Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps her Department is taking to coordinate across the Home Office, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Education to ensure that English language testing used for immigration and education purposes aligns with the United Kingdom’s national interest.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The government supports adults aged 19+ in England who speak English as a second or additional language to access English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision, funded through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), subject to the eligibility requirements laid out in the ASF.
The English language requirement ensures that people coming to the UK have the language skills they need, whether that is to work or study in the UK or to live with their family. Being able to understand, speak, read and write in English is an important part of a person’s overall ability to integrate and engage with the wider community in the UK.
Work is also underway in the Department for Education to review ESOL content to ensure adults can gain the language skills they need for life, work and further study.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2026 to question 6356, what guidance he has issued on this topic.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The Cabinet Office issued the "Non-corporate communications channels" (NCCC) guidance on 30 March 2023. This is available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who in Government is responsible for issuing guidance and/or requirements for the retention, storage and back up of Cabinet ministers a) personal and b) professional whatsapp messages.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The Cabinet Office is responsible for issuing guidance for the retention, storage and back up of Cabinet ministers Whatsapp messages.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the Cabinet committee on Science and Technology has been replaced with a committee on Digital and Technology; and how matters related to science will be considered.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The membership and terms of reference of Cabinet committees is decided by the Prime Minister, as set out on gov.uk and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology is a member of the Digital and Technology Committee. Matters related to science may be considered by a range of committees as relevant to their terms of reference.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 33871 on Government Departments: Digital Technology, whether these discussions included the digitalisation of Government.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As per the previous answer, the Cabinet Office regularly discusses Civil Service workforce matters with trade unions. These matters are wide ranging and include the use of new technology.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Microsoft has recently raised its prices to Government for Office 365.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Crown Commercial Service (CCS) established a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) known as the Strategic Partnership Arrangement 2024 (SPA24) with Microsoft, which commenced on 1 November 2024. This arrangement provides enhanced value and discounted pricing for public sector organisations.
A reduction of approximately 6% in Microsoft 365 licence pricing took place in February 2025 as part of a wider price adjustment for Commercial Cloud Services.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions his Department has had with trade unions on the digitalisation of Government.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Cabinet Office regularly discusses workforce matters with trade unions.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to enable more civil servants to relocate from London to Newcastle upon Tyne.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Civil Service is committed to establishing a strong presence in regions and nations across the United Kingdom, including in cities such as Newcastle upon Tyne. The Civil Service should be connected to and representative of the communities it serves as well as delivering a high quality of service for citizens across the whole of the UK. Further plans will be set out in due course, aligned with the upcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, from what budget (a) legal fees for defamation cases brought against ministers and (b) settlement in such cases will come.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In line with the established practice under multiple administrations of all political colours, Ministers are provided with legal support and representation where matters relate to their conduct and responsibilities as a Minister.
Statistics relating to costs of settling claims, costs of legal support, and the number of times the provision of legal support has been authorised or declined are not maintained by the Cabinet Office. Funding for appropriate legal costs, including any out-of-court settlements, would be met by the relevant department's budget.
As set out in Chapter 6 of the Cabinet Manual, Ministers are indemnified by the Crown for any actions taken against them for things done or decisions made in the course of their ministerial duties. The indemnity covers the cost of defending the proceedings, as well as any costs or damages awarded against the minister. Decisions about whether to provide legal support are made by the relevant department’s Accounting Officer.
This reflects an important principle that Ministers should be able to carry out their official duties, supported by official advice, in a way which they see fit, without the risk of personal liability constraining their ability to take those official actions. Of course, Ministers remain accountable to Parliament and the wider public for their actions as a Minister.
It would have a chilling effect on public life if Ministers faced the prospect of personal financial harm from those seeking to pressure the Government through vexatious or hostile litigation (or the threat thereof).
More broadly, the principle of legal support from the public purse for official duties is not confined to government. I would observe that there is insurance available to MPs provided by the House at taxpayers’ expense, designed to protect hon. Members when carrying out parliamentary and constituency duties. This includes professional indemnity insurance that covers defamation. I also note that the House of Lords Commission is due this week to discuss the provision of professional indemnity insurance to peers.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of public sector procurement processes for digital goods and services.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Government recognises how vital digital products and services are for delivering public services. The Digital, Data and Technology Playbook provides best practice guidance for the procurement of digital products and services. There are annual updates to ensure it is up to date. The most recent update was in June 2023, found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-digital-data-and-technology-playbook