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Written Question
House of Lords: Reform
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the number of sitting peers in the House of Lords.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The House of Lords has a key role in scrutinising the executive and as a revising chamber. The Government has made no assessment of the merits of reducing the number of sitting peers and notes that unlike the Commons, peers are not full-time salaried legislators. It is important to focus on the number of peers who attend, and not just the number eligible to sit. Existing mechanisms allow sitting peers to retire or resign.


Written Question
Government Departments: Communication
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he is taking steps to (a) ensure consistency in the accessibility of departmental communications and (b) support the use of (i) sign language videos, (ii) audio recordings and (iii) other accessible formats in such communications across Departments.

Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.


Written Question
Ministers: Pay
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether there is a cap on the combined total for ministerial salaries in any financial year.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The number of ministerial salaries available to the government at any one time is 109. This is a statutory limit governed by the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.

It is routinely the case that some ministers will be asked to serve in an unpaid capacity given the statutory limitations on the number of available salaries. A list of ministers who are currently serving in an unpaid capacity are as follows:

  • Richard Holden MP, Minister of State (Minister without Portfolio) in the Cabinet Office (receives a salary from the Conservative Party)

  • The Rt Hon John Glen MP, Minister of State and Paymaster General, Cabinet Office

  • The Lord Johnson of Lainston CBE, Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade.

  • The Baroness Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office.

  • The Earl of Minto, Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence.

  • The Rt Hon. the Earl Howe, Minister of State and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords.

  • The Rt Hon. the Lord Benyon, Minister of State, jointly at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

  • The Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

  • Andrew Griffith MP, Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

  • The Baroness Barran MBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education and Government Equalities Spokesperson in the Lords.

  • The Lord Douglas-Miller OBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

  • The Lord Markham CBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care.

  • The Lord Bellamy KC, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice

  • The Viscount Camrose, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

  • The Lord Offord of Garvel CVO, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade.

  • The Lord Cameron of Lochiel, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Scotland Office.

  • The Lord Roborough, Lord in Waiting (Government Whip)

The list of all government ministers on GOV.UK is updated following each reshuffle. The current government list is on gov.uk at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers.

It would be a significant undertaking to calculate the exact number of unpaid ministers since 2015, especially given some ministers have dual roles (where they are paid in one role but not in another) such as if they hold more than one ministerial position. We can estimate however that over the last decade, this number has been approximately 10-20 at any given time.

It is ultimately for the Prime Minister to decide how to organise the executive and which ministers are paid a salary. While the Cabinet Office provides advice to the Prime Minister on the number of salaries available, the department does not decide the allocation of salaries.


Ministers are continuing to voluntarily waive part of their salaries, foregoing any pay increase to their Ministerial salaries. This means ministers in the Commons’ salaries have not increased since 2010; and ministers in the House of Lords have received frozen salaries since 2019. Further information is published on GOV.UK at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-salary-data.


Written Question
Ministers: Pay
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many times since 2015 a minister has foregone a ministerial salary at the request of the Cabinet Office.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The number of ministerial salaries available to the government at any one time is 109. This is a statutory limit governed by the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.

It is routinely the case that some ministers will be asked to serve in an unpaid capacity given the statutory limitations on the number of available salaries. A list of ministers who are currently serving in an unpaid capacity are as follows:

  • Richard Holden MP, Minister of State (Minister without Portfolio) in the Cabinet Office (receives a salary from the Conservative Party)

  • The Rt Hon John Glen MP, Minister of State and Paymaster General, Cabinet Office

  • The Lord Johnson of Lainston CBE, Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade.

  • The Baroness Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office.

  • The Earl of Minto, Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence.

  • The Rt Hon. the Earl Howe, Minister of State and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords.

  • The Rt Hon. the Lord Benyon, Minister of State, jointly at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

  • The Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

  • Andrew Griffith MP, Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

  • The Baroness Barran MBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education and Government Equalities Spokesperson in the Lords.

  • The Lord Douglas-Miller OBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

  • The Lord Markham CBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care.

  • The Lord Bellamy KC, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice

  • The Viscount Camrose, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

  • The Lord Offord of Garvel CVO, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade.

  • The Lord Cameron of Lochiel, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Scotland Office.

  • The Lord Roborough, Lord in Waiting (Government Whip)

The list of all government ministers on GOV.UK is updated following each reshuffle. The current government list is on gov.uk at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers.

It would be a significant undertaking to calculate the exact number of unpaid ministers since 2015, especially given some ministers have dual roles (where they are paid in one role but not in another) such as if they hold more than one ministerial position. We can estimate however that over the last decade, this number has been approximately 10-20 at any given time.

It is ultimately for the Prime Minister to decide how to organise the executive and which ministers are paid a salary. While the Cabinet Office provides advice to the Prime Minister on the number of salaries available, the department does not decide the allocation of salaries.


Ministers are continuing to voluntarily waive part of their salaries, foregoing any pay increase to their Ministerial salaries. This means ministers in the Commons’ salaries have not increased since 2010; and ministers in the House of Lords have received frozen salaries since 2019. Further information is published on GOV.UK at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-salary-data.


Written Question
Minsiters: Pay
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many times since 2015 ministers have asked to forego a ministerial salary, either full or in part; and who were those ministers.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The number of ministerial salaries available to the government at any one time is 109. This is a statutory limit governed by the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.

It is routinely the case that some ministers will be asked to serve in an unpaid capacity given the statutory limitations on the number of available salaries. A list of ministers who are currently serving in an unpaid capacity are as follows:

  • Richard Holden MP, Minister of State (Minister without Portfolio) in the Cabinet Office (receives a salary from the Conservative Party)

  • The Rt Hon John Glen MP, Minister of State and Paymaster General, Cabinet Office

  • The Lord Johnson of Lainston CBE, Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade.

  • The Baroness Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office.

  • The Earl of Minto, Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence.

  • The Rt Hon. the Earl Howe, Minister of State and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords.

  • The Rt Hon. the Lord Benyon, Minister of State, jointly at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

  • The Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

  • Andrew Griffith MP, Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

  • The Baroness Barran MBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education and Government Equalities Spokesperson in the Lords.

  • The Lord Douglas-Miller OBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

  • The Lord Markham CBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care.

  • The Lord Bellamy KC, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice

  • The Viscount Camrose, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

  • The Lord Offord of Garvel CVO, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade.

  • The Lord Cameron of Lochiel, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Scotland Office.

  • The Lord Roborough, Lord in Waiting (Government Whip)

The list of all government ministers on GOV.UK is updated following each reshuffle. The current government list is on gov.uk at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers.

It would be a significant undertaking to calculate the exact number of unpaid ministers since 2015, especially given some ministers have dual roles (where they are paid in one role but not in another) such as if they hold more than one ministerial position. We can estimate however that over the last decade, this number has been approximately 10-20 at any given time.

It is ultimately for the Prime Minister to decide how to organise the executive and which ministers are paid a salary. While the Cabinet Office provides advice to the Prime Minister on the number of salaries available, the department does not decide the allocation of salaries.


Ministers are continuing to voluntarily waive part of their salaries, foregoing any pay increase to their Ministerial salaries. This means ministers in the Commons’ salaries have not increased since 2010; and ministers in the House of Lords have received frozen salaries since 2019. Further information is published on GOV.UK at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-salary-data.


Written Question
Ministers: Pay
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many times since 2015 ministers have been asked to forego a ministerial salary; and what were the reasons for those requests.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The number of ministerial salaries available to the government at any one time is 109. This is a statutory limit governed by the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.

It is routinely the case that some ministers will be asked to serve in an unpaid capacity given the statutory limitations on the number of available salaries. A list of ministers who are currently serving in an unpaid capacity are as follows:

  • Richard Holden MP, Minister of State (Minister without Portfolio) in the Cabinet Office (receives a salary from the Conservative Party)

  • The Rt Hon John Glen MP, Minister of State and Paymaster General, Cabinet Office

  • The Lord Johnson of Lainston CBE, Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade.

  • The Baroness Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office.

  • The Earl of Minto, Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence.

  • The Rt Hon. the Earl Howe, Minister of State and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords.

  • The Rt Hon. the Lord Benyon, Minister of State, jointly at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

  • The Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

  • Andrew Griffith MP, Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

  • The Baroness Barran MBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education and Government Equalities Spokesperson in the Lords.

  • The Lord Douglas-Miller OBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

  • The Lord Markham CBE, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care.

  • The Lord Bellamy KC, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice

  • The Viscount Camrose, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

  • The Lord Offord of Garvel CVO, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade.

  • The Lord Cameron of Lochiel, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Scotland Office.

  • The Lord Roborough, Lord in Waiting (Government Whip)

The list of all government ministers on GOV.UK is updated following each reshuffle. The current government list is on gov.uk at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers.

It would be a significant undertaking to calculate the exact number of unpaid ministers since 2015, especially given some ministers have dual roles (where they are paid in one role but not in another) such as if they hold more than one ministerial position. We can estimate however that over the last decade, this number has been approximately 10-20 at any given time.

It is ultimately for the Prime Minister to decide how to organise the executive and which ministers are paid a salary. While the Cabinet Office provides advice to the Prime Minister on the number of salaries available, the department does not decide the allocation of salaries.


Ministers are continuing to voluntarily waive part of their salaries, foregoing any pay increase to their Ministerial salaries. This means ministers in the Commons’ salaries have not increased since 2010; and ministers in the House of Lords have received frozen salaries since 2019. Further information is published on GOV.UK at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-salary-data.


Written Question
UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much expenditure they have incurred since 2020 assisting businesses engaging with rules and regulations pertaining to the movement of goods between (1) Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and (2) Great Britain and Northern Ireland, following agreement with the EU on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, and subsequently the Windsor Framework.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

  • The Government is committed to supporting industry in moving goods smoothly between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including through schemes such as the Trader Support Service and Movement Assistance Scheme. There is no central provision made for support schemes.

  • As the Government announced in September last year, the current term of Trader Support Service will run to December 2024. Information about the costs of the Trader Support Service is published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrcs-annual-report-and-accounts. The total cost of the Movement Assistance Scheme up to the end of January 2024 was £29.8m. The Government also launched a £50m labelling financial assistance scheme, to assist businesses with the costs of meeting labelling requirements.

  • We have always been committed to taking steps necessary to support businesses - both through the WF arrangements for internal trade but also for those whose business models may not fall within them. This is entirely excepted funding support and so has no negative implications for the NI block grant, where of course the Government has also provided an unprecedented £3.3bn as part of the recent efforts to restore the Executive.

  • It is not the case that the money available to support schemes would be diverted to any other project in Northern Ireland - if the support scheme were to be withdrawn then no additional funding of any kind would be available in NI as a result.


Written Question
Windsor Framework: Private Sector
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are (1) the value, and (2) the term length, of each contract awarded to private sector companies to assist with the implementation of the Windsor Framework.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

  • The Government is committed to supporting industry in moving goods smoothly between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including through schemes such as the Trader Support Service and Movement Assistance Scheme. There is no central provision made for support schemes.

  • As the Government announced in September last year, the current term of Trader Support Service will run to December 2024. Information about the costs of the Trader Support Service is published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrcs-annual-report-and-accounts. The total cost of the Movement Assistance Scheme up to the end of January 2024 was £29.8m. The Government also launched a £50m labelling financial assistance scheme, to assist businesses with the costs of meeting labelling requirements.

  • We have always been committed to taking steps necessary to support businesses - both through the WF arrangements for internal trade but also for those whose business models may not fall within them. This is entirely excepted funding support and so has no negative implications for the NI block grant, where of course the Government has also provided an unprecedented £3.3bn as part of the recent efforts to restore the Executive.

  • It is not the case that the money available to support schemes would be diverted to any other project in Northern Ireland - if the support scheme were to be withdrawn then no additional funding of any kind would be available in NI as a result.


Written Question
Windsor Framework
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what financial provision they have made for the 2024–25 financial year to assist businesses dealing with the requirements of the Windsor Framework for the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

  • The Government is committed to supporting industry in moving goods smoothly between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including through schemes such as the Trader Support Service and Movement Assistance Scheme. There is no central provision made for support schemes.

  • As the Government announced in September last year, the current term of Trader Support Service will run to December 2024. Information about the costs of the Trader Support Service is published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrcs-annual-report-and-accounts. The total cost of the Movement Assistance Scheme up to the end of January 2024 was £29.8m. The Government also launched a £50m labelling financial assistance scheme, to assist businesses with the costs of meeting labelling requirements.

  • We have always been committed to taking steps necessary to support businesses - both through the WF arrangements for internal trade but also for those whose business models may not fall within them. This is entirely excepted funding support and so has no negative implications for the NI block grant, where of course the Government has also provided an unprecedented £3.3bn as part of the recent efforts to restore the Executive.

  • It is not the case that the money available to support schemes would be diverted to any other project in Northern Ireland - if the support scheme were to be withdrawn then no additional funding of any kind would be available in NI as a result.


Written Question
Civil Servants: Incentives
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants have been paid bonuses in each of the last five years.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As part of the Government’s commitment to transparency, departments have published aggregated annual information on their bonus spend on their own websites since 2011. This promotes scrutiny of how taxpayers’ money is spent. The latest data, which covers the 2021/22 performance year, was published on Government Departments’ websites on 31 March 2023. This data includes information on total bonus spend, the number of civil servants receiving bonuses, and the size of payments.