Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure timely responses to ministerial correspondence.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We are committed to providing timely and high-quality responses to ministerial correspondence. We regularly review our departmental performance and adjust internal processes accordingly. Departmental performance in responding to Ministerial correspondence is published annually on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Thousands of Civil Service roles moved out of London in latest reform to the state, published on 14 May 2025, what recent progress his Department has made on moving civil service roles outside of London.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
On 14 May, the Government announced it will be:
Strengthening its presence in 13 cross Government locations across the UK.
Ensuring that 50% of UK-based SCS are located outside of London by 2030.
Strengthening the talent pipeline by launching a new apprenticeship programme, setting an ambition for 50% of Fast Stream roles to be based outside London by 2030, and committing to develop and launch a local government interchange programme in partnership with the Local Government Association (LGA).
Reducing the number of Civil Service buildings in London, closing 11 buildings by 2030 to deliver £94m in savings per year.
Launching two new thematic campuses, an Energy Campus in Aberdeen and a Digital & AI Innovation Campus in Manchester.
In June, the Government announced that PfG’s existing thematic campuses in Darlington, Sheffield and Leeds will be leading a new approach to bring together policy makers with those on the frontline to support mission delivery.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many non-disclosure agreements have been signed by staff in central government departments in the last 12 months.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Departments are required to report to the Cabinet Office on an annual basis the number of confidentiality clauses used in connection with special severance payments, however full information on the use of non-disclosure agreements is held by individual departments.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many government contracts have been awarded without competitive tender since January 2023.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder). Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 inc VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search). The details published online include whether each contract was let through competitive tendering or via direct award.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress he has made on the Places for Growth programme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
On 14 May, the Government announced it will be:
Strengthening its presence in 13 cross Government locations across the UK.
Ensuring that 50% of UK-based SCS are located outside of London by 2030.
Strengthening the talent pipeline by launching a new apprenticeship programme, setting an ambition for 50% of Fast Stream roles to be based outside London by 2030, and committing to develop and launch a local government interchange programme in partnership with the Local Government Association (LGA).
Reducing the number of Civil Service buildings in London, closing 11 buildings by 2030 to deliver £94m in savings per year.
Launching two new thematic campuses, an Energy Campus in Aberdeen and a Digital & AI Innovation Campus in Manchester.
In June, the Government announced that PfG’s existing thematic campuses in Darlington, Sheffield and Leeds will be leading a new approach to bring together policy makers with those on the frontline to support mission delivery.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what was the cost to the public purse of central Government spending on external consultants in each of the last three years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Individual Central Government departments publish expenditure on external consultants in their annual reports and accounts. The Government is committed to stopping all non-essential expenditure on consultants, and reducing the reliance on contingent labour.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that UK elections are not affected by political interference by (a) China and (b) other countries.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
It is, and always will be, an absolute priority for this government to protect our democratic and electoral processes against foreign interference.
Last year, the Prime Minister established the Defending Democracy Taskforce to protect the democratic integrity of the UK from threats of foreign influence. Its mission is to reduce the risk to the UK’s democratic processes, institutions and society, and ensure that these are secure and resilient to threats of foreign interference.
In addition, the National Security Act 2023 creates a new offence of foreign interference. This will make it an offence to illegitimately influence the UK’s democratic processes and elected officials on behalf of a foreign power. The offence will also significantly increase sentences for electoral offences if they are carried out on behalf of a foreign power. Related measures in the Online Safety Bill will require digital platforms to proactively take action against a wide range of state-sponsored disinformation and state-linked online interference, including digitally manipulated content, where this has the aim of interfering with UK elections.
The Elections Act 2022 strengthened three important components of the political finance framework: fairness, transparency and controls against foreign spending. Since its introduction, the Government has restricted foreign campaign spending at elections and introduced a new requirement on political parties to declare their assets and liabilities over £500 upon registration. Foreign donations (and channelling foreign money) are already illegal. The Act also ensures greater transparency on digital campaigning, through the introduction of digital imprints.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the emergency alert system is used for life and death situations only.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
For an emergency alert to be issued, a major incident must pose a risk to life. Risks to health or property will not be considered reasonable use. Members of the resilience community who may need to request an alert have been informed of this threshold.
Releasing an alert will require a request from the lead government department to the Cabinet Office National Situation Centre watchkeeper, and then approval by a Cabinet Office Duty Director. Where an alert is likely to be received by 1 million people or more, it must also receive ministerial approval. This system ensures that the Cabinet Office will only send emergency alerts when there is an imminent threat to life.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Great campaign in encouraging investment in the UK.
Answered by Nigel Adams
GREAT’s global promotion of the UK for over 10 years has been highly effective. In the last year alone, GREAT has attracted over £50m of foreign direct investment and helped generate over £400m through international promotion of the UK education sector. Finally, there is a further £600m of export, investment and tourism returns that are currently being assessed.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to increase apprenticeship opportunities in the Civil Service.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Departments are working towards having 5% of headcount being apprentices by 2025 as set out by the CS apprenticeship strategy. Apprenticeships will be integrated into skills and capability plans and other people strategies. We will provide entry and progression routes within a range of careers and professions for new and existing staff.