Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to lay an Official Statistics Order to include the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 27th March is attached.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the length of time before an email in his Department's inbox is subject to automatic deletion; whether such deleted emails remain searchable on the Server; and whether (a) manually deleted and (b) auto-deleted emails remain held for the purposes of (i) public inquiries, (ii) subject access requests and (iii) Freedom of Information Act requests.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Emails sent to or received by a minister’s mailbox are retained permanently as an official record, and remain available for public inquiries, subject access or freedom of information requests. Individual emails may be reviewed at a future date for their historical relevance before transfer to The National Archives, but they are not subject to automatic deletion.
The mailboxes of permanent secretaries are similarly preserved, and those of senior staff (grade SCS PB2 and above) are retained for a period of seven years after they leave their post. After seven years the contents are reviewed and records of historic value selected for permanent preservation.
Unless there is a reason to retain them for a public or other inquiry, or to respond to litigation, all other staff mailboxes are destroyed twelve months after they leave Cabinet Office’s employment.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists in regulating lobbying by foreign-based firms.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Under the provisions of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists is required to maintain the UK Register of Consultant Lobbyists. Under the legislation, which was introduced by the then Government in 2013, all registrants must be UK VAT registered. As such, the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists does not regulate foreign based consultant lobbyist firms.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has used AI software to help respond to (a) Freedom of Information Act requests and (b) written parliamentary questions.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
All FOI requests and written parliamentary questions are considered on a case by case basis. In the Cabinet Office, AI software is not currently used to respond to FOI requests or written parliamentary questions. AI software may be used in the future, as appropriate, to support certain elements of these processes.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister plans to donate a copy of Three Pillars to Liberty to the Prime Minister’s Library.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
No donations have been made to the Prime Minister's Library since 5 July 2024.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any Cabinet Ministers have donated a book to the Prime Minister's Library since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
No donations have been made to the Prime Minister's Library since 5 July 2024.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance has been issued to civil servants on how Diversity and Inclusion considerations should be embedded in all decision-making and delivery.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy provides a framework for departments about how Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) should be embedded in the Civil Service.
The EDI Expenditure Guidance and the Guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality for Civil Servants also provide guidance on specific aspects of EDI. None of this guidance has changed since the General Election.
Departmental EDI guidance for individual civil servants will be held in departments.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Minister most recently donated a book to the Prime Minister’s Library.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
No donations have been made to the Prime Minister's Library since 5 July 2024.
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 Procurement Policy Note 002: Social Value Model, published in February 2025, what estimate he has made of the regulatory cost to the public sector of such contract compliance requirements of the new measures on trade unions and fair work.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Central government uses the same tool for assessing social value that has been used since 2021, where central government buyers select evaluation criteria from the options available in the social value model.
We have made updates to the social value model, to streamline it, align it with the government’s missions and ensure suppliers’ commitments are targeted to need. Any new criteria in the social value model must only be used where they are proportionate and relevant to the contract to prevent creating burdens.
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 17 March 2025 to Question 37807 on Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and House of Lords Appointments Commission, what the existing Memorandum of Understanding or equivalent document is between Cabinet Office and HOLAC.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
There is no existing Memorandum of Understanding between HOLAC and the Cabinet Office. As with all independent advisory bodies, the Government keeps its arrangements with HOLAC under review. HOLAC has published on its website its Code of Practice and other information detailing the way in which it carries out its advisory role.