Found: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent, Ellen Atkinson, and Simon Madden Oral Evidence

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 March (HL14079), whether it is still their intention to set up teams modelled on the Vaccine Taskforce to deliver Prime Ministerial priorities; and, if so, whether these teams will be subject to the new departmental accountability framework.

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

The government is reforming the spending control and accountability framework in order to drive better value for money and enable the public sector to deliver the government’s priorities efficiently. This ultimately means better and faster outcomes for citizens. The reforms will reinforce accountability, enable the central government functions to focus more of their efforts on building capability, and be supported by open and collaborative ways of working. From 1 April, ‘delegated authority limits’ have increased across most of government and duplication in the approvals process has been removed.

Taskforces will be given the authority to exercise unique freedoms, including the freedom to get on with the job with prioritised business case approvals and increased delegated authority limits from the Treasury as appropriate.

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 April (HL15974), whether they plan to amend Ministerial Pension Scheme legislation to allow for pension forfeiture in cases where a minister is found guilty of (1) misconduct in public life, and (2) improper performance under the Bribery Act 2010, relating to their ministerial conduct.

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

I refer the Noble Baroness to the response already provided to HL 15974:

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office on 23 March (HC120630), what consideration they have given to amending primary legislation to provide for the Ministerial Pension Scheme to be in scope of forfeiture for situations where a former minister is convicted for a criminal offence in relation to their activities while serving as a minister.

Answer: The government does not currently have any plans to amend the Ministerial Pension Scheme.

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 April (HL16073), in what manner the disclosure of the publication date of the most recent version of the guidance to the Civil Service on speaking to the media inhibits the future policy development of changes to that guidance.

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

The guidance on speaking to the media is subject to ongoing policy development. Disclosing the publication date of the most recent version of the guidance could, in conjunction with other information already in the public domain, reveal the stage and direction of that development, which in turn could inhibit the free and frank provision of advice necessary for the policy process to operate effectively.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 17 March 2026 (HL14055), what is (1) the Prime Minister’s Office, and (2) their definition of a “meeting”.

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

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 5 March, Official Report, PQ HC110411:

Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77563 on Palantir, whether there is a record of who the Prime Minister (a) met and (b) spoke to during that visit.

Answer: The visit was part of the Prime Minister's trip to Washington. During this visit the Prime Minister listened to a short presentation about Palantir’s work, followed by a tour of the premises and an introduction to members of staff.

In December 2025, the MOD signed an extension to the Enterprise Agreement with Palantir that had been initially awarded in November 2022, by the previous Government, and via a direct award. This extension covered existing services and ensured there was no drop-off in MOD capability in critical areas.

This contract - and all other contracts for any firm - go through the usual rigorous departmental processes and their decision makers.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 March (HL15443), what steps the Home Office has taken in the last year to meet its legal duty to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation that falls within its area of responsibility should be brought into force.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office keeps the commencement of its legislation under review, taking account of operational readiness and delivery of wider priorities.

This is alongside an established post-legislative scrutiny process. Responsibility sits with policy teams to monitor the status of provisions and determine appropriate timings for when they should be brought into force.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 March (HL15443), what steps they have taken in the past year to meet their legal duty to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation concerning health and social care should be brought into force.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Policy teams within the Department of Health and Social Care keep the commencement and implementation of legislation under review. In line with established processes, we are in contact with the Health and Social Care Committee in the House of Commons to undertake required post-legislative scrutiny of relevant legislation, which includes a review of the operation of the legislation, and highlighting any measures not commenced and plans to commence them.

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 (HL14387), whether the central performance management framework for the Senior Civil Service has been, or will be, changed in order to deliver the plans set out by the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister in his speech on 20 January.

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

We are in the process of updating the Senior Civil Service (SCS) Performance Management Framework aimed at ensuring performance across the SCS is focused on the Prime Minister’s priorities and that underperformance is held to tougher standards and addressed as soon as it arises.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 16 December 2025 (HL12742), whether the Cabinet Office holds information on the current cash equivalent transfer value of the pension scheme established under the Pensions Increase (Pension Scheme for Keir Starmer QC) Regulations 2013.

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

Information about this Pension Scheme, including a calculation of the cash equivalent transfer value, was included in the Crown Prosecution Service's annual report and accounts for 2013-14. There has been no change to the policy under the last Administration not to publish information about civil servants' individual pensions apart from in the remuneration reports contained in departmental annual reports and accounts.

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 March (HL15443), what steps the Cabinet Office has taken in the last year to meet its legal duty to keep under review the question of when uncommenced legislation that falls within its area of responsibility should be brought into force.

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

The Cabinet Office conducts regular reviews to prioritise the commencement of legislation as soon as is reasonably practicable to do so, and taking into account departmental objectives.

The Cabinet Office has made two Commencement Orders in the past year to bring legislation within its remit into force as appropriate.

Found: Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent said in February 2024 that the project lacks “clarity and direction

Found: Letter dated 09/04/2026 from Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent to Lord Empey regarding the debate on

Found: Letter dated 31/03/2026 from Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent to Baroness Finn regarding the draft