.
In March this year, the Government took action to cancel government procurement cards and this is working. In the first 4 months after introducing these changes, spend on GPCs has decreased by £25m (30%) across government compared with the previous 4 months.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department would expect employers to take to check a person's digital ID to validate evidence of a right to work.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Employers will be required to conduct digital right to work checks by the end of this parliament.
We will be consulting on the details of the programme in due course, including how to help employers of all sizes onboard onto the system and how they will validate the credential to prove an employee's right to work.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the proposed digital ID would be the only means of evidencing a person's right to work in the UK.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Employers will be required to conduct digital right to work checks by the end of this parliament.
We will be consulting on the details of the programme in due course, including how to help employers of all sizes onboard onto the system and how they will validate the credential to prove an employee's right to work.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025, to Question 78294 on Admiralty House: Council Tax, what council tax (a) discounts, (b) premiums, (c) exemptions and (d) disregards, were claimed for and applied to each of the three Admiralty House dwellings (i) between July 2024 to March 2025 and (ii) since 1 April 2025.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Council tax discount, exemption, disregard and premiums billing for Admiralty House are determined by the Local Authority. In this instance, this would be Westminster City Council.
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 81327 on Government Departments: Advertising, on which (a) programmes and (b) topics his Department used each contractor.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As with any communication campaign approach, channels are selected based on their ability to engage with audiences in alignment with the government's priorities.
Social media has been utilised on campaigns of varying scale and reach, supporting missions communications and government priorities.
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 13 October 2025 to Question 77545 on Cabinet Office: Social Media, whether his Department has undertaken expenditure (a) directly and (b) through contractors on digital influencers outside the New Media Unit since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office has worked with influencers outside of the New Media Unit.
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 20 October 2025 to Question 81876 on Government Departments: Advertising, which publications have been assessed as appropriate for government advertising under the SAFE framework.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are currently no plans to publish the full list of publications assessed under the SAFE framework.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) governance structure, (b) terms of reference for the (i) Senior Steering Group, (ii) Champions Network and (iii) Expert Advisory Group, (c) minutes, (d) declared interests and (e) any recorded conflicts of interest and information on how these were managed for One Big Thing 2024.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The following sets out the key individuals and groups that made up the governance structure for One Big Thing 2024, including their roles:
Group/Individual | Membership | Role |
Sponsor for One Big Thing 2024 | Jo Shanmugalingam, 2nd Permanent Secretary, DfT (at the time) | Responsible for advocacy/ championing One Big Thing 2024 and encouraging participation across the Civil Service. |
Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) | Sapana Agrawal, Director for Civil Service Strategy Unit | Day-to-day leadership of One Big Thing, responsible for ensuring the project meets its objectives. |
Senior Steering Group | Sponsor, SRO, and other senior civil servants (SCS) with responsibility for relevant areas such as Civil Service Communications, Government People Group, and Government Digital Service. | This group acted as a review and challenge function and assured that the design aligned with the needs of the Civil Service. It was responsible for signing off on the approach and products. |
Departmental Champions | SCS departmental champions, nominated by permanent secretaries. | Responsible for ensuring successful delivery and participation in their departments and feeding into overall initiative design and plan via monthly Champion Network meetings. |
Expert Advisory Group | Internal and external innovation experts | This group provided advice to inform the design and development of the One Big Thing 2024 learning offer. |
Central working group | The central project management team in the Cabinet Office’s Civil Service Strategy Unit and delivery partners. | Day-to-day delivery across workstreams, including training products, comms and engagement, platform, data collection, and evaluation. |
No conflicts of interest were recorded. The Expert Advisory Group had representation from external experts from the private sector and academia. Their role was limited to providing subject matter expertise, with no decision-making/ sign-off authority or involvement with delivery.
We are unable to publish the minutes of meetings, as requested, as the effective design of One Big Thing is reliant upon these being internal forums for free and frank discussions, with attendees often providing informal opinions or preliminary views.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2025 to Question 50850 on Local Government: Israel and with reference to the Cabinet Office document entitled Code of conduct for board members of public bodies, published in November 2019, what guidance his Department has issued on whether people who hold regulated public appointments may (a) campaign and (b) support (i) boycott, (ii) divestment and (iii) sanction campaigns outside of where formal legal (A) sanctions, (B) embargoes and (C) restrictions have been put in place by the Government.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Advice on political activity is contained within the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. The Code of Conduct requires public appointees - in their public role - to generally be, and be seen to be, politically impartial and to abstain from all controversial political activity. It also advises that appointees, on matters directly related to the work of the body, should not make political statements or engage in any other political activity. However, subject to these guidelines, the Code does not preclude engagement in general political activity by appointees. They must first have informed the body and/or sponsor department and should remain conscious of their responsibilities and exercise proper discretion at all times.