Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) CTC, (b) SC, (c) DV and (d) DV renewal cases are currently awaiting completion by UK Security Vetting.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) is currently meeting its agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) across each product type. UKSV KPIs are set and regularly reviewed in consultation with customer groups to ensure that demand is balanced with maintaining assurance in national security safeguards.
In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 74185 on Deputy Prime Minister: Admiralty House, on what date his Department informed Westminster City Council that the residence in Admiralty House was occupied as a secondary residence.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
As the property was a second residence, the Government was responsible for paying the Council Tax on Admiralty House, not the former Deputy Prime Minister - in line with long-standing precedent under successive governments.
As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government Property Agency is responsible for liaising with Westminster City Council for matters concerning residency at Admiralty House.
Following the introduction of the second homes premium, this has been paid in full in a one-off full payment in July 2025. This payment was made on the date the invoice was received from Westminster City Council.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government Property Agency holds records on the costs of (a) works, (b) fittings and (c) fixtures to Ministerial residences in (i) Downing Street, (ii) Carlton Gardens and (iii) Admiralty House since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government Property Agency holds records on the costs of works, fittings and fixtures relating to ministerial residences of Admiralty House only.
I refer the Honourable Member to 73315 which has since been corrected.
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 Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-25, HC1372, and pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 73315, on Deputy Prime Minister: Admiralty House, on what (a) page and (b) paragraph are the costs relating to the (i) maintenance and (ii) use of Admiralty House.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
All costs relating to the Cabinet Office's annual expenditure are outlined from page 165 onwards, which includes spending by the Government Property Agency as an agency of the Cabinet Office. The report does not enter into granular building level accounts, as has been the case under successive administrations.
I refer the Honourable Member to 73315 which has since been corrected.
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 page 250 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, what is the (a) purpose and (b) function of the Gresham Estate contract.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The responsibility of the Gresham Estate was transferred to the Office of Government Property (OGP) in 2018. This is an annuity payment which dates back to an Act of Parliament in 1768, when Lord Gresham gave the site to the Crown to use. The Act said he would be paid £500 per annum, and this liability passed to the Gresham Trust when he died, and this is now managed by the Mercers’ Company.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 74185 on Deputy Prime Minister: Admiralty House, whether his Department claimed single person discount for Admiralty House before August 2025.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Westminster City Council’s single person discount can only apply to residences that are your sole or main residence, therefore, the Admiralty House residences are currently ineligible for the discount and a discount was not claimed for or applied to the former DPM’s tenure.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 81875 on Senior Civil Servants: resignations, if he will list the Permanent Secretaries that have received severance payments for which the latest information is available.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Pursuant to the previous answer, all details of any payments made to Permanent Secretaries are available in the appropriate Departmental Annual Report and Account for the financial year, or will be published in the annual reports for the upcoming financial year.
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 page 86 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, for what reason Simon Case was given a £201,402 severance payment; and whether this payment was approved by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
It is a longstanding policy not to comment on individuals. Details of any payments are published in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts
Guidance on managing public money effectively is issued by HMT Treasury and it sets out rules and responsibilities, as well as best practice to achieve value for money. This guidance details the circumstances in which severance is payable. All special severance payments are approved by HMT.
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 page 79 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, if he will name the SCS2 civil servant who breeched the business appointment rules.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In compliance with the Business Appointment Rules (BARs) the Cabinet Office is transparent in the advice given to individual applications from senior staff, including special advisers. Advice given to senior civil servants regarding specific business appointments is published quarterly on GOV.UK as part of our ongoing transparency obligations.
We do not comment on specific individuals or BARs applications.
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 page 110 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, what was the business case for the increase in the number of hours of facility time compared to 2023-24.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In 2024-25, the Cabinet Office spend fell well below the recommended 0.1% maximum spend laid out in the facility time framework guidance.
Trade Union representatives have a statutory right to be granted reasonable paid time off to undertake trade union duties and reasonable unpaid time to undertake trade union activities. The facility time guidance sets out the requirement to monitor and report on facility time spend in the Cabinet Office.