Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that every family who lost a relative from infected blood is compensated.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
It is important that the Scheme recognises the immense suffering endured by people whose lives and families have been impacted by infected blood. Affected persons will be eligible for compensation in their own right where their case is linked to that of a person eligible under the compensation scheme. This includes affected partners; children; parents; siblings; and other friends and family members who cared for loved ones with an infection without reward or remuneration. Where a person has multiple family members who have been infected, multiple injury awards will be made to reflect the scale of their loss.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is his policy to ensure that interim payments are made to those who have been affected by infected blood.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Victims and Prisoners Bill includes provisions which place a statutory duty on the Government to make interim payments of £100,000 to estates of the deceased infected people who were registered with existing or former support schemes before 17 April 2024 for deaths not yet recognised.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) full time and (b) part time civil service personnel there were in each of the last five years.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The number of civil servants working full time and part time in each year from 2019 to 2023 on the stated reference date were:
Reference date | Full-time | Part-time |
2019/03/31 | 344,050 | 102,020 |
2020/03/31 | 350,790 | 104,850 |
2021/03/31 | 392,140 | 112,940 |
2022/03/31 | 409,040 | 102,060 |
2023/03/31 | 418,170 | 102,400 |
Figures are from the ONS public sector employment statistics publications. The total may differ slightly from other published figures due to rounding.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many posts there are for (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications staff in his Department; and what the salary band is for each post.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office press and media team is made up of 17 employees. Roles range from grades HEO to SCS1 and have salaries between £32,250 - £117,800.
This figure is for Cabinet Office central departmental press office and media team only.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what targets his Department has set to help achieve the Government's commitments on net zero.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office Core Estate is currently focused on reducing its carbon emissions by 52% against its Greening Government Commitment 2017/18 baseline and the Net Zero target of 2050.
The Government set out how we would meet our commitments in the Net Zero Strategy in 2021 which included a detailed breakdown of actions required across all sectors in the economy. This was updated in 2023 through the publication of ‘Powering Up Britain’.
The UK has halved its emissions, ahead of every other major economy, and we have grown our economy by over 70% since 1990. The UK over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that we are on track to meet the third.
We have one of the most ambitious decarbonisation targets in the world, and we have set more stretching targets for 2030 than most countries. We plan to cut emissions by 68% by 2030, which is more than the EU, Japan or the United States.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary being covered by other civil servants during the Cabinet Secretary's absence on the effectiveness of the Civil Service.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Secretary is currently on a period of medical leave. He is expected back in January. At the beginning of his medical leave, Ministers approved temporary arrangements under which a number of permanent secretaries and other senior officials are covering his responsibilities.
This includes Alex Chisholm, as Chief Operating Officer of the Civil Service and Chair of the Civil Service Board, Chris Wormald, as Chair of the Senior Leadership Committee, and Sarah Healey, as Chair of the People Board. These arrangements remain in place and are working well.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much each Secretary of State who has resigned in the last three years received as severance pay.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Details of the severance payments made to ministers when leaving office are published in departments’ annual reports and accounts.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding his Department has requested from the Exchequer for next year’s Conflict, Security and Stability Fund allocation.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As announced in March, the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) fund will be replaced by a new UK Integrated Security Fund (UKISF) from 2024/25. The new Fund will support the implementation of key Integrated Review Refresh (IRR) objectives, funding projects both at home and overseas to tackle some of the most complex national security challenges facing the UK and its partners. As part of this approach, funding will be raised to almost £1 billion in 2024/25.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to introduce legislation to amend the Ministerial Salaries Act 1975 to cover all ministerial positions.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government has no current plans to amend the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act (1975), which covers all types of ministerial office.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with the EU on references to the United Kingdom being removed from EU tender.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Following the UK’s exit from the EU, the UK is no longer bound by EU procurement laws. Through the Procurement Bill, we now have an opportunity to develop and implement a new procurement regime.
However, UK and EU suppliers continue to enjoy reciprocal access to each other's public procurement marketplaces through our commitments in free trade agreements such as the UK/EU Trade & Cooperation Agreement and the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.