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 oral contribution by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office of 12 February 2026, Official Report, Column 925, on Lord Mandelson: Government Response to Humble Address Motion, if he will publish the letter on Palantir when sent.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I wrote to the Rt Hon Member for Skipton and Rippon on 25 February 2026.
I also wrote to the Hon Member for Brentwood and Ongar on 25 February 2026, noting he will already be familiar with the Enterprise Agreement given he personally signed off the original spending approval for the contract during his time at the Cabinet Office under the previous Conservative government.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has produced guidance on whether the payment rules set out under Procurement Act 2025 will apply to Strategic Partners participating in the Affordable Homes Programme.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK government’s prompt payment policy aims to support UK economic growth and suppliers, including small and medium sized enterprises.
The Procurement Act 2023 mandates 30 day payment terms into all public contracts. Where the Affordable Homes Programme is covered by the Act, these terms are included automatically if not explicitly stated. Additionally, public sector buyers must ensure that this payment term is passed down their supply chain.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference 23 February 2026, Official Report, Column 29, on Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review, whether the Government is able to appoint an independent KC to investigate a suspended Government Minister.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Honorable Member to UIN HL15093.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he intends to publish an answer to Question 113780, tabled on 20 February 2026, on Labour Together.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to PQ 113780 on 24 March 2026.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data relating to (a) children and (b) schools will be integrated into the Digital ID database.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We will design the digital ID system to be secure, with only the minimum amount of data collected and stored. There will be no new single central database storing all government data on a person in one place. Data will primarily remain securely in the parts of the system where it already exists.
Through the public consultation that is now live, we are asking the public what age they think is appropriate to have the digital ID. Whatever the minimum age for eligibility, the system will be designed to operate to international best practice standards for data security and privacy and in line with UK Data Protection Law, to help ensure data is kept safe.
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 16 March 2026 to Question 119901 on Lobbying: Finance, whether he holds information on grant funding for lobbying activity in relation to grants from 2024-25 onwards.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Grants statistics for 2024/25 were published on GOV.UK on 24 March 2026.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department considers that electronic messages held on non-corporate devices relating to official government business held by (a) Ministers and (b) Special Advisers are owned by the Government.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Official information, wherever stored, is considered to be held by the Crown.
I refer the Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire to the Government’s 2023 ‘Guidance on Using Non-Corporate Communication Channels for Government Business’ for further detail that was produced and published under by the previous Government.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what is the status of the Cabinet Office fact-finding investigation into Labour Together, separate to the report by the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The fact-finding exercise has concluded. The Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards wrote to the Prime Minister on this issue on 27 February. His letter is available online: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69a32870f534e7e99adaeaf8/Letter_from_the_Independent_Adviser_to_the_Prime_Minister.pdf
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Whatsapps messages on 10 Downing Street official iPhones are automatically backed up to a cloud or central server.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There is established guidance on the management and recording of electronic communications on non-corporate channels. We keep all guidance around the use of non-corporate communications under review to ensure it remains fit for purpose.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2026 to question 113071, whether he plans to bring forward legislation to strip Lord Mandelson of his peerage.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is committed to introducing legislation to enable the removal of peerages from disgraced peers. We will announce further details in due course.