Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there have been any changes to the (a) Missions and (b) specific Milestones announced in the Plan for Change, CP 1210, of 5 December 2024.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
Missions remain a priority across Government departments, in line with the strategy set out in the Plan for Change.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Senior Civil Servants who underperform against Ministerially set KPIs but subsequently win another Senior Civil Service role through fair and open competition will be permitted to take up that appointment.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Senior Civil Servants who consistently fail to perform to the required standard must be placed on performance development plans and we have introduced cross government consistency check meetings to ensure data is better shared across departments. Departments are responsible for setting recruitment arrangements within their organisation, in line with the recruitment principles, and can choose to limit eligibility by restricting those subject to formal poor performance procedures from applying.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 23 April 2026 to Question 124822 on Proof of Identity: Digital Technology, what the budget is for travel, subsistence and accommodation for the People’s Panel; how many people will be recruited to join that panel; in what location the hotels will be located; and whether subsistence for members and convenors will include allowance for alcoholic drinks.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
120 members of the public have been recruited to the People’s Panel on Digital ID, using the methodology outlined in PQ 119977.
In line with standard practice, the costs of economy travel, accommodation, meals and reasonable adjustments to enable inclusive participation in the process will be covered. The costs of alcohol are not included for participants or convenors. All in person sessions take place in Birmingham.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 10 April 2026, to Question 115548, on Diplomatic Service: USA, whether all the internal government evidence and papers relating to the investigation into the Consul General to New York have been destroyed or retained for the purposes of public records legislation.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
HR documents are retained in line with the Cabinet Office Information and Records Policy. The Cabinet Office Records Selection Policy sets out which records the Cabinet Office will select for permanent preservation.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what Civil Service grade was Downing Street’s John Pond.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 3 February 2026, Official Report, PQ 110410.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the annual cost is of joining the EU's loan scheme for Ukraine.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The Prime Minister has announced the UK’s intention to begin negotiations to participate in the European Union’s €90 billion Ukraine loan initiative, underlining the growing defence ties between the UK and the EU, boosting Ukraine’s defences, and unlocking opportunity for British firms to access future contracts. The exact terms will be subject to negotiation.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost of the new Trade Union Facility Time Framework to the Civil Service.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The updated Civil Service Facility Time Framework and Guidance recommends that facility time expenditure remains limited to 0.1% of a department’s pay bill, and that trade union representatives spend at least 50% of their time delivering their official Civil Service role.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what methodology is used to calculate severance payments to departing (a) Permanent and (b) Cabinet Secretaries where they depart before the end of their fixed term contract.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Civil Service Compensation Scheme provides the terms for paid exits in the Civil Service. They apply to all civil servants, unless otherwise stated in their contracts of employment. This includes in circumstances where a fixed term agreement is brought to an end prior to the originally anticipated end date. The details of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme are provided on the Civil Service Pension Scheme Administrators website.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 28 April 2026 to Question 129093 on Public Sector: Procurement, whether departments’ insourcing strategies will be published on gov.uk.
Answered by Chris Ward
The introduction of departmental insourcing strategies is a key component of realising the government’s commitment to delivering the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation. The Government will shortly set out more detail on this but I can confirm that departments will make their insourcing strategies publicly available.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average workplace attendance is in his Department on Fridays.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Cabinet Office does not centrally collect or hold data on average workplace attendance for specific days of the week, and therefore the information requested is not held. The monitoring of individual office attendance remains a delegated responsibility managed locally by line managers and business units to ensure compliance with the minimum 60% attendance expectation.