Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2025 to Question 98107 on Department for Business and Trade: Public Appointments, whether any of those direct ministerial appointees have made a declaration of political activity.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Of the 30 direct ministerial appointees, 6 have declared political activity.
Due diligence is conducted and individuals are required to complete a formal declaration of interests, in line with Cabinet Office guidance. These appointees deliver vital expertise to government and there is no bar to political activity for these roles.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts, Data for July to September 2025, published on 25 December 2025, what the Key Performance Indicators are for the (a) Digitise Delivery Support contract with DELOITTE MCS LTD and (b) QAT74 End to End Testing contract with LA International Computer Consultants Limited.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
For Digitise Delivery Support contract with DELOITTE MCS LTD performance is managed through Balanced score card performance process by the Migration Border Tech Portfolio business. Performance assessed the supplier against themes :
- Performance to pay process
- Service requests and onboarding
- Delivery of the outcome of the various roles; project management, partnering behaviours and value add services and social value.
For QAT74 End to End Testing contract with LA International Computer Consultants Limited, the KPIs are :
- Partnering Behaviours
- Delivery
- Value Add
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the International Journal of Wildland Fire's article entitled Assessing soil heating beneath prescribed burns, published on 15 January 2026.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The date and title of the citation provided does not correspond to any article published by the International Journal of Wildland Fire, but research on this topic is reviewed and taken into account in our policy development.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for government’s most important contracts, Data for July to September 2025, published on 25 December 2025, how customer satisfaction with cultural sensitivity is monitored for the Security Guarding Services contract with MITIE SECURITY LIMITED.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Security Guarding Services contract KPI relating to cultural sensitivity is a qualitative KPI and is measured through a Customer Satisfaction evaluation survey completed on a quarterly basis. The KPI is monitored and reported through the contract management meetings held with Mitie Security Limited.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 71247 on Military Aircraft: Ministers, which Senior Ministers have been authorised to have occasional use of RAF CSAT aircraft.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The following Senior Ministers have been authorised to have occasional use of RAF CSAT aircraft:
This is consistent with policies to CSAT travel from previous Governments.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the policy paper entitled Outcome of the exploratory discussions on the possible participation of the United Kingdom in the European Union’s internal electricity market, published on 22 December 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of dynamic alignment on the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce: interim report of 24 November 2025.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The detail of commitments for a future agreement for the UK’s participation in the EU’s internal electricity market is a matter for negotiations.
As the Chancellor set out at Budget, the government will present a full response to the Nuclear Regulatory Review within three months, taking account of our international obligations, national security considerations, and planning, environmental and court processes.
The government will complete implementation of the Nuclear Regulatory Review within two years, subject to legislative timelines on elements requiring primary legislation.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2025 to Question 75027 on Military Aircraft: Ministers, how many of the 44 tasks were (a) domestic and (b) overseas.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It has been the practice of successive administrations not to publish granular information relating to the official movements of Ministers and those accompanying them within the United Kingdom. Information about official overseas Ministerial travel is published as part of the Cabinet Office transparency returns and made available on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether any of the members of the Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission have made a declaration of political activity; and where their declarations of interest are published.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Members of the Clean Power 2030 Advisory Commission were asked to declare political activity during the application process and none were declared. We do not publish their conflicts of interest.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2025 to Question 98794 on Mission Boards, who the internal and external members are of the Clean Energy Superpower Mission Board.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Clean Energy Superpower Mission Board is chaired by the DESNZ Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP. The board does not have a fixed list of internal or external members, rather we engage with other government departments, external organisations and industry experts depending on the issues for discussion.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether (a) he and (b) his Permanent Secretary approved the use of paid facility time for trade union activities outlined in the 2024-25 departmental annual report and accounts.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The departmental Trade Union Facility Time Guidance sets out a provision for paid activity time to be requested and approved, by exception. This is managed/agreed locally by management from a day to day perspective. The overall levels of activity time are monitored by HR and any concerns are dealt with on behalf of the Secretary of State/Permanent Secretary.