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 a list of each ongoing (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiry, including the year it was established.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The table below sets out the list of open statutory and non-statutory inquiries and the year in which they were established. This includes inquiries that have published but not yet closed. The table does not include public inquiries which have been announced but have not yet been formally established, namely inquiries into events at Orgreave, the death of Patrick Finucane and the Independent Commission on Grooming Gangs.
Year established | Inquiry | Statutory or non-statutory |
2025 | Nottingham Inquiry | Statutory |
2025 | Independent inquiry into Manston short-term holding facility / Manston Inquiry | Non-statutory |
2025 | Southport Inquiry | Statutory |
2023 | Jalal Uddin Inquiry | Statutory |
2023 | Cranston Inquiry | Non-statutory |
2023 | Andrew Malkinson Inquiry | Non-statutory |
2023 | Thirlwall Inquiry | Statutory |
2023 | Inquiry into the preventability of the Omagh bombing | Statutory |
2022 | Independent inquiry relating to Afghanistan | Statutory |
2022 | Dawn Sturgess Inquiry | Statutory |
2022 | Fuller Inquiry | Non-statutory |
2022 | Angiolini Inquiry | Non-statutory |
2022 | UK Covid-19 Inquiry | Statutory |
2021 | Lampard Inquiry | Statutory |
2020 | Post Office Horizon IT inquiry | Statutory |
2017 | Infected Blood Inquiry | Statutory |
2015 | Undercover Policing Inquiry | Statutory |
2004 | Robert Hamill Inquiry | Statutory |
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 undertake a public consultation on the proposed duty of candour.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government has committed to implement a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities, and criminal sanctions for those who do not comply.
We remain fully committed to bringing in this legislation and we will continue to work with families and stakeholders.
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 his Department's policy paper, Infected Blood Inquiry Additional Report Government Response, published on 30 July 2025, what is the estimated cost of delivering those recommendations.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The policy decisions that the Government announced on 21 July, and included in the Government Response on 30 July, are currently estimated to cost around £1 billion in further compensation payments. However, the total cost could change depending on what is agreed following consultation with the infected blood community.
The Government has said it will pay what it takes to fund the scheme, and we will update the forecast costs at Autumn Budget 2025.
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 his Department's press release, Internship Scheme To Get More Working Class Students Into Civil Service' published on 1 August 2025, whether the socio-economic background criteria for civil service internship schemes proposed for 2026 apply to the internship schemes of (a) arm’s length bodies and (b) public corporations.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As we set out in August, we will be opening our Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme exclusively for undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds for 2026. We will determine eligibility based on parental occupation at age 14 in line with guidance from the Social Mobility Commission. The Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme is a cross government internship programme led by the Cabinet Office. All other internship programmes across the Civil Service, arm’s length bodies and public corporations are responsible for setting their own eligibility criteria to suit the specific needs of the recruiting organisation. The exact number of other internship programmes and their eligibility criteria is not held centrally.
For those who do not meet the criteria for the Summer Internship Programme but wish to pursue a career in the Civil Service, there are other opportunities for them to explore via the Civil Service Jobs website (https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/) or the Civil Service Fast Stream (https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/).
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 the Government press release entitled Internship Scheme To Get More Working Class Students Into Civil Service, published on 1 August 2025, how many Civil Service internship schemes the Government will run in 2026; and what the eligibility requirements of each will be.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As we set out in August, we will be opening our Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme exclusively for undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds for 2026. We will determine eligibility based on parental occupation at age 14 in line with guidance from the Social Mobility Commission. The Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme is a cross government internship programme led by the Cabinet Office. All other internship programmes across the Civil Service, arm’s length bodies and public corporations are responsible for setting their own eligibility criteria to suit the specific needs of the recruiting organisation. The exact number of other internship programmes and their eligibility criteria is not held centrally.
For those who do not meet the criteria for the Summer Internship Programme but wish to pursue a career in the Civil Service, there are other opportunities for them to explore via the Civil Service Jobs website (https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/) or the Civil Service Fast Stream (https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/).
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 17 September 2024 to Question 4667 on Nick Joicey, for what reason the internal move was deemed exceptional circumstances.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare
I refer the hon Member to 4667. The Civil Service Commission is operationally independent of the government.
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 5 December 2024 to Question 16512 on Government Communication Service, and with reference to the FOI Internal Review response IR2025/05101 of 29 May 2025, if she will place in the Library a list of the Government Communication Service staff broken down by (a) department and (b) agency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Government Communications is made up of around 6,000 professional communicators from across the UK, supporting and promoting the work of 25 ministerial departments, 21 non-ministerial departments and over 300 agencies and other public bodies. The list provided for the response to IR2025/05101 breaks this down further, and will be submitted for entry into the House of Commons library.
The Government Communication Service headcount can be found on Gov.uk at this link here.