Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many young people he expects to (a) come to the UK from Europe and (b) go to Europe from the UK as a result of a youth experience scheme with the EU and UK.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We have agreed that we will work towards the establishment of a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU. We have agreed that any scheme will be capped as well as time-limited. We have also been clear that it should be in line with the UK’s existing schemes with countries like Australia and New Zealand. The exact parameters will be subject to negotiation, but any scheme will need to be in the UK’s national interests.
Asked by: Baroness Alexander of Cleveden (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce government bureaucracy.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government is committed to creating a productive and agile state. This means reducing bureaucracy through adoption of digital technology and AI tools; stripping back duplication and inefficiency in arms-length bodies; streamlining approval processes; and improving accountability for Civil Service performance. The Cabinet Office will drive and track delivery of this important programme of work.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the transparency of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Commissioner for Public Appointments is a statutory office holder and provides independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with the government’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The Governance Code is built on the principles of ministerial responsibility, selflessness, integrity, merit, openness, diversity, assurance and fairness.
The Commissioner’s functions are set out in the Public Appointments Order in Council. Under the Order in Council, the Commissioner must publish an annual report on public appointments. All annual reports, as well as the outcome of complaints and investigations, are published on the Commissioner’s website.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the (a) transgender, (b) bisexual and (c) Windrush flag has been flown from a Government building since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
None of the listed flags have been flown from a Government Property Agency managed Government Building since 4 July 2024. We do not hold information relating to buildings not managed by the Government Property Agency.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 51450 on Freedom of Information and Written Questions: Costs, what the hourly rate of assessing staff time is for the Parliamentary Question disproportionate cost threshold.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As set out in paragraph 219 of the guide to Parliamentary work, the disproportionate cost threshold is set at 140% of the Freedom of Information cost limit for central government, which is currently £600. The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 set out that costs for these purposes are to be estimated at a rate of £25 per hour.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the No10 (a) press office and (b) grid team were involved in releasing the Strategic Defence Review to the media.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Strategic Defence Review was announced in Parliament on June 2 by my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to Civil Superannuation Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24, published 18 December 2024 (HC 481), what factors explain the increase in administrative costs in 2023–24 compared to 2022–23, and whether they will provide a breakdown of cost drivers for material elements of that increase.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The increase in the administration cost is driven by the future services procurement programme aimed at supporting the transition to a new scheme administrator by December 2025, and the 2015 remedy programme that addresses and removes the age discrimination in the transition from older public sector pension schemes to the new Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme.
Further details of both projects can be found in the Civil Superannuation Report and Accounts for 2023-24. There is no requirement to provide a breakdown of these cost drivers in the annual report and accounts.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many contracts, and at what financial value, they granted to WPI Strategy (1) between 1 June 2023 and 31 May 2024, and (2) between 1 June 2024 and 31 May 2025.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office has not awarded any contracts to WPI Strategy. Central Government departments are responsible for their own procurement and contract awards within their departments. Details of central government contracts above £12,000 and public sector contracts above £30,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023, which came into force on 24 February 2025, are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service. This includes the names of winning suppliers.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to Civil Superannuation Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24, published 18 December 2024 (HC 481), why no individual losses of the 11,118 write-offs are itemised or described, and whether they will place in the Library of the House a breakdown of all of those cases exceeding £75,000, including the cause of loss and any recovery action taken.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As stipulated in Managing Public Money and the Government Financial Reporting Manual, disclosure requirements only require entities to provide specific details of individual cases over £300,000. There were no individual losses in excess of £300,000 in 2023-24 (2022-23: nil).
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Forty-Seventh Annual Report on Senior Salaries, published on 22 May (CP 1329), whether they will place in the Library of the House the letters from the Cabinet Office Director of Civil Service Pay, Policy and Pensions (1) to Mark Polin regarding requests for evidence and data ahead of oral evidence, dated 12 February, and (2) to Lea Paterson regarding the oral evidence session, dated 4 April; and if not, why they have not published these documents on Gov.uk.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As has been long standing practice under successive administrations, the Government does not intend to place copies of official-level correspondence to the Senior Salaries Review Body in the Library of the House. All Government Written Evidence to the Senior Salaries Review Body has been published on gov.uk.