Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will provide details of (a) gifts, (b) donations, (c) donations in kind and (d) hospitality that Ministers in the Department including Downing Street, have accepted that have since been paid back to the original donor by the relevant Minister under the (i) Ministerial and (ii) Parliamentary reporting regimes.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

All gifts and hospitality that are received in a ministerial capacity are declared on the Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality in line with ministers’ obligations under the Ministerial Code.

The Parliamentary codes of conduct are a matter for Parliament and questions should be directed to the individual member concerned or the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the (a) Office for National Statistics, (b) National Audit Office, (c) Northern Ireland Civil Service, (d) Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, (e) GCHQ, (f) MI5, (g) SIS and (h) Crown Commercial Service pay subscription fees to Stonewall.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

As the sponsoring department for the following bodies, the Cabinet Office can confirm that the Office for National Statistics, the Public Health Service Ombudsman, and the Crown Commercial Service do not pay subscription fees to Stonewall.

All other bodies asked about are not sponsored by the Cabinet Office, and are therefore a matter for their individual sponsoring departments.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether appointments to Great British Railways will be included in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the Chair will be classified as a Significant Appointment.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

After the Railways Bill is scrutinised by Parliament, and as part of the design of Great British Railways, we will consider whether to propose an amendment to the Public Bodies Order in Council. We expect that the GBR Chair will be classed as a significant appointment.

Parliament will have an opportunity to scrutinise GBR’s duties when the bill is taken through Parliament later this session.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has issued guidance to (a) the civil service and (b) arm’s length bodies on paying back severance payments if civil servants made redundant rejoin the (a) civil service, (b) NHS and (c) wider public sector.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Whilst the NHS and some wider public sector organisations will have their own arrangements, any individual who leaves under the terms of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, and later returns to the same organisation, or another one that uses the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, within six months, must pay back a proportionate amount of their compensation.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2024 to Question 4697 on Civil Servants: Incentives, at what point in the year Cabinet Office civil servants are typically given such incentive payments of shopping vouchers; whether such vouchers can be used for paying utility bills; and how much his Department has spent on Love2Shop Gift Cards since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

In-year vouchers can be given at any point in the year. The vouchers cannot be directly redeemed for utility bills, but have a wide range of retail outlets where they can be spent. The Cabinet Office does not use Love2Shop vouchers.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15471 on Office for Equality and Opportunity: Gender and Sexuality, whether the Civil Service People Group formally recognises any (a) genders, (b) sexual orientations and (c) gender identities.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Data collection on gender identities, genders or sexual orientation is delegated to departments.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 17 February 2025 to Question HL4631 on Cabinet Office: Standards, if he will publish that template.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

His Majesty's Government can confirm that:

As was the case under the previous administration, the template is intended solely for internal departmental use and will not be released publicly.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) Permanent Secretaries and (b) Second Permanent Secretaries are employed on fixed term contracts.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The majority of Permanent Secretaries (First and Second) are permanent civil servants, on permanent contracts. Exceptionally, fixed term contracts may be offered to external candidates, for example in the case of specialist roles.

When appointed to a Permanent Secretary role, Permanent Secretaries (First and Second) are appointed on fixed term tenures, typically for five years. Where appropriate, and with the Prime Minister and relevant Minister’s approval, tenure may be extended.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Public Bodies Handbook – Part 2: The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies, whether his Department's public bodies team assessed Great British Railways against the requirement that the creation of a new arm's length body should only be considered as a last resort; whether the Department for Transport provided evidence that alternative delivery models were considered; and which of the three tests in Chapter 2 of that guidance Great British Railways met.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Department for Transport is currently working through the approval process to establish Great British Railways as an Arm’s Length Body. The completion of business cases as part of this process considers viable delivery mechanisms and the three tests.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to lay a new Official Statistics Order to designate the Fair Work Agency’s statistical outputs as official statistics.

Answered by Georgia Gould - 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 31st March is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2025 to Question 20702 on Foreign Investment in UK: National Security, if he will publish mitigation measures taken as a result of final orders issued in the last year with the 2024-2025 NSI annual report.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government publishes notices of final orders made on GOV.UK - this includes cases that are blocked, unwound, or cleared subject to conditions. The notices include a high level summary of what mitigation measures are imposed on the parties.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that local government is accountable for its decisions.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Councils are democratic institutions accountable to the communities they serve. We are strengthening that accountability through clearer expectations, stronger local scrutiny, and a renewed focus on outcomes.

Together, these measures are building a more trusting and equal partnership-based relationship between central and local government.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the guidance entitled Property business arrangements involving hybrid partnerships (Spotlight 63) was published on 4 October 2023; whether her Department prepared an impact assessment for that guidance; and whether she is taking steps to ensure that HMRC complies with its charter in the context of affected (a) landlords and (b) tenants.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC tackles avoidance schemes by directly challenging promoters and by informing and educating taxpayers. This includes for example, targeted educational campaigns for taxpayers, spotlight publications which provide an early warning to taxpayers of marketed avoidance arrangements, and publication of details on tax avoidance schemes and those that promote them.

HMRC takes the Charter very seriously. The HMRC charter, published on GOV.UK, defines the service and standard of behaviour that taxpayers should expect.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether UK Defence Innovation will be an arm’s length body.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

No. UK Defence Innovation will report to the National Armaments Director in the Ministry of Defence, as part of the new operating model being established through Defence Reform.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 14354 on Civil Servants: Pay, what the budget for civil service pay is (a) including and (b) excluding National insurance employer contributions in (i) 2024-25 and (ii) 2025-26.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Departments are responsible for pay, terms and conditions of civil servants, within the parameters set out in the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance, this includes setting budgets for annual increases for its own workforce.

Salary data for the Civil Service is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics, an Accredited Official Statistics release. Civil Service Statistics 2025 is due to be published on 30 July 2025.

For 2025/26, departmental pay awards have not yet been made and the 2025/26 Pay Remit Guidance will be published in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued on delivering efficiency savings through reducing spending on external public relations.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government regularly evaluates the effectiveness of all communication activities to ensure they are delivering and providing the best value for money for taxpayers. An example of this is the recent comprehensive communications Spending Review that delivered savings of £85 million in 2024-25 and up to £96 million in 2025-26.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how often the NHS has made use of Private and Voluntary ambulances in the last five years; whether the NHS is planning to reduce or increase their use; and what is the estimated impact of their use on costs to his Department.

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

The requested information is not held. National Health Service ambulance trusts may procure support from private ambulance services during periods of peak demand to supplement the NHS’ ambulance fleet. Ambulance availability is therefore monitored on a daily basis by each NHS ambulance trust.

With regard to expenditure on private ambulance services, NHS England does not collect this data, as decisions to engage private emergency ambulance support are made at the frontline operational level.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what powers the Financial Conduct Authority has to regulate sports spread bets; and whether those powers have changed since the implementation of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2000, HM Treasury is responsible for determining the perimeter of financial services regulation, with the approval of Parliament. This is chiefly achieved by specifying the financial services activities that can only be carried out by firms authorised by either the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Prudential Regulation Authority.

It specifies these activities primarily through the Regulated Activities Order (RAO), a piece of subordinate legislation made under powers in FSMA 2000. HM Treasury can bring an activity into the regulatory perimeter by amending the RAO, subject to Parliamentary approval.

The FCA does not itself have the power to bring any activity into the regulatory perimeter or decide what activities are regulated. This has not changed since the implementation of FSMA 2000.

The FCA CEO raised non-financial spread betting in the annual perimeter meeting in July 2023, and noted that the FCA has clarified that non-financial betting products are not financial instruments and not within the FCA’s regulatory perimeter. The minutes are published online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hm-treasury-and-financial-conduct-authority-regulatory-perimeter-meeting-july-2023/hm-treasury-and-financial-conduct-authority-regulatory-perimeter-meeting-july-2023

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37318 on Animal Experiments: Animal Welfare, how many animals were bred for use in procedures licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 but deemed surplus and disposed of without being used for scientific purposes in the last full calendar year for which data is available.

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

The most recent statistics in this category were published in 2017, when 1.81 million non-genetically altered (non-GA) animals were bred for scientific procedures but were killed or died without being used in regulated procedures. These statistics can be found here:

Additional statistics on breeding and genotyping of animals for scientific procedures, Great Britain, 2017

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, for what reason his Department intends to establish Great British Energy as an arm’s length body.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

It is our intention that Great British Energy will be a publicly owned energy company and an Arm’s Length Body in line with Cabinet Office guidance. Setting up GBE in this way will ensure the right balance between operational independence and accountability to Parliament.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has issued guidance to Ministers on whether they may undertake personal visits whilst on official Ministerial visits overseas.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Guidance on overseas visits by Ministers is found in Chapter 10 of the Ministerial Code.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the transparency data entitled Data on responses to correspondence from MPs and Peers, updated on 23 May 2024, for what reason there are different target response times for different Departments.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

As outlined in the Guide to Handling Correspondence, all Government departments and agencies must aim to respond to correspondence within 20 working days. Government departments and agencies can set their own more ambitious deadlines if they want to do so.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportionate reduction in spending will be required in each (a) Department and (b) arm’s length bodies in (i) 2024-25, (ii) 2025-26, and (iii) 2026-27.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office does not hold details about the spending plans of other government departments. Plans can be found in HM Treasury’s Estimate publications and fiscal statement documentation. Departments, including the Cabinet Office, publish forward plans in the annual reports and accounts.

The Prime Minister has announced that the Government is committed to cutting bureaucracy across the state, in order to focus government on the priorities of working people and shift money to the frontline. As part of this, the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the arms-length body NHS England. The Government has also announced the first zero-based review of government spending in 17 years, with departments expected to go line-by-line to find savings and efficiencies, including in bodies and agencies that they sponsor.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 30828 on 9 Downing Street: Media, and with reference to the Cabinet Office: spend data over £25,000 - February 2025, published on 27 March 2025, whether the £122,086.70 entry for OCS UK&I Limited is the full cost of the No.9 media room refurbishment; and if he will publish the associated invoices.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The referenced entry is unrelated to the 9 Downing Street media room. The cost of these works will be published in due course in Cabinet Office transparency returns.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library a copy of the request from FDA for voluntary recognition of a trade union for special advisers.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The government does not publish such information.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants exits will be funded by the £150 million government employee exit schemes; and whether this will include civil service compensation scheme payments for (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory exits.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury are working together to determine how best this investment can be used by departments to support their individual exit schemes, the terms of which will vary from organisation to organisation.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether officials in Downing Street use the Signal app.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Ministers and officials use a range of communication methods and there are longstanding appropriate arrangements and guidance in place for the management of electronic communications.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many lecterns are (a) held by Downing Street and (b) on loan from Downing Street to other public bodies.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Downing Street holds 7 lecterns, all of which were inherited from previous governments.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 29019 on Civil Servants: Recruitment, what is the process by which a Minister can request a department (a) appoint and (b) consider appointing a specific individual to the Civil Service without open and fair competition below SCS2 level.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Civil Service Recruitment principles outline the process by which grades below SCS can be appointed without fair and open competition. This includes guidance about the involvement of Ministers in the recruitment process.

The process and approach remains consistent with that applied by the previous administration.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 1.5 of the Ministerial Code, published on 6 November 2024, whether civil service workplace standards are used to interpret these requirements; and whether the Prime Minister is responsible for determining what constitutes (a) bullying and (b) harassment.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Ministerial Code sets out the standards of behaviour which the Prime Minister expects of ministers. As set out at paragraph 2.1, the Prime Minister is the ultimate judge of those standards of behaviour and of the appropriate consequences for any breach of those standards.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025 to Question 25671 on Delivery Unit, on what dates each of the stocktakes have taken place.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

I refer the honourable gentlemen to the answer given to PQ25671.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the minutes of meetings that she has had with each trade union since 5 July 2025.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department assumes that there is an error in the question, and the right hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay means 5 July 2024. The details of all my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s external meetings are routinely published on GOV.UK.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in what circumstances new public bodies do not have to meet the last resort test in the Approvals Process guidance for new Arm's Length Bodies.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

An ALB needs to pass at least one of three tests: (1) it is a technical function that requires external expertise (2) it needs to be delivered with political impartiality, or (3) it needs to be delivered independently from Ministers to establish facts and figures with integrity. The Cabinet Office makes an assessment based on the information provided by the department.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2025 to Question 32268 on Freedom of Information and Parliamentary Questions: Impact Assessment, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that information which is routinely disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act regime is disclosed to Parliament when similar requests for information as made through Parliamentary Questions.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information that is published in response to Parliamentary Questions is handled on a case by case basis, as is the information that is published in response to any request under the Freedom of Information Act. The Cabinet Office takes seriously both its obligations to Parliament and its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2025 to Question 27913 on 10 Downing Street: Shops, whether the goods manufactured in China and sold in the Downing Street Gift Shop are produced in Xinjiang.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

None of the products sold in the Downing Street gift shop are produced in Xinjiang.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Defra: spending over £500, January 2025, published on 21 March 2025, what Natural England purchased from Sumup Event Bar Spar in January 2025.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The expenditure detailed relates to a Christmas meal hospitality event held to recognise the contributions of volunteers at Fenn’s, Whixall, and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve. The total cost of £1,462.50 was processed for payment in January 2025, and it was attended by 65 volunteers invited to a celebratory event to thank them for their volunteering over the previous year. This is a total spend of approximately £22 per attendant.

This National Nature Reserve has the most volunteers (over 100 registered volunteers) for any Natural England National Nature Reserve in the West Midlands . The volunteers contribute to many aspects of the running of the National Nature Reserve. These include:

• Outreach / Engagement /Education - Leading guided walks, Giving talks, assisting with School/College groups, helping with public events, and ensuring that those with disabilities can still enjoy nature
• Assisting with practical works including habitat management, maintenance & access works
• Research / surveys / monitoring – carrying out & assisting with research projects, carrying out surveys / monitoring (inc. species & hydrology)

The volunteers in 2024/25 contributed over 6,000 hours to the National Nature Reserve.

The Cabinet Office has recently announced measures to cut down on this kind of expenditure. This is to correct the lack of respect for public money by the previous government, which allowed this type of spend to be entirely unchecked and unmonitored, including for the time that he was a minister in that department.

The policy detail can be found here:

Government-branded merchandise and away days banned - GOV.UK

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Defra: spending over £500, January 2025, published on 21 March 2025, what Natural England purchased from Amazon Marketplace on 30 January 2025.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The expenditure detailed relates to the purchase of equipment for public use (binoculars and a spotting scope) for a project at Goss Moor. The connecting people with nature project enables the public a closer view and experience of wildlife on the National Nature Reserves, it is funded through the national health and environment budget. The scope was necessary to be inclusive for people who would struggle to hold the binoculars for health reasons. The total amount of £625.42, including VAT, was processed for payment in February 2025.

This transaction is in line with our standard financial procedures, and the expenditure was reviewed and approved accordingly.

The Cabinet Office has recently announced measures to cut down on this kind of expenditure. This is to correct the lack of respect for public money by the previous government, which allowed this type of spend to be entirely unchecked and unmonitored, including for the time that he was a minister in that department.

The policy detail can be found here:

Government-branded merchandise and away days banned - GOV.UK

Written questions (WPQs) allow MPs to ask for information on the work, policy and activities of Government departments, related bodies, and the administration of Parliament.