Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to his Department's publication entitled Public-sector trade union facility time data, updated on 27 November 2025, how many and what proportion of public bodies required to submit facility time data did not submit data, including data by (a) civil service, (b) education, (c) local authorities, (d) NHS, (e) police and (f) other bodies in (i) 2023-24 and (ii) 2024-25.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
A list of the Public Bodies which are required to submit facility time data can be found in Schedule 1 of The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017.
The public-sector trade union facility time data for the year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 has been published on .gov.uk.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2025 to Question 91381 on Tom Kibasi, what the length of his secondment to Downing Street was.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Tom Kibasi was hired on secondment for a period of 2 months.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2025 to Question 95640 on Senior Civil Servants: Redundancy Pay, what was the legal basis for the previous Cabinet Secretary being given an exit payment.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Employment Rights Act 1996 defines contracts and employee rights for pay, leave, dismissal and other employment rights.
The model Permanent Secretary contract mentioned in the answer of 9 December 2025, states the terms and conditions and is used for Permanent Secretary level appointments including the Cabinet Secretary.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2025 to Question 92016 on Civil Service: Management, for what reason the Terms of Reference are not subject to external publication.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Corporate governance in central government departments: code of good practice (2017) does not require publication of board and committee Terms of Reference.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, to ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office further to the Answer of 4 November 2025, to Question 85708, on Honours: Forfeiture, if he will publish the criteria for removal from the Roll of the Peerage.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are no set criteria for removal from the Roll of the Peerage.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to deposited paper DEP2025-0768, committed on 21 November 2025, further to paragraph 18 of the desk note, how many direct ministerial appointments have been made since July 2024 where the name of the appointment has not been placed in the public domain.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Since July 2024, the Cabinet Office has given advice on the announcement of one Direct Ministerial Appointment being exempt from publication, who was providing short-term advice on security and defence policy.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 15 May 2025, to Question 50576 on Cabinet Office: Recruitment, whether members of the Senior Civil Service can be permanently promoted up a grade without open and fair competition.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Promotion on a permanent basis can only take place after fair and open competition. Senior Civil Service vacancies are advertised externally by default and exceptions must be approved by a Minister or Permanent Secretary equivalent in non-Ministerial departments. Civil Service Commissioners chair all competitions for SCS3 and SCS4 posts to ensure appointments are made on merit.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 15 May 2025 to Question 50576, on Cabinet Office: Recruitment, what is a level move.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In the Civil Service a level move is when a civil servant moves from one role to another at the same grade as their current one. This can be from one government department to another or within the same department.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the Civil Service Recruitment Framework.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Civil Service Recruitment Framework exists to ensure vacancies are consistently accessible to the widest possible pool of talent. There are no plans to publish this internal-facing framework to the public domain, as it constitutes HR-to-HR guidance designed for departments to integrate into their respective policies and processes.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether civil servants who act as coaches within the Internal Coaching Service are permitted to provide coaching sessions during their contracted working hours.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Civil servants who act as coaches within the Internal Coaching Service are permitted to provide coaching sessions during their contracted working hours. Participation in the coaching service often forms an additional work objective, and coaches are responsible for discussing their participation with their line managers.