Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding has been allocated to the Minister for the Union every year since the office was established.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The title of Minister for the Union has been held by the Prime Minister since its creation in 2019. Departmental responsibility for the delivery of union policy has been split between the Cabinet Office and MHCLG during that period. The Scotland Office, Wales Office, and Northern Ireland Office also have responsibility for ensuring the government delivers for every nation in the UK. Budgets are allocated to departments, rather than specific ministerial roles.
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 29 October 2025, to Question 83794, on Global Switch, whether any central government body still uses data centre services provided by Global Switch according to records held by the Crown Commercial Service or Cabinet Office.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the answer of 29 October 2025, that we do not comment on specific companies. Ensuring the security of UK data is a priority for the government. When the government procures any service, cybersecurity is a paramount requirement.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the UK Security Vetting is currently meeting its key performance indicators for vetting timeliness.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) continues to meet its agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for all product types. The UKSV KPIs are established and regularly reviewed in consultation with departments to ensure that operational demand is balanced while retaining assurance in national security safeguards. Furthermore, UKSV's KPIs are subject to ministerial oversight.
In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 25 February 2025, official report of column 631, and the response to WPQ UIN 53059, (a) on what date the inquiry commenced, (b) on what date it concluded and (c) when its findings will be made public.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The investigation remains ongoing. I am unable to comment further on the progress or specifics of an ongoing investigation.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to provide alternative identity verification routes for individuals who do not wish to submit (a) facial and (b) other biometric data in the context of the proposed introduction of digital ID cards.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We are inviting the public to have their say in the upcoming consultation as we develop a safe, secure, and truly inclusive system for the UK.
The consultation will gather views on the scheme, including any concerns around facial and biometric data associated with a digital ID. No final decisions will be made until after the consultation.
We will ensure that the digital ID scheme complies with all data protection legislation, and user privacy will be at the heart of the design of the scheme at every stage of development and delivery.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that digital identity does not become a de facto requirement for participation in (a) commerce, (b) governance and (c) daily life.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government’s new digital credential will focus on use cases that are most impactful for the public and will be designed to make interactions with public services easier.
We will invite views on such use cases through the public consultation that will launch in the new year.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what number and proportion of housebuilding in the most recent year for which ONS holds figures was built in each constituent nation of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt. Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 28th November is attached.
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 deposited letter from the Acting National Statistician of 22 May 2025, pursuant to the answer of 29 May 2025, to Question 53545, on Office for National Statistics: Buildings, and with reference to the Table 1 statistics on daily attendance in each of (a) Darlington, (b) Manchester and (c) Edinburgh, how many civil servants do the figures relate to in each building, and what was the frequency of their attendance on which the 5% statistic was calculated by ONS.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 26th November is attached.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to item 2.1 of the minutes of the 25 April 2025 meeting of the Advisory Panel on Consumer Prices (Stakeholder), what recent progress the Office for National Statistics has made on evaluating the potential impact of the use of groceries scanner data on the headline rates of (a) CPI, (b) CPIH and (c) RPI.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 1st December is attached.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of suicide rates among men in West Dorset over the last five years.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 27th November is attached.