Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry constituency have been affected by the issues with administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We are unable to provide a breakdown of the number of people affected in the Arbroath and Broughty Ferry constituency. Capita does not provide data on the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme at this specific geographic or constituency level.
The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update (2 March 2026) is available at this weblink: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-update-2-march-2026
The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the publication entitled Cabinet Office - Second Headquarters: Year in Review 2025, of 9 January 2026, how many headcount staff are assigned to work in the second Headquarters; and how many desks there are.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office Second Headquarters is based in the Government Hub at 1 Atlantic Square, Glasgow.
The Cabinet Office's Second Headquarters serves as a key regional base, accommodating over 700 Cabinet Office staff.
It has been the practice of successive governments not to comment, on grounds of both national security and staff safety, on the physical capacity or staffing numbers for individual buildings of the government estate.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, Oral evidence: The work of the Cabinet Office, HC 463, 16 December 2025, Question 353, if he will list the 36 voluntary exit schemes in operation by public body.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer to the Honourable Member to Minister Turley’s answer provided to PQ 82675.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his Department’s press release entitled Major employment drive to help unlock 200,000 new jobs and apprenticeships for next generation, published on 16 March 2026, what safeguards will be in place to ensure that employers do not repeatedly cycle through short-term subsidised workers.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Youth Jobs Grant is specifically targeted at young people because of the risk of lifelong scarring impacts of extended unemployment at a young age and to support the Government’s commitment to reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training.
The Youth Jobs Grant is designed to help employers with the early costs of hiring eligible young people. The first payment will not be made until after we’ve had confirmation through other sources that the young person has been employed, and the final payment will not be made until after several months of employment to encourage retention. As with all our employment programmes, we will monitor delivery to ensure the Grant is being used as intended, which is to expand opportunities for young people who need help to enter the labour market.
We estimate there are 200,000 young people eligible for the Youth Jobs Grant now, and we expect to support 60,000 young people with this over three years. We are also expanding the Jobs Guarantee to a wider age range, from 18-21 to 18-24, to create more than 35,000 extra subsidised jobs. This brings the total to be supported through the scheme to over 90,000 in the next three years.
The Youth Jobs Grant is available to employers in all sectors across Great Britain. The roles supported will depend on employers’ hiring needs rather than sector specific targets. We expect more take up in sectors that traditionally recruit young people, such as retail, hospitality, health and social care, logistics and construction, alongside opportunities in growth sectors including digital, engineering and green technologies.
The purpose of the Grant is to help young people into work by reducing the upfront costs of hiring, and it has been designed using evidence from previous schemes in the UK and wider international practice. As with all new programmes, we will monitor delivery and evaluate outcomes, including employment sustainment, once the scheme is in operation.
Further practical details on how employers will claim the Grant will be set out in guidance ahead of the scheme launching.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the Child Maintenance Service’s (a) call-back performance and (b) adherence to its own service level agreements regarding telephone communication with constituents; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that caseworkers return calls to parents within 48 hours.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) monitors telephony performance daily, including call-back requests and the age of outstanding calls. As of March 2026, over 65% of call backs are completed within the Department’s 48 hour target. Performance is reviewed regularly to maintain service standards and identify where additional support may be required.
CMS is progressing its Service Modernisation Programme, expanding digital, online and telephony channels to improve access and reduce demand on advisers. Increased uptake of online self-service is helping free up resources so caseworkers can focus on customers who need telephone support. CMS are also part of the DWP Digital’s Contact Centre Modernisation Programme which is introducing state of the art contact centre technology. CMS are currently scheduled to onboard to DWPs new telephony platform in Q2 26/27.
The Department continually seeks to review, evaluate, and enhance tools and training material to support staff in delivering a quality customer service and takes timely action to further train and support staff where further improvements can be made. CMS are also addressing some of the known divers of repeat contact. With initiatives taken to enhance information available to caseworkers to enable them answer customer queries more fully during the initial call, thereby reducing the need for follow up contact.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the letter from the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary to the Hon Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 30 January 2026, on severance payments, what is the wider policy of the (a) Civil Service and (b) Cabinet Office on the practice of outgoing Permanent Secretaries being paid gardening leave from the public purse for their three month waiting period when leaving Crown employment.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Business Appointment Rules for Crown Servants set out that Permanent Secretaries are required to observe a three month waiting period, and the Rules set out that it may be appropriate to pay former civil servants who are required to observe a waiting period before taking up an external role.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the departing Cabinet Secretary will receive (a) a pension contribution and (b) additional pension years as part of his severance package.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Details of payments made to the former Cabinet Secretary will be published in the Annual Report and Accounts for Cabinet Office for the financial year in which the payment was made.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, pending implementation of the review of the Financial Ombudsman Service, to issue interim guidance for cases where Financial Ombudsman Service decisions raise questions about the interpretation of regulatory responsibilities across the financial services sector; or to encourage the Financial Conduct Authority to do so.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
On Monday 16 March, the Government published a response to its consultation on reforming the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), confirming that the government will legislate to stop the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator and provide greater regulatory coherence with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The FOS was not intended to create binding precedents or new rules through its determinations, which are made based on all the individual circumstances of the case. The Government’s review concluded that there was not always coherence between the regulatory approach set by the FCA and the approach used by the FOS in determining individual complaints and, in a small but significant minority of cases, this had led to the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator. The Government’s reforms will ensure that FOS determinations are fully aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA.
The Government will bring forward legislation to deliver the reforms when parliamentary time allows. Alongside the Government’s response, the FCA and the FOS published a paper seeking views on a number of changes they can make in advance of legislation, including updates to the fair and reasonable test and initial implementation of the new referral mechanism.
The reforms will improve cooperation between the FOS and the FCA, including through introducing a referral mechanism, which will require the FOS to seek a view from the FCA where the FOS considers there may be ambiguity in what FCA rules require, or where it considers an issue raised may have wider implications across the financial services industry, which the FCA will be required to respond to. The FOS and the FCA have implemented an initial version of this mechanism through their updated Memorandum of Understanding.
The reforms will also require the FCA and the FOS to publish regular thematic reports, which will explain the FOS’s approach to types of complaints that it receives. This will provide greater certainty on the approach used by the FOS to resolve disputes, and which demonstrates how that approach is aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA. In their joint paper, the FOS and the FCA set out that they will work with the Government to consider how greater clarity could be provided ahead of any legislative change.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Financial Ombudsman Service fully utilises established consultation mechanisms, including the Wider Implications Framework between the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Conduct Authority in cases with potential market-wide impact.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
On Monday 16 March, the Government published a response to its consultation on reforming the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), confirming that the government will legislate to stop the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator and provide greater regulatory coherence with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The FOS was not intended to create binding precedents or new rules through its determinations, which are made based on all the individual circumstances of the case. The Government’s review concluded that there was not always coherence between the regulatory approach set by the FCA and the approach used by the FOS in determining individual complaints and, in a small but significant minority of cases, this had led to the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator. The Government’s reforms will ensure that FOS determinations are fully aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA.
The Government will bring forward legislation to deliver the reforms when parliamentary time allows. Alongside the Government’s response, the FCA and the FOS published a paper seeking views on a number of changes they can make in advance of legislation, including updates to the fair and reasonable test and initial implementation of the new referral mechanism.
The reforms will improve cooperation between the FOS and the FCA, including through introducing a referral mechanism, which will require the FOS to seek a view from the FCA where the FOS considers there may be ambiguity in what FCA rules require, or where it considers an issue raised may have wider implications across the financial services industry, which the FCA will be required to respond to. The FOS and the FCA have implemented an initial version of this mechanism through their updated Memorandum of Understanding.
The reforms will also require the FCA and the FOS to publish regular thematic reports, which will explain the FOS’s approach to types of complaints that it receives. This will provide greater certainty on the approach used by the FOS to resolve disputes, and which demonstrates how that approach is aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA. In their joint paper, the FOS and the FCA set out that they will work with the Government to consider how greater clarity could be provided ahead of any legislative change.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Financial Ombudsman Service's ability to set precedents that create new rules and thereby bypass the Financial Conduct Authority and established regulatory processes.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
On Monday 16 March, the Government published a response to its consultation on reforming the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), confirming that the government will legislate to stop the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator and provide greater regulatory coherence with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The FOS was not intended to create binding precedents or new rules through its determinations, which are made based on all the individual circumstances of the case. The Government’s review concluded that there was not always coherence between the regulatory approach set by the FCA and the approach used by the FOS in determining individual complaints and, in a small but significant minority of cases, this had led to the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator. The Government’s reforms will ensure that FOS determinations are fully aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA.
The Government will bring forward legislation to deliver the reforms when parliamentary time allows. Alongside the Government’s response, the FCA and the FOS published a paper seeking views on a number of changes they can make in advance of legislation, including updates to the fair and reasonable test and initial implementation of the new referral mechanism.
The reforms will improve cooperation between the FOS and the FCA, including through introducing a referral mechanism, which will require the FOS to seek a view from the FCA where the FOS considers there may be ambiguity in what FCA rules require, or where it considers an issue raised may have wider implications across the financial services industry, which the FCA will be required to respond to. The FOS and the FCA have implemented an initial version of this mechanism through their updated Memorandum of Understanding.
The reforms will also require the FCA and the FOS to publish regular thematic reports, which will explain the FOS’s approach to types of complaints that it receives. This will provide greater certainty on the approach used by the FOS to resolve disputes, and which demonstrates how that approach is aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA. In their joint paper, the FOS and the FCA set out that they will work with the Government to consider how greater clarity could be provided ahead of any legislative change.