Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 2 February (HL13762), what progress they have made in the arm's length bodies review; when they expect that review to be completed; and when they will publish its findings.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

I refer the Noble Lady to my answer to HL13762.:

Question:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 19 January (HL13276), when the arm's length bodies (ALB) review will be completed; and whether its findings will be published.

Answer:

The review is ongoing. Outcomes will be communicated in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 February (HL Deb col489), what is their current policy on (1) ministerial, (2) special adviser, and (3) civil service, engagement with Labour Together.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Ministerial Code sets out the standards of conduct expected of Ministers and how they discharge their duties, including meeting with any external organisations.

Any external engagement by special advisers must adhere to the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. Similarly, any external engagement undertaken by civil servants must adhere to the Civil Service Code.

Guidance on the declaration and publication of external engagement undertaken by ministers, senior officials and special advisers is available on gov.uk at the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministers-overseas-travel-and-meetings-publication-guidance/ministers-overseas-travel-and-meetings-publication-guidance

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696fa38cf6aa424b452e339a/2024_04_02-Special-Advisers-Transparency-Guidance.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696fa4ac2b64f0e8c32e33b2/2024_04_02-Senior-Officials-Transparency-Guidance.pdf.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 5 February (HL13975), and in light of the statutory prohibitions under section 8(5)(b) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 on exercising any power in relation to the management of any part of the civil service, why Jonathan Powell is listed as management on the Cabinet Office website.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The National Security Adviser sets direction on behalf of the Prime Minister for national security and foreign policy in the National Security Secretariat. Some leadership and corporate responsibilities, such as the line management of civil servants, accounting or matters affecting a civil servant’s career (including recruitment, promotion, reward and discipline), are not carried out by the National Security Adviser.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 9 March (HL14751), what resources, guidance or similar they provide to departments to support their legal duty to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation should be brought into force; and what reporting mechanisms they use to ensure that that duty is being met.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Each Government department is responsible for ensuring that this duty is met, including monitoring, reporting and guidance.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 9 March (HL14751), and the remarks by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 5 March (HL Deb col 585GC), what steps they are taking to ensure that departments are resourced to meet their legal duty to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation should be brought into force.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Each Government department is responsible for ensuring adequate resourcing to keep uncommenced legislation under review.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 18 December 2025 (HL12683) and 22 January 2026 (HL13471), what is the public interest reason for not disclosing (1) the dates of group phone calls with lobbyists, and (2) the names of the lobbying firms being briefed by the Government, in line with the guidance in the paragraphs 211 and 223 of the Guide to Parliamentary Work, updated 19 November 2024.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

I refer the Noble Lord back to HL12683:

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government on what dates calls have been held between the government and corporate lobbyists since 4 July 2024; which lobbying firms joined those calls; and which ministers have joined those calls.

Answer: Details of Ministers and Senior Officials' meetings, including those held using video or audio-conferencing technology, and including phone calls where these replace or take the format of an official meeting, are published by departments on GOV.UK every quarter.

GOV.UK transparency publications list details of Ministers' and Senior Officials' official meetings with all external organisations, including organised group telephone or video calls, where these replace or take the format of an official meeting.

These publications include the dates of meetings or calls, and the name(s) of the organisation(s) with whom the minister or senior official met.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 18 February (HL14450), what was the cost to existing operational budgets of (1) the rebranding of government communications from 'HM Government' to 'UK Government', and (2) any work to explore the redesigning of the Lesser Arms used in government communications.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Any costs associated with routine updates to branding guidance are covered by existing staff costs. The redesign of the Lesser Arms to accommodate the Tudor Crown cost £4,950.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 February (HL14386), how they will monitor whether individual departments and agencies change their hiring procedures and practices to place greater value on frontline delivery, innovation and private sector experience.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Departments and agencies have delegated authority to determine their own practices and procedures for the recruitment of staff to the Civil Service, including the Senior Civil Service (SCS), as outlined in the Civil Service Management Code.

The Government People Group are collaborating with dedicated SCS Recruitment leads from the core Government departments to support them in sharing best practice and making relevant changes to their hiring practices, in line with the ambition set out in the Chief Secretary to the Prime Ministers’ speech of 20 January 2026.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 26 February (HL14633), whether they will publish the (1) relevant stakeholders they consulted, and (2) standard protocols they used, to produce the updated government branding guidance.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The guidance was developed and agreed upon by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Number 10.

There are no plans to discontinue the use of "His Majesty's Government". This term continues to be used on relevant official communications and records, and this will not change.

Found: Letter dated 24/03/2026 from Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent to Baroness Finn, Lord Bellingham, Lord