Asked by: Baroness Berger (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to the Freedom from violence and abuse volume 2: action plan, published on 18 December 2025, which minister has responsibility for the cross-departmental team on pornography policy.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Baroness Bertin’s independent report made 32 recommendations, including on governance and oversight of pornography policy. The ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, published on 18 December 2025 commits to creating a joint team to address the issues detailed in the report.
The team is formed by the Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Ministry of Justice and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It will examine the evidence to inform the government’s approach to pornography policy, including the question of departmental responsibility.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average processing time is for the allocation of a civil servant’s death‑in‑service widow and widower's pension after the submission of a valid claim form; and what steps are being taken to improve timescales for finalising payments.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in receiving their pension quotes are unacceptable. I want to reassure you that this Government has taken firm action to help put things right as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery.
For priority cases, we have deployed additional resources and improved communication to ensure members receive the support they deserve. While the immediate focus remains on stabilising the service through this intensive recovery plan, we are committed to ensuring all staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.
Existing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver improved performance and higher penalties for failure, including financial penalties. These have already applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
We recognise the significant pressure on surviving spouses. Upon receipt of a valid, fully completed claim form from the spouse, the Service Level Agreement (SLA) for paying the lump sum is five working days, which is concurrent with the five-day SLA for setting up the spouse’s pension; however, the physical receipt of this first payment will be determined by the timing of the payroll cycle, and as of March 2026, this SLA is being met for new cases.
Possible exceptions to these timelines include circumstances where the spouse is not the named beneficiary, necessitating a wait for the Grant of Probate before a lump sum payment can be made, or where data issues requiring employer input prevent benefits from being accurately calculated, thereby extending the settlement period. Furthermore, where benefits include a Defined Contribution (DCU) option, the spouse will be issued the various options within the five-day period and must make a formal decision before any benefits can be paid.
The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update (2 March 2026) is available at this weblink: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-update-2-march-2026
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any Department covered by the Pay Remit Guidance had its 2022/23 budget increased or altered to enable the £1,500 Pay Remit Guidance payment to be made.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Decisions on pay below Senior Civil Service are delegated to Departments. Cabinet Office does not have sight of Departments’ budgetary decisions.
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 page 35 of the Cabinet Office consultation paper on Digital ID, 10 March 2026, CP1498, whether his Department considered collecting data on sex for digital ID.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As set out in the Digital ID consultation paper, the national digital ID will only collect the minimum amount of data required to issue and manage securely. We are asking questions in the consultation about the type of data that should be included.
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 Cabinet Office consultation paper on Digital ID, 10 March 2026, CP1498, what the estimated gross cost is of the Digital ID programme.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The design and delivery of the national digital identity credential are subject to a public consultation, which launched Tuesday 10th March.
The design and delivery of digital ID are subject to the consultation outcomes. The feedback from the consultation will inform our final approach and enable a more accurate assessment of costs.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the risk of Capita holding over £3 billion in Government contracts; and whether he plans to invoke the supplier debarment provisions of the Procurement Act 2023.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Cabinet Office continues to manage the government’s relationship with Capita, including monitoring its performance on a cross-government basis. As a strategic supplier to the government, Capita has a high level of oversight and risk management by the Cabinet Office, which is underpinned by an Memorandum of Understanding. As part of this, Capita provides transparency on their financial health and corporate strategy as well as engage with annual Corporate Resolution Planning.
Under the Procurement Act 2023, suppliers can be excluded from procurements on certain grounds, including serious breaches of contract and unremedied poor performance. The Act also empowers the Government to investigate a supplier for potential debarment, which could affect the supplier's eligibility to bid for future public contracts. There are currently no live debarment investigations relating to Capita.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether applicants for Developed Vetting are advised that giving false or misleading information, whether directly or by omission, would be a disciplinary offence.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Applicants and Clearance Holders, for all levels of National Security Vetting (NSV), are advised of their responsibilities with regard to the NSV process both at the point of data collection and through the ancillary guidance published on gov.uk. This includes the need for full and complete disclosure.
UKSV acts as a service provider for NSV only, any decision to take disciplinary action remains separate from NSV and would be undertaken by the employing authority.
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 February 2026, to Question 112176, on Public Appointments: Standards, whether his policy intent is to further restrict the use of (a) Whatsapp, (b) Signal and (c) similar applications, on (i) corporate and (ii) non-corporate communication devices by (1) Ministers, (2) special adviser and (3) civil servants.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This government has a robust set of security policies and guidance in place that apply to Ministers, Special Advisors and Civil Servants, which are kept under consideration, including ‘Using Non-Corporate Communication Channels for Government Business’, which provides a framework for using these applications on both corporate and non-corporate devices. The Government is considering the way that different non-corporate communication channels are being used, as part of its commitment to raise information security standards.
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 February 2026, to Question 110020, on Cabinet Office: Public Appointments, if the Cabinet Office will make it their policy to update the Direct Ministerial Appointments portal to include the full details and terms of each serving Direct Ministerial Appointment that was appointed before the creation of the portal.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The responsibility for the publication of information on Direct Ministerial Appointments rests with individual sponsor departments, as it has done under successive administrations. Departments should add all existing DMAs to the portal.
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 February 2026, to Question 112168, on Government, if he will list the relevant stakeholders who were consulted in Summer 2025.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer given to HL15004.