Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the National Audit Office's report of 16 June 2025 entitled Investigation into the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government’s assessment is that the National Audit Office (NAO) report of 16 June 2025 reinforces the need for markedly stronger governance, oversight and performance management over the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
There is a continuing commitment to the forthcoming outsourcing arrangement with Capita, commencing in December 2025.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to review the decision to outsource Civil Service Pension Scheme administration, in the context of performance levels under the present contract.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
At present there are no plans to reverse or conduct a formal review of the decision to outsource Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) administration.
The Government remains committed to the forthcoming outsourcing arrangement with Capita, subject to strengthened governance, enhanced oversight and performance management to secure better outcomes for all members.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to review Government contracts with Fujitsu.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The impact of the Horizon scandal on postmasters and their families has been horrendous. The Government is determined to hold those responsible to account and will continue to seek to make rapid progress on compensation and redress. Fujitsu’s role in Horizon is one of the issues currently being reviewed by Sir Wyn Williams’s statutory inquiry. The Government are carefully considering volume 1 of the report. Once the inquiry has established the full facts, we will review its final report and consider any further action, where appropriate.
In January 2024, Fujitsu committed to withdraw from bidding for contracts with new government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes. It will bid for work with existing government customers only where it already has a contract with them or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities.
Individual contracting authorities are responsible for the award and management of contracts. With regard to scrutiny during procurement processes, the Procurement Act 2023 enables and, where appropriate, requires the exclusion of suppliers where they pose particular risks to public procurement. The Cabinet Office has issued substantial guidance for departments, available on gov.uk. The exclusions regime provides a framework within which contracting authorities must consider a supplier’s recent past behaviour and circumstances (or their presence on the debarment list) to determine whether it should be allowed to compete for or be awarded a public contract.
The National Procurement Policy Statement asks contracting authorities to ensure they have the appropriate procurement and contract management skills and capability necessary to deliver public contracts and encourages the use of collaborative procurement frameworks, where appropriate, to deliver value for money.
To provide transparency, the government regularly publishes Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for its most important contracts, and the performance of the vendor against those KPIs.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is Government policy to allow public servants time off to donate (a) blood and (b) plasma.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
There is no central policy, across the Civil Service, which provides time-off to donate (a) blood and (b) plasma.
Departments can provide employees with time off to donate blood and plasma.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's publication entitled The UK Government Resilience Framework, published in December 2022, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen the role of the voluntary sector in participating in local resilience forums.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises the value that the voluntary and community sector (VCS) have in improving UK resilience. The UK Government Resilience Framework commits to deepening and strengthening relationships with the sector to maximise their contribution at the local and national levels.
Today (4th December 2023), the Deputy Prime Minister has provided an update on progress made since the publication of the Framework. Steps taken include the voluntary and community sector’s membership of the UK Resilience Forum chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister. The forum brings together national, regional and local government; private and voluntary sectors and other interested parties to consider risk; provide challenge and insight and help align emergency preparedness activities. The Cabinet Office hosts a Voluntary and Community Sector Strategic Discussion Forum to discuss opportunities for greater alignment in more detail. We have also published the 2023 National Risk Register which provides an increasingly transparent resource for relevant bodies including the voluntary and community sector to prepare for the risks to the UK.
To make it easier for more people to volunteer to help before, during and after an emergency, we will also be creating an online volunteering hub. This will be a single place to showcase existing resilience-related volunteering opportunities across the public, voluntary and charitable sectors, locally and nationally. More details can be found in the annual statement and associated publication in the Library.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Investment Security Unit is currently assessing the national security implications of the proposed merger between Vodafone UK and Three.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Deputy Prime Minister, as Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office, takes decisions under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 in a quasi-judicial capacity. It would therefore not be appropriate to comment on individual cases, given commercial and national security sensitivities.
The Investment Security Unit coordinates expertise from across Government as part of this process.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Investment Security Unit has received representations from Vodafone UK in relation to its proposed merger with Three.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Deputy Prime Minister, as Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office, takes decisions under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 in a quasi-judicial capacity. It would therefore not be appropriate to comment on individual cases, given commercial and national security sensitivities.
The Investment Security Unit coordinates expertise from across Government as part of this process.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people died from alcoholism in (a) Stockport constituency and (b) the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in each year since 2015.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman Parliamentary Question of 24th April is attached.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many British nationals have died due to Dengue fever in the last ten years.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 26 January is attached.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the union density is in his Department.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Cabinet Office staff are able to join a Trade Union if they choose. This is done directly with the Trade Union and not shared with us. We are, therefore, unable to provide the information requested.