Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of Ministerial severance packages between 1 September and 8 September 2025.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Departments are responsible for making salary and loss of office payments to their Ministers. This information would only be held by individual departments.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants are employed on Level 7 apprenticeships.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
As of 31 December 2024, there were 1,635 Level 7 apprentices across the Civil Service. This government remains committed to apprenticeships as one pathway to break down barriers to opportunity.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of Ministerial pensions in the (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
MPs and Ministers have membership to the Parliamentary Contributions Pension Fund (PCPF) of which the ministerial share is typically around 8% of the total exchequer contribution.
In 2023/24, the Exchequer paid contributions totalling £7,693,885 into the fund and the Ministerial share was £643,123.98.
The total contribution information is available in the PCPF 2023-24 accounts (p45) using the link below:
The 2024-25 figures will be published by the PCPF Trustees in October 2025.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the number of Civil Service employees who possess a Level 7 Apprenticeship qualification.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Cabinet Office does not hold this information. We are committed to apprenticeships as a route to improving the skills of our workforce and opening up careers in the civil service around the UK.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to create a single public reporting service for problems at (a) local and (b) national government level.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This Government is determined to reforming the state to deliver high quality public services and better value for money for the taxpayer.
The Government recognises the importance of transparency of public services, that appropriate feedback mechanisms help to ensure accountability by identifying and resolving problems, and that public participation can help to improve future service design to meet the needs of end users. The Service Manual provides guidance on creating and running public services in accordance with the Service Standards, both of which are available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the level of UK investment generated by the GREAT campaign since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
I refer the hon. member to the PQ 63750.
The campaign uses a comprehensive evaluation framework with timeframes for results tailored to each participating organisation's activities. Evaluation results for the GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland Campaign have not yet been finalised for financial year 2024/25.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) unauthorised and (b) sickness absences there were in the civil service in each of the last five years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Sickness absence data for the Civil Service is published annually, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence.
Individual departments are responsible for managing their workforces, including any instances of unauthorised absence. This information is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact of reducing GREAT campaign funding on economic growth.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
I refer the hon. member to the PQs 63750 and 64200.
In 2025/26, GREAT has allocated its budget to maximise the economic returns that the programme can deliver with the available resources. This includes delivering targeted campaigns and events in high-priority markets to continue to drive international trade, investment, tourism and student recruitment for all nations and regions of the UK.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to request that the National Audit Office perform a value for money analysis of the GREAT campaign.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
GREAT has a robust evaluation framework which has been independently assessed by the National Audit Office, Ipsos and Deloitte and was recently commended by the joint Cabinet Office / HM Treasury Evaluation Task Force.
The independent GREAT Strategic Review conducted in November-December 2024 recognised the effectiveness of the GREAT Campaign in supporting the government's strategic aims and its role in delivering the economic growth mission.
In 2023/2024, GREAT contributed returns to the UK economy of over £900 million foreign direct investment, £631 million additional expenditure from international students, £210 million additional expenditure from international tourism and over £90 million export wins for UK companies.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the contribution of the GREAT campaign to the economy in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
GREAT has a robust evaluation framework which has been independently assessed by the National Audit Office, Ipsos and Deloitte and was recently commended by the joint Cabinet Office / HM Treasury Evaluation Task Force.
The independent GREAT Strategic Review conducted in November-December 2024 recognised the effectiveness of the GREAT Campaign in supporting the government's strategic aims and its role in delivering the economic growth mission.
In 2023/2024, GREAT contributed returns to the UK economy of over £900 million foreign direct investment, £631 million additional expenditure from international students, £210 million additional expenditure from international tourism and over £90 million export wins for UK companies.