Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025 to Question 70573 on 10 Downing Street: Official Hospitality, whether the transparency return for official receptions in July to September 2025 will list the cost to the public purse of the 31 July reception for content creators.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Official receptions in 10 Downing Street are hosted by Ministers across Government, with details published as part of the Government's transparency returns. The cost of hospitality in 10 Downing Street is included in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts. There are no plans to update inherited guidance in order to provide a breakdown of costs for individual receptions. The approach is in line and follows that of the previous administrations, which did not publish the information in this way.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 139 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, what items were purchased to furnish the empty Downing Street flat; which flat it was; whether those items were new; and how that spend was classified.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 27 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 85501.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2024 to Question 39576 on Prime Minister: Aviation, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel for the Prime Minster's flights; and whether he plans to do so.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Prime Ministerial flights are carbon offset where that is possible.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings his Department has had with the European Union on the proposed UK-EU Youth Mobility Scheme since the announcement of the UK-EU Reset Deal.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We have agreed that we will work towards the establishment of a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU at the UK-EU Summit. The exact parameters are subject to ongoing negotiations. Since the Summit we have held a number of rounds of negotiations with the European Commission regarding outcomes of the Common Understanding, including a youth experience scheme, as well as other areas including a food and drink deal (SPS) and linking our carbon markets (ETS) that started this week.
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 3 November 2025, to Question 84247, on Public Appointments: Political Impartiality, if he will make it his policy to amend guidance to require disclosure of previous political activity to be declared within and at the time of the gov.uk announcement of the appointment.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Governance Code on Public Appointments requires that relevant political activity, as defined within the Code, should be publicly disclosed for successful candidates. This is expected to happen at the time that a department or appointing body announces the successful candidate. Or in the case of those appointments subject to pre-appointment hearing by a House of Commons select committee, the preferred candidate.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2025 to Question 89231 on Cabinet Office: Social, which channels were (a) contracted and (b) paid by his Department in the last financial year.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Please see below Cabinet Office spend by social platform from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025:
Supplier | Net Media Spend |
Meta | £791,705.41 |
£325,259.65 | |
£13,888.89 | |
Snapchat | £54,812.17 |
TikTok | £65,494.21 |
Grand Total | £1,251,160.33 |
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Tom Kibasi was a (a) direct ministerial appointment, (b) special adviser, (c) secondment, (d) civil servant recruited by exception or (e) permanent civil servant, when working in 10 Downing Street.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Tom Kibasi was recruited via secondment.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Integrated Security Fund Annual Report 2024–25, of 30 October 2025,what assessment he has been of whether including compulsory UN peacekeeping contributions within the ISF is consistent with the Fund’s stated purpose of supporting “agile and innovative” security programming.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) currently fulfils UK mandatory commitments to UN peacekeeping missions around the world. UN peacekeeping is critical in supporting global peace and security, including by preventing conflicts from escalating and creating space for political solutions.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times the Resilience and Security Committee met between April 2024 and March 2025; and what the attendance record of each member was.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
It is a long-established precedent that information about Cabinet and its Committees, including the discussions that have taken place, how often they have met and attendance, is not normally shared publicly. The list of standing members of the National Security Council (Resilience) Committee can be accessed on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department provides on financial settlements for public appointments that are cancelled or withdrawn.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are a wide variety of public appointments which are made by Ministers. A person appointed to such a position is an office holder, whose appointment is defined by the office itself, not a contract.
An office holder’s terms of engagement will set out a Minister’s authority to terminate an appointment at any time with or without notice. Office holders do not receive payment in lieu of notice or severance for loss of office because they are not employees with contractual rights.