Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025, to Question 70524, on Civil Servants: media and public speaking, whether the guidance on civil servants speaking in public has been released, in whole or in part, in response to the Freedom of Information Act requests.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I refer the Rt Hon Member to my answer on 21 November 2025 (PQ 91378).

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of publishing the remuneration of direct ministerial appointments, who have a salary which is equivalent to (a) SCS1, (b) SCS2, (c) SCS3 and (d) above minimum pay scales for those grades.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments was published on gov.uk on 30 October 2025. Section 21 of this guidance states “For transparency purposes, all Direct Ministerial Appointments should be announced publicly, along with their Terms of Reference. This should generally be done at the time at which the appointment is made and include information such as the time commitment expected of the role, expected end date of the appointment and remuneration details, where such is incurred.”

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 4 November 2025, to Question 85199 on Ministers: Redundancy Pay whether Ministers are required to personally sign the waiver.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

All ministers who are eligible for a severance payment are required to sign a waiver agreeing to forgo their entitlement to such a payment if, on leaving office, they have served in government for less than six months or if they leave as a result of a serious breach of the Ministerial Code. Through the waiver, ministers also commit to repaying their severance payment in the event that they are found to have seriously breached the Business Appointment Rules. Ministers also agree that if they are reappointed to government within three months of leaving office they will forgo their salary for the period overlapping with the severance payment period.

I can confirm that all ministers who are eligible for a severance payment have signed waivers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 September 2025 to Question 73327 on Alan Milburn, if he will list which other areas of health policy Mr Milburn has recused himself from.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Prior to appointment, non-executive candidates are required to declare all relevant interests. Appropriate mitigations are then put in place and approved by the Department.

This process was carried out for the Rt Hon. Alan Milburn, whose interests, and any updates to them, are available in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts and on the GOV.UK website in alignment with Government policy.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 70512 on Government Hospitality: Wines, whether the wines were purchased for (a) 10 Downing Street and (b) his Department.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 13 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 70512.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the IGR Secretariat Annual Report 2023-24, published on 5 November 2025, when will the report for 2024-25 be published.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The impartial IGR Secretariat intends to publish their 2024-25 Annual Report in the spring.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's transparency data entitled Expenditure Over £25,000 - September 2025 (Cabinet Office Core), published on 30 October 2025, what works does the entry of Variable FM Expenditure - Client Requested workplace services via OCS Group UK Limited relate to.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The GPA procured this service on behalf of the occupying tenant, who has a requirement for staff to hold high security clearance. This cost is fully recovered from the occupying tenant, and is not funded by GPA or Cabinet Office budgets.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 4 November 2025, to Question 85508, on Permanent Secretaries: Redundancy Pay, whether the Cabinet Office holds a central list of which Permanent Secretaries have received severance payments since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Yes, the Cabinet Office holds a central list of Permanent Secretaries leavers who have received compensation payment since 4 July 2024.

Payments are published in departmental Annual Reports and Accounts for the financial years in which they were made.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 26 September 2025, to Question 74202, Civil Service: Unpaid Work, how will the Cabinet Office determine the social class of an applicant to the intern scheme if their parents have divorced and re-married by the age of 14, and the applicant has two different blended families.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The specific measure we use to determine socio-economic background of an applicant for the Summer Internship Programme is the occupation of the ‘main household earner’ when the applicant was 14 years old. This is in line with the guidance from the ONS and Social Mobility Commission.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 26 September 2025, to Question 74202, Civil Service: Unpaid Work, how will the Cabinet Office determine the social class of an applicant to the intern scheme if they had two working parents at the age of 14 in different social classes.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The specific measure we use to determine socio-economic background of an applicant for the Summer Internship Programme is the occupation of the ‘main household earner’ when the applicant was 14 years old. This is in line with the guidance from the ONS and Social Mobility Commission.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 30 October 2025, to Question 84251, on Government Departments: Facilities Agreements, whether government departments are required to inform the Cabinet Office if they permit trade unions to spend facility time on trade union activities, or otherwise make changes to their policy on permitted facility time.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The existing Cabinet Office facility time framework, implemented under the previous administration and unchanged, does not require departments to inform the Cabinet Office if they permit paid time off to undertake activities, although this does require the agreement of their Secretary of State or Chief Executive. Departments do not need Cabinet Office approval to amend their own policies on the use of facility time.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to (a) amend and (b) modernise the Lieutenancies Act 1997.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

There are no plans to amend or update the Lieutenancies Act 1997.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025, to Question 74211, on Prime Minister: Recruitment, if he will list the information requested for appointments below SCS2.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 10 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 74211.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister will make it his policy to ask the (a) Rt hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne, (b) Rt hon. Member for Sheffield Heeley, (c) hon. Member for Hampstead and Highgate and (d) hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Stepney to donate a book to Gladstone's Library.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Gladstone's Library, based in North Wales, was established by William Ewart Gladstone and is the only Prime Ministerial library in the UK.

There has never been a formal practice of former ministers donating books to the library, excluding the The Gladstone Foundation Collection which holds Gladstone’s original library.

Any decision to do so would not be a matter for the government. I would refer the Hon Member to the Gladstone's Library website, which states that "Gladstone’s Library is currently closed to all donations" to their collection.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2025, to Question 82339, on Ministers: Official Cars, what was the total expenditure on Ministerial cars across government in July 2025.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the response given to Question 90730, tabled on 13th November 2025. The total expenditure on ministerial cars across government in July 2025 was £483,474.31.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to pages 8 and 107 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, whether the Department’s target to reduce headcount by up to 1,200 roles has been met in part through the reclassification or exclusion of Government Commercial or Fast Stream staff from Cabinet Office workforce totals.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The statement on page 107 of the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024-2025 only refers to the staff included in section 2.12. Diversity and inclusion and does not refer to data provided in earlier sections on departmental headcount. These individuals are included in the departmental headcount on Page 99 under the 4,370 Cabinet Office staff recharged to other government departments and therefore has no impact on the Department’s target to reduce headcount by up to 1,200 roles.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any offshore subcontractor resources associated with his Department’s Central Digital Platform contract (a) are located in and (b) have supply-chain links to jurisdictions designated by the National Cyber Security Centre as high-risk for data-security purposes, including China.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The original contract for the Provision of Support and Maintenance for the Central Digital Platform was awarded following a competitive tender process conducted under the Digital Outcomes and Specialists (DOS) 6 Framework. The Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency (VEAT) notice was published to give notice of our intention to vary the contract. There was a clerical error when publishing the VEAT which inadvertently led to the notice advising that the change was in response to extreme urgency. This was not the case and the decision was made purely on the grounds of value for money.

No subcontractor resources which are deployed under the contract are located in or have supply-chain links to jurisdictions designated by the National Cyber Security Centre as high-risk for data-security purposes.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who the members are of the Cabinet Office Sustainability Steering Group; when the group was established; how often it meets; and what its terms of reference are.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office Sustainability Steering Group consists of the Head of Sustainability and Deputy Directors from Human Resources, Property, Procurement, Digital and Finance. The Group was formed in July 2024 and meets quarterly.

The Terms of Reference for the Group are to focus on delivering the ESG sustainability strategy at a business unit level, including accountability for tracking individual function-level sustainability targets, oversight of sustainable initiatives, monitoring and reporting to the People & Operations Committee (POpsCo), setting the direction of the sustainability strategy, oversight of compliance with Greening Government Commitments (GGCs), Task-Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), Environment Principles Policy Statement (EPPS) and Green Book.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of Counter Terrorist Checks (CTC) and Security Checks (SC) have been completed within 25 days in each of the past six months.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) continues to meet its agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) across each product type, including Counter Terrorist Checks (CTC) and Security Checks (SC).

These UKSV KPIs are established and reviewed on a regular basis with departments, and are subject to ministerial oversight, to balance operational demand whilst maintaining assurance in national security safeguards.

In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the October 2025 variation to his Department's contract with Goaco Group Ltd is within the scope and value thresholds of the Digital Outcomes and Specialists 6 framework; and whether the modification has been treated as a new contract.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Digital Outcomes and Specialists 6 (DOS 6) Crown Commercial Service framework permits the use of non-UK-based suppliers, subject to the buyer's prior consent being obtained.

The modification, following publication of the variation in October 2025, does not constituent a new contract.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, page 33, whether the external audit for ISO 14001:2015 accreditation identified any non-conformities or required actions; and if he will publish the audit’s results.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office was found to have no nonconformities and no required actions. Currently, there are no plans to publish ISO14001:2015 audit results as they contain sensitive information for the building management.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Cabinet Office Publication of Special Adviser Interests 2024-2025, published in 17 July 2025, what shareholdings Varun Chandra has declared.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

There is an established system in place for the declaration and management of special advisers' interests. As has been the case under successive administrations, interests deemed relevant for publication for special advisers in No10 and the Cabinet Office are published on an annual basis by the Cabinet Office.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 31 March 2025, to Question 40580, on Trade Union Officials: Facilities Agreements, what is the current target date for the publication of the 2024-25 statistics by the Cabinet Office, based on the standards timelines for this dataset.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The public-sector trade union facility time data for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 was published on 27 November 2025.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance has been given to Departments and Arm's Length Bodies on trade union facility time for union learning representatives.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office provides guidance to departments on the subject of facility time for trade union learning representatives within its facility time framework. This guidance simply outlines the statutory rights of these representatives.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) Commons Ministers, (b) Lords Ministers or (c) special advisers are eligible for any form of salary sacrifice in relation to additional voluntary contributions to their pensions.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

There is no eligibility for any form of salary sacrifice in relation to additional voluntary contributions to pensions for (a) Commons Ministers, (b) Lords Ministers, or (c) special advisers.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the recruitment process was for the new Director General of the Propriety, Ethics and Constitution Group; and whether it is a permanent promotion.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The appointment of the interim DG, Propriety and Constitution in August was a temporary promotion. A full recruitment campaign will be launched in the new year.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how the contract for the One Big Thing 2024 platform and evaluation was procured; and whether Wazoku was appointed through open competition.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Access to the Wazoku Platform for One Big Thing 2024 was provided through an existing contract between Wazoku and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). MoD had access to unlimited external licences, which they made available to the Cabinet Office for use for One Big Thing.

The evaluation was done internally in the Cabinet Office by the Joint Data Analysis Centre.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2025 to Question 74279 on Prison Officers: Social Class, whether (a) the Social Mobility Commission and (b) Office for National Statistics classifies prison officers as (i) working class or (ii) a different social-economic classification.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 24th November is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025 to Question 76602 on 10 Downing Street, and further to the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC 1372, 23 October 2025, if he will provide a breakdown of the expenditure, by individual item purchased and by the type of works, from public funds under the annual allowance, as set out in page 139 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 27 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 85501.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to page 24 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, if he will break down the compensation offers by category of claimant; and what proportion have been accepted and paid.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As of 23 September 2025, as referenced in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024-2025, 1,926 individuals, who are infected and registered with a support scheme, had received an offer. By this date, 1,507 individuals, constituting 78% of those with an offer, had accepted their offer and been paid.

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) published their latest statistics on 20 November. As of 18 November, 2,777 individuals who are infected and registered with a support scheme have received an offer. 2,446, constituting 88% of those with an offer, have accepted their offer. The full compensation progress update can be found here: https://ibca.org.uk/statistics/compensation-progress-updates-20-november-2025.

IBCA expects to open to further cohorts (those infected people not registered with a support scheme, the estates of deceased infected people, and affected people) in November and December.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 139 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, what (a) works were undertaken and (b) items were purchased as part of the refurbishment of the Downing Street estate; and which Downing Street properties it relates to.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 27 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 85501.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to ask government departments not to use the phrase devolved nations when referring to devolved administrations or legislatures.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Yes. This is already the Government's position. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be referred to by name or collectively as nations. Certain powers are devolved to institutions within those nations, which benefit from having two governments serving them. The nations, as constituent parts of this United Kingdom, are not devolved.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the notice entitled Provision of Support and Maintenance for the Central Digital Platform, for what reason the variation was designated as negotiated procedure without a prior call for competition – extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The original contract for the Provision of Support and Maintenance for the Central Digital Platform was awarded following a competitive tender process conducted under the Digital Outcomes and Specialists (DOS) 6 Framework. The Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency (VEAT) notice was published to give notice of our intention to vary the contract. There was a clerical error when publishing the VEAT which inadvertently led to the notice advising that the change was in response to extreme urgency. This was not the case and the decision was made purely on the grounds of value for money.

No subcontractor resources which are deployed under the contract are located in or have supply-chain links to jurisdictions designated by the National Cyber Security Centre as high-risk for data-security purposes.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Memorandum of Understanding between HMRC and the Cabinet Office on the exchange of information for honours probity checks, dated 21 March 2017, remains in force following the expiry period set out at paragraph 9.1 on page 6 of that document; and whether any updated or replacement Memorandum has been agreed between the departments.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

In order to protect the integrity of the honours system, the Cabinet Office carries out probity checks with a number of government departments to ensure that honours recipients are in good standing. HMRC provides the Cabinet Office with a minimal disclosure of information in the form of a risk rating of low, medium and high without disclosing any underlying detail about the tax affairs of an individual being considered for an honour.

As per the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding, which superseded the previous 2017 version, the Cabinet Office will only hold the information provided by HMRC for a maximum of 12 months following the publication of an honours list. The Cabinet Office therefore only has access to the HMRC rating during this timeframe. HMRC's risk rating reflects their view on an individual's tax behaviour. Cabinet Office takes this information into account, alongside information provided by other government departments, to inform the honours committees' recommendations.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the document entitled Memorandum of Understanding: accessing HMRC information to assist honours committees in making ​recommendations​​​​​ about awarding honours to individuals, published on 19 October 2023, whether his Department has disagreed with risk ratings supplied by HMRC for honours probity checks.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

In order to protect the integrity of the honours system, the Cabinet Office carries out probity checks with a number of government departments to ensure that honours recipients are in good standing. HMRC provides the Cabinet Office with a minimal disclosure of information in the form of a risk rating of low, medium and high without disclosing any underlying detail about the tax affairs of an individual being considered for an honour.

As per the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding, which superseded the previous 2017 version, the Cabinet Office will only hold the information provided by HMRC for a maximum of 12 months following the publication of an honours list. The Cabinet Office therefore only has access to the HMRC rating during this timeframe. HMRC's risk rating reflects their view on an individual's tax behaviour. Cabinet Office takes this information into account, alongside information provided by other government departments, to inform the honours committees' recommendations.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Nominations Committee was established for the 2025–26 reporting year; who its members are; who chairs it; and what its terms of reference are.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Nominations Committee membership, including the chair, is made up of Cabinet Office Non-Executive Board Members. The draft terms of reference will be approved by the committee in its first meeting in early 2026 and are consistent with section 4.5 of the Corporate Governance in Central Government Departments Code of Good Practice.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2025 to Question 75367 on Cabinet Office: Equality, which diversity networks in his Department are eligible for diversity network time.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office has a number of diversity networks listed below. Currently only chairs of diversity networks are offered up to 10% of their time for network related actvities.

Diversity Networks

All Ages Network- EngAge

Carers network

Christian Network

Disability Network (ABLE)

Faith and Belief Forum

Women in Digital network

Flexible Working network

LGBT+ network

Gender Equality network

Menopause network

Neurodiversity network

Race Equality (CORE) Network

Parental Support Network

Social Mobility Network

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025 to Question 70481 on Government Communication Service: Recruitment, how much was spent on Odgers for the recruitment of the Director of the Government Communications Service.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Details of the contract award to Odgers and value are available here: Executive Search for Director of Communications - Contracts Finder

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) salary sacrifice arrangements and (b) Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contributions are offered to members of the civil service’s (i) Alpha and (ii) Partnership scheme.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Salary sacrifice is not available in respect of member contributions to the Civil Service Pension Schemes including alpha and Partnership schemes.

Shared cost Additional Voluntary Contributions are not available to members of alpha or Partnership.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 30 October 2025 to Question 83796 on Government Departments: Directors, which directors have left the civil service.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

This information is not held centrally by Government Communications.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who the Members were of his Department's Executive Committee in 2024-25; and how many meetings each member attended.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The following individuals were members of the Executive Committee (ExCo) at the conclusion of the Financial Year 2024-25.

• Cat Little, Permanent Secretary and Principal Accounting Officer (Chair)

• Madeleine Alessandri, Head of the Joint Intelligence Organisation

• Sarah Harrison, Chief Operating Officer

• Matt Collins, Deputy National Security Adviser

• Darren Tierney, Director General, Propriety, Ethics & Constitution Group

• Fiona Ryland, Government Chief People Officer

• Vincent Devine, Government Chief Security Officer

• Andrew Forzani, Government Chief Commercial Officer

• Simon Baugh, Chief Executive, Government Communication Service

• Emma Churchill, Director General, Economic & Domestic Secretariat

• Jonathan Black, Deputy National Security Adviser and Director General, European & Global Issues

• Kunal Patel, Deputy Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, No.10

• Caroline Patterson, Chief Financial Officer

• Rebecca Hedges, Acting Chief People Officer

• Elinor McDaniell, CO Strategy Director

• Fleur Johnson, Strategy Director, National Security Secretariat

Membership varied throughout this period, and also included the following individuals at various points.

• Gareth Rhys Williams, Chief Commercial Officer

• Marco Salzedo and Clare Gibbs, Interim Representatives, Government Commercial Function

• Kathryn Al-Shemmeri, CO Chief People Officer

• Tom Read, CEO, Government Digital Service

• David Foley, Director, Public Bodies

• Rich Hornby, Chief Financial Officer

• Jean-Christophe Gray, DG Delivery Unit

• Laura Gilbert, Chief Data Analyst

• Tim Barrow, Foreign Policy and National Security Adviser

• Elizabeth Perelman, Director General, Public Sector Reform and Efficiency

Collated attendance information is not held and providing it would incur a disproportionate cost.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many investment proposals have been considered by the Cabinet Office Investment Committee since July 2024; how many were approved; how many were rejected or deferred; and what the total whole-life expenditure associated with those approvals was.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Since July 2024, the Investment Committee has considered a total of 39 business cases. All of these business cases were approved, subject to specific conditions. Spending approvals can specify a range of expected expenditure, and may be lower than the overall whole-life cost of the project. The cumulative approximate whole-life cost of these approved cases amounts to a maximum of £26.91 billion. This includes funding for the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) pubs, (b) cafes, (c) restaurants and (d) hotels have had their rateable value (i) increased and (ii) reduced by the Valuation Office Agency during the 2026 business rate revaluation.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The VOA published the Draft non-domestic rating list on 26 November 2025. The accompanying statistical commentary reflects changes by sector and location, compared to the previous 2023 valuation. The revaluation will take effect from 1 April 2026.

A rise in rateable value does not automatically mean a similar rise in bills. Bills are calculated using an agreed multiplier and any additional reliefs a ratepayer qualifies for. For those seeing bill increases, reflecting many sectors’ post-Covid recovery, the current government is providing a new support package for business rate payers worth £4.3 billion over the next 3 years.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Government Procurement Card spend over £500 - April 2025, Spending by Business Units no longer part of Cabinet Office, published on 29 May 2025, what the spending on TasteTheLove on 28 April 2025 was for, including what food or drink was purchased.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The relevant expense was for catering a cross-government (including visitors from academia and the private sector) event.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 8 September 2025 to Question 70466 on 10 Downing Street: Repairs and Maintenance, whether (a) the Government Property Agency and (b) her Department has (i) an annual allowance and (ii) budget for works, fixtures or fittings for the Chancellor’s flat in Downing Street.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Aside from day-to-day facilities management, neither the GPA nor HMT provide an annual allowance or budget for works, fixtures or fittings to be undertaken on the Chancellor’s flat in Downing Street.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025 to Question 73943 on Cabinet Office: Social Media, how much has been spent by his Department on social media influencers since 4 July 2024; and on what campaigns.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As digital and social media become central to how people consume information, Government is adapting its communications approach to meet audiences where they are. Digital and social media channels enable us to reach audiences more cost-effectively, delivering better value from communications budgets.

The total spent by the Cabinet Office on influencer marketing from 4 July 2024 to present is £280,068.11. Please note this figure is subject to the exchange rate at the time of completing this request.

The Government Communication Service has commissioned the following influencer market campaigns, with total costs (inclusive of agency fees) listed:

• New Media Unit - Free School Breakfast Clubs: £48,530.00 (February - September 2025)

• New Media Unit - National Living/Minimum Wage: £17,500.00 (March 2025)

• New Media Unit - Warm Homes: £24,000 (November - December 2025)

• GREAT Campaign - Audacious Kingdom: £117,000.00 (September 2023 - May 2025)

• GREAT Campaign - Greater Together: £111,216.75 (March 2025 - present)

These campaigns are used to raise awareness about government schemes and initiatives and promote the UK internationally.

Please note, some data has been withheld due to commercial and wider sensitivities.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2025, to Question 77545, on Cabinet Office: Social Media, if he will list the (a) programmes, (b) campaigns and (c) topics that digital influencers have been commissioned by the New Media Unit, including how much was spent on each.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As digital and social media become central to how people consume information, Government is adapting its communications approach to meet audiences where they are. Digital and social media channels enable us to reach audiences more cost-effectively, delivering better value from communications budgets.

The total spent by the Cabinet Office on influencer marketing from 4 July 2024 to present is £280,068.11. Please note this figure is subject to the exchange rate at the time of completing this request.

The Government Communication Service has commissioned the following influencer market campaigns, with total costs (inclusive of agency fees) listed:

• New Media Unit - Free School Breakfast Clubs: £48,530.00 (February - September 2025)

• New Media Unit - National Living/Minimum Wage: £17,500.00 (March 2025)

• New Media Unit - Warm Homes: £24,000 (November - December 2025)

• GREAT Campaign - Audacious Kingdom: £117,000.00 (September 2023 - May 2025)

• GREAT Campaign - Greater Together: £111,216.75 (March 2025 - present)

These campaigns are used to raise awareness about government schemes and initiatives and promote the UK internationally.

Please note, some data has been withheld due to commercial and wider sensitivities.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 86052 on Government Departments: Social Media, how much has been spent through those two agencies on social influencers since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As digital and social media become central to how people consume information, Government is adapting its communications approach to meet audiences where they are. Digital and social media channels enable us to reach audiences more cost-effectively, delivering better value from communications budgets.

The total spent by the Cabinet Office on influencer marketing from 4 July 2024 to present is £280,068.11. Please note this figure is subject to the exchange rate at the time of completing this request.

The Government Communication Service has commissioned the following influencer market campaigns, with total costs (inclusive of agency fees) listed:

• New Media Unit - Free School Breakfast Clubs: £48,530.00 (February - September 2025)

• New Media Unit - National Living/Minimum Wage: £17,500.00 (March 2025)

• New Media Unit - Warm Homes: £24,000 (November - December 2025)

• GREAT Campaign - Audacious Kingdom: £117,000.00 (September 2023 - May 2025)

• GREAT Campaign - Greater Together: £111,216.75 (March 2025 - present)

These campaigns are used to raise awareness about government schemes and initiatives and promote the UK internationally.

Please note, some data has been withheld due to commercial and wider sensitivities.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025, to Question 73484, on Health Services: Equality, whether she has a definition of (a) “working class communities” and (b) “working class jobs”.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As given in the answer of 8th October, the 10-Year Health Plan refers both to “working class jobs” and “working class communities”. These terms are used in the standard way they are used in English to indicate people who are employed for wages and generally experience greater job insecurity, lower benefits, and less financial security than others in society.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make it his policy not to refer to working class people as having a lower socio-economic status.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As given in the answer of 8th October, the term ‘working class’ was used in the 10-Year Health Plan in the standard way that it is used in English, that is to indicate people who are employed for wages and generally experience greater job insecurity and less financial security than others in society.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2025 to Question 66652 on Military Aircraft: Ministers, what the total cost to the public purse was for those tasks.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The total cost for Government Minsters travel on the RAF Command Support Air Transport between 3 July 2024 and 4 July 2025 is £858,724.23. This was approximately 51.3% lower than the previous year.

Some elements included in the total cost are air passenger duty, catering, insurance, fuel, civilian airfield usage, landing & handling fees.

Since my response to Question 66652, I can confirm that an additional task has been identified which is in scope and the total costs cover 44 tasks, that were completed between 4 July 2024 and 18 July 2025.

It has been the practice of successive administrations not to publish granular information relating to the official movements of Ministers and those accompanying them within the United Kingdom. Information about official overseas travel is published as part of the Cabinet Office transparency returns and made available on the GOV.UK website.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she intends to cap public service pension costs under section 12 of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Section 12 of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 (the Act) requires an employer cost cap to be set in each of the public service pension schemes.

The Act requires that Treasury regulations must provide for the costs of a scheme to remain within specified margins either side of the employer cost cap of the scheme. The Regulations (SI 2014 No. 575) provide the margins are 3% of pay and that steps must be taken to return the cost of a scheme to the employer cost cap if the cost of the scheme would otherwise go beyond these margins.

Treasury Directions made under the Act specify when the employer cost cap is to be assessed (The_Public_Service_Pensions__Valuations_and_Employer_Cost_Cap__Directions_2023_-_Final.pdf ). Valuations of the employer cost cap as at 31 March 2016 and at 31 March 2020 have been undertaken by each of the schemes, for example see page 9 of the Civil Service Pension Scheme Actuarial Valuation as at 31 March 2020 - Valuation Results. Valuations of the employer cost cap as at 31 March 2024 are currently underway and are expected to be published next year.

Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2025 to Question 91457, on Written Question: Government Responses, if he will undertake an assessment of whether the Cabinet Office provides full and helpful responses to Parliamentary Questions.

Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

It is a matter for individual departments to determine how to respond to parliamentary questions from Members. However, Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account and I am committed to ensuring that Members receive full and timely responses.

I encourage hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself and my office.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, page 16, what proportion of the £203 million underspend in DEL arose from projects that failed to deliver to plan and are now expected to require re-profiling or supplementary funding in 2025–26.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

None of the underspend requires re-profiling or supplementary funding in 2025-26.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information the Crown Commercial Service holds on Government use of the Starlink network.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Starlink is not a supplier on any Crown Commercial Service (CCS) commercial agreement.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 3 November 2025 to Question 85509 on Government Communication Service, how the Government Communication Service under the SAFE framework assesses whether the expression of gender-critical views are perceived to be offensive.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As detailed on the SAFE framework page (under ‘Safety and suitability’), publishers must provide a safe environment for HMG advertising. Link provided below:

https://www.communications.gov.uk/publications/safe-framework-the-4-principles-for-hmg-brand-safety/

There have been no requests for government advertising via Politico and this publication has not been assessed against the framework.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost was of the One Big Thing 2024 initiative, including (a) design and delivery of the Innovation Masterclass, (b) the contract with Wazoku for the One Big Thing platform, (c) communications and engagement activities and (d) evaluation and analysis.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The total cost for One Big Thing 2024 was £400,164, including a) £258,144 for the design and delivery of the Innovation Masterclass, b) £0 for access to Wazoku Platform (an existing contract between Wazoku and MoD was utilised, at no cost to the the Cabinet Office) c) £11,066 for marketing and media (cost relates to stalls at Civil Service Live) and d) £7,980 for a data dashboard for monitoring live uptake. The evaluation and analysis were done internally within the CO, at no cost.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 86058 on Government Departments: Advertising, for what reason Politico has not been assessed.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As detailed on the SAFE framework page (under ‘Safety and suitability’), publishers must provide a safe environment for HMG advertising. Link provided below:

https://www.communications.gov.uk/publications/safe-framework-the-4-principles-for-hmg-brand-safety/

There have been no requests for government advertising via Politico and this publication has not been assessed against the framework.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2025, to Question 73729, on Ministers: Aviation, which other Government-financed planes have their carbon offset.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government does not lease any other government-financed aircraft outside of the wet-leased A321neoLR (G-GBNI) and Ministry of Defence (MOD) assets.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2025, to Question 62993, on King Charles III: Artworks, whether (a) NHS England and (b) Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust accepted the offer from the Cabinet Office of a free portrait of the King to place in their offices.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I refer the Honourable Member to the information published on GOV.UK on 28 November 2024 which provided a summary of the His Majesty The King’s Official Portrait Scheme, including the number of portraits provided by type of public institution, and the total cost of the scheme: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/conclusion-of-his-majesty-the-kings-free-portrait-scheme

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the Mission Boards do not appear in the List of Cabinet Committees, published on 19 November 2025.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Following a review of the Cabinet committee system, the Prime Minister announced a number of changes to the committee structure. Mission Boards have been reformed to become delivery-focused forums benefitting from external and industry expertise, led by the relevant Secretary of State. The Government remains committed to delivering the missions.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether applications for the Government Communication Service Apprenticeship in 2026 will be restricted on the basis of (a) socio-economic background and (b) ethnicity.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Applications for the GCS Apprenticeship are not restricted on the basis of socio-economic background or ethnicity.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 31 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, what his evidential basis is for the statement that those services are widely known across government as providing an excellent service.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The services offered by the Cabinet Office functions have seen significant growth in usage, with income increasing by 77% over the last five years. Departments are not mandated to use all the services provided by the functions but opt to use them.

In most cases, the functions have customer boards which provide robust oversight and feedback on how the services they provide are performing. On occasion, teams can also request customer feedback via surveys to ensure the services they are providing are meeting customer requirements.

This feedback along with the continued increase in usage reflects the growing reputation of the functions for providing excellent services.

Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, what assessment has been made of practices of Hon. Members who will not respond to correspondence from overseas electors who are assigned to their Parliamentary constituency.

Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

The Government recognises the importance of MPs responding to correspondence in a timely and consistent manner. It is for each individual MP to determine how best to perform their parliamentary duties, including the management of correspondence from constituents resident in the UK and overseas. MPs are ultimately accountable to their constituents at the ballot box.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the Freedom of Information Act response released by Cabinet Office, reference FOI2025/05758 of 10 July 2025 on criminal offences by Ministers.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

A copy of the response will be placed in the House Library.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government gave assurances to the Chinese Government on the proposed Chinese Embassy in London after 4 July 2024 and before the previously refused planning application was resubmitted by the Chinese Government.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 14 July 2025 to Question 65869.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Deposited Paper DEP2025-0726, committed on 21 October 2025, what was the cause of the breakdown in the toilet macerator.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The toilet macerator was found to be leaking and upon investigation the pump was defective. The macerator was 10 years old and it was concluded that the unit should be replaced.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Departmental Strategic Asset Management Plan Executive Summaries 2025 - 2026, published on 30 October 2025, when the summaries for all departments will be published.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The intention is to publish all summaries of departmental Strategic Asset Management Plans (SAMPs) on the UK government website. For practical purposes, this is being done in phases with a second batch going live in December.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the UK Security Vetting is currently meeting its key performance indicators for vetting timeliness.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) continues to meet its agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for all product types. The UKSV KPIs are established and regularly reviewed in consultation with departments to ensure that operational demand is balanced while retaining assurance in national security safeguards. Furthermore, UKSV's KPIs are subject to ministerial oversight.

In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 29 October 2025, to Question 83794, on Global Switch, whether any central government body still uses data centre services provided by Global Switch according to records held by the Crown Commercial Service or Cabinet Office.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the answer of 29 October 2025, that we do not comment on specific companies. Ensuring the security of UK data is a priority for the government. When the government procures any service, cybersecurity is a paramount requirement.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, who the members are of the Quint working group.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Hon Member may be referring to the informal grouping of the United Kingdom, United States, France, Germany and Italy which, for example, works alongside the EU and NATO on promoting stability in the Western Balkans.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the deposited letter from the Acting National Statistician of 22 May 2025, pursuant to the answer of 29 May 2025, to Question 53545, on Office for National Statistics: Buildings, and with reference to the Table 1 statistics on daily attendance in each of (a) Darlington, (b) Manchester and (c) Edinburgh, how many civil servants do the figures relate to in each building, and what was the frequency of their attendance on which the 5% statistic was calculated by ONS.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 26th November is attached.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the answer of 18 November 2025, to Question 88690, on Unite: Conference Centres and Hotels, what steps (a) BDO, (b) the inspector and (c) the Certification Officer taken to ensure that documents held by Unite, Unite members and its contractors or sub-contractors, are not lost or destroyed, and whether any formal notices have been served to this effect.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

As previously publicly notified, an inspector, duly appointed by the Certification Officer, is carrying out the inspection under statutory powers. Accordingly, the Certification Officer is allowing that process to proceed. No formal notices have been served by the Certification Officer.

Section 33(7) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 makes it an offence for any official or agent of a trade union to destroy, falsify or make false entries in documents relating to the union’s financial affairs.

BDO is a private entity, and the government cannot comment on its actions.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2025 to Question 88691 on Jeffrey Epstein, whether the records are searchable by keyword.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Yes, digital records are searchable by keyword.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2025, to Question 76829, on Arms Length Bodies: Equality, whether any assessment has been made of the level of compliance by Arms Length Bodies with the May 2024 EDI spending control guidance.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

As part of the requirements of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Expenditure Guidance, external EDI expenditure must be reported to the Cabinet Office by departments and Arms Length Bodies who employ civil servants. There is no additional assessment on compliance by ALB’s and reported expenditure is published annually.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 15 September 2025 to Question 74665 on Civil Service: Workplace Pensions, whether civil servants who are members of Classic, Classic Plus and Premium are able to (a) claim those pensions at 60 and (b) accrue pensionable contributions from Alpha whilst they remain in Crown service; and whether Nuvos members can do the same at 65.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Members of Classic, Classic Plus, Premium and Nuvos can claim their pensions on partial retirement (subject to them reducing their pensionable earnings by 20% by working less hours or at a lower grade) and continue in service accruing Alpha benefits (on that new lower salary). The pension they claim will be reduced (abated) if, when added to their new salary, the total exceeds their pay before partial retirement.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2025 to Question 88283 on Simon Case, what his remuneration is; and whether it includes pension contributions.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Lord Simon Case was directly appointed Chair of the Barrow Delivery Board by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government in February 2025.

In line with Cabinet Office guidance around direct ministerial appointments, published in October 2025, Lord Case is renumerated at a daily rate of £725.00 with a time commitment of 3 to 4 days per month. Renumeration does not include pension contributions.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will ensure that direct ministerial appointments publish a declaration of interests on gov.uk.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

It is the responsibility of individual sponsor departments to publish details of the direct ministerial appointments that they make, including their terms of reference. Information about managing conflicts of interest and the public announcements that should be made for Direct Ministerial Appointments is set out in the Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment they have made of the impact of vetting delays on (a) recruitment and (b) project delivery across government departments and national security agencies.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Since April 2024, United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) has consistently met its agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPI), across each product type.

With the appropriate Ministerial oversight, UKSV works closely with the departments and decision-making authorities they serve to understand their forecasted demand for the provision of vetting services.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 23 September 2025 to Question 75722 on Government Departments: Advertising, if he will publish equivalent data for spending on (a) hard copy advertising, (b) public relations and (c) marketing.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The requested information is not held centrally or in the specific categories outlined in the question.

Please refer to departmental transparency data.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people are employed by UK Security Vetting by (a) permanent civil servants, (b) fixed-term appointees and (c) contingent labour.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) delivers National Security Vetting services to departments and agencies across government, police and industry. UKSV’s workforce planning is driven by the demand forecasting and operational employment requirements of these departments and agencies. The resourcing of UKSV includes a diverse range of staffing contracts to meet forecast demand.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what is the most recent estimate of (a) the headcount size of the Government Communication Service and (b) staff who work in communications functions in the Civil Service who are not GCS.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I refer the Hon Member to the response provided for PQ 92419 for the headcount size of the Government Communication Service.

Information regarding Civil Service staff working in communications functions who are not part of the Government Communication Service is not held centrally.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 28 October 2025 to Question HL10808 on Official Residences, how long the other residences have been unoccupied.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

There are two additional flats in Admiralty House which can be allocated to ministers as official residences at the Prime Minister’s discretion. Neither flat has been allocated to a minister under the current administration.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office for National Statistics has made an assessment of the adequacy of GDP deflation forecasts.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 1st of December is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the due diligence on the appointment of special adviser, Tim Allan, included the work of his company, Portland, for the Russian Government.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

There is a rigorous process to ensure any potential conflicts of interest are captured, and have appropriate mitigations in place to reflect specific circumstances. Ahead of his appointment, the new Executive Director of Communications in 10 Downing Street fully complied with this process.

This is set out in the Special Adviser Code of Conduct and lists of Special Adviser interests are published annually.

Mr Allan is not a shareholder in Portland, and hasn’t been since 2019, and has no interest in it.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 17 November 2025 to Question 88705, on the Spectator: Advertising, whether the SAFE framework permits government advertising on the (a) Daily Express, (b) GB News and (c) the Morning Star.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Following assessment under the SAFE Framework, government advertising is permitted on The Daily Express (now express.co.uk).

No SAFE framework assessment has been conducted on GB News or the Morning Star.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 20 October 2025, to Question 81325, on Baroness Shafik, and further to the revised Cabinet Office guidance on Direct Ministerial Appointments of October 2025, para 21, whether the remuneration of Direct Ministerial Appointments will be published.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

In the new Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments, which was published on 30 October 2025, it is stated that all Direct Ministerial Appointments announcements should include “remuneration details, where such is incurred”.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 3 November 2025, to Question 84247, on Public Appointments: Political Impartiality, what communications has the Cabinet Office had with the Commissioner for Public Appointments in relation to previous political activity, which is outside the scope of the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies but in scope of the Governance Code for Public Appointments, not being publicly declared.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Governance Code on Public Appointments covers the processes departments should follow for recruiting public appointees, whereas the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies covers the behaviour of such appointees once they are in post. The codes set out processes for the publication of political activity for successful candidates and existing public appointees respectively.

Candidates for public appointment roles are asked to declare potential conflicts of interest in their applications - and are advised to err on the side of declaring if in doubt - so that the Advisory Assessment Panel can take a view on whether any actual or perceived conflicts can be appropriately managed. These wider declarations cover a full range of interests, including financial interests, and are for assessment as part of the recruitment process, not for publication. As mentioned above, the Governance Code sets out the political activity that needs to be published.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 30 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, how the cross-government charges levied by his Department’s functional business units were calculated; and for what reason income rose to £1.29 billion in 2024–25.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Departmental income has steadily risen since 2020. This reflects an increase in the uptake of the Department’s services year on year.

The Cabinet Office's functional income arises principally from the services it provides across government. Under this model, certain government functions are headquartered in the Cabinet Office and departments pay to access and use them.

For instance, the GPA provides departments and ALBs with office space across the country. They have continued to onboard properties nationally, delivering a fully integrated property management service across government.

Another primary source of income that the Department generates is in relation to the Government People Group who provides specialist human resource services to Government.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff will receive a (a) performance and (b) Christmas bonus.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Special Advisers are not entitled to bonuses. Special Adviser remuneration is included in the Annual Report on Special Advisers, published on gov.uk.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025, to Question 70464, on Government Communication Service: Audit, what is the timetable for the completion of the current annual data collection.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The 2025 data collection is complete.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025 to question 95074 , how many of the businesses classified as holiday sites in the Valuation Office Agency draft 2026 rating lists have had their rateable value i) decrease ii) stay the same iii) increase compared to their 2023 rateable values.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The VOA published the Draft non-domestic rating list on 26 November 2025, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-change-in-rateable-value-of-rating-lists-england-and-wales-2026-revaluation-draft-list

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the annual cost is of the Senior Leaders Scheme; and how many deputy directors participated in the last year.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

This year there are 114 deputy directors taking part in the Senior Leadership Programme established in 2018. The programme is 14 months’ long and costs a total of £1,373,401.91.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer to question 95074 of 2 December 2025, how many of the businesses classified as restaurants and cafes in the Valuation Office Agency draft 2026 rating lists have had their rateable value i) decrease ii) stay the same iii) increase compared to their 2023 rateable values.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The VOA published the Draft non-domestic rating list on 26 November 2025, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-change-in-rateable-value-of-rating-lists-england-and-wales-2026-revaluation-draft-list

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer to question 95074 of 2 December 2025, how many of the businesses classified as hotels etc in the Valuation Office Agency draft 2026 rating lists have had their rateable value i) decrease ii) stay the same iii) increase compared to their 2023 rateable values.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The VOA published the Draft non-domestic rating list on 26 November 2025, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-change-in-rateable-value-of-rating-lists-england-and-wales-2026-revaluation-draft-list

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer to question 95074, how many of the 52,080 businesses classified as pubs and wine bars in the VAO draft 2026 rating lists have seen their rateable value i) decrease, ii) stay the same and iii) increase compared to their 2023 rateable values.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The VOA published the Draft non-domestic rating list on 26 November 2025, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-change-in-rateable-value-of-rating-lists-england-and-wales-2026-revaluation-draft-list

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to his Department's press release entitled Civil Service staff networks to only meet outside working hours and have all events signed off by senior managers, published on 23 September 2025 if he will place in the Library a copy of the new guidance on diversity networks.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Staff Network Policy is an internal Civil Service staff policy. It is not in the public domain and as such a copy will not be placed in the Library.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 3 September 2025, to Question 70509, on Government Departments: Buildings, what is the current ownership and freehold, leasehold or rental status, of the Department for Education building on Great Smith Street, London.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The property occupied by the Department for Education on Great Smith Street, London is known as Sanctuary Buildings. GPA, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, holds the leasehold interest in the property and pays the rent. The freehold interest is held by Legal and General Assurance (Pensions Management) Limited.

Information on property registered in England and Wales is available to the public by following the following link to HM Land Registry - Search for land and property information

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his policy is on severance payments to outgoing Cabinet Secretaries and Permanent Secretaries not provided for in the model contract.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Permanent Secretary model contract sets out the contractual detail on compensation payments for all Permanent Secretaries. This applies to the Cabinet Secretary and there is no separate internal guidance. A copy of the model contract has been placed in the House Library.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 2 September 2025 to Question 69278 Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, if he will itemise the £7,395 spent.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The £7,395 covered in the response to Question 69278 was part of the £8,500 budget referred to in Question 65788 asked by the same MP on 8 July 2025. Under EDI Expenditure rules that budget was listed in the data published on 30 May 2025 and was the maximum approved budget, a ceiling rather than actual spend. Expenditure within this budget facilitated a presence on behalf of the Civil Service at 26 Pride events across the UK.

Itemising spend across all supplier organisations may breach commercial agreements between the department and suppliers.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 82675 on Civil Service: Redundancy, which public body collated and provided that data to the National Audit Office.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office provided this information to the National Audit Office. This information was already held under the Redundancy and Compensation Control process.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the Permanent Secretary model contract released under FOI reference FOI2025/09712 of September 2025.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

I refer to my answer to 88716, where I confirm a copy of the model contract has been placed in the House Library.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has issued guidance on civil servants claiming trade union facility time and diversity network time.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office Facility Time Framework, issued to Civil Service departments, provides guidance on the granting of time off for trade union facility time for civil servants who are trade union representatives. Civil Service staff network activity is separate to trade union activities and duties carried out by trade union representatives in the Civil Service. The Staff Network Policy covers the allocation of time for specific staff network roles and duties.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of officials at each Senior Civil Service grade completed the One Big Thing 2024 Innovation Masterclass from each Department and executive agency; and if he will provide this information in tabular form showing, for each organisation, the total number of officials in scope, the number completing the Masterclass, and the resulting completion rate, alongside the corresponding figures for all staff in that organisation.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

All publicly available data related to completions of the training can be found in the Evaluation of One Big Thing 2024, published on 10 October 2025.

A breakdown of the proportion of officials at each Senior Civil Service grade who completed the One Big Thing 2024 Innovation Masterclass from each Department and executive agency is not publicly available.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken for Developed Vetting renewals.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the responses given on 27 November 2025 to PQs 93373 and 92997.

Found: Dame Siobhain McDonagh, Charlie Maynard and Mike Wood made representations.