Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister pays council tax on his Downing Street residence at 100% of the Band H rate.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Yes.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, the Hon Member for Bolsover, received a ministerial severance payment upon leaving Government.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Details of ministerial severance payments are published in the relevant department’s annual report and accounts.
As per 1.14 of the Ministerial Code, Ministers are expected to waive, on appointment, entitlement to a ministerial severance payment upon leaving office if they have served less than six months.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister plans to facilitate and increase scrutiny of the Office of the Prime Minister by the press.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Scrutiny of government decision-making is an important part of the democratic process. The media hold the Office of the Prime Minister to account through regular Ministerial broadcast engagements and press conferences, and lobby briefings.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a person employed by the Cabinet Office has authority to direct, influence or advise the Chief Executive of the Civil Service Commission in the exercise of their delegated powers including awarding departmental audit scores, allocating competitions, reserve list decisions, complaints under the Recruitment Principles, Civil Service Code appeals and appointments of near misses.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As set out in the Framework Agreement between the Cabinet Office and the Civil Service Commission, the Chief Executive of the Civil Service Commission is a Senior Civil Servant at the Cabinet Office, recruited to the Civil Service on merit following an open and fair competition carried out under the terms of the Recruitment Principles, and seconded to the Civil Service Commission. They are line managed by the Senior Sponsor, the Director of Propriety and Ethics, with input from the First Civil Service Commissioner into their performance objectives and annual appraisals
The Commission is operationally independent of the Government. The Commission and its staff, including the Chief Executive, act in accordance with its legislation and under the direction of the independent First Civil Service Commissioner and the independent Civil Service Commissioners, who are appointed on merit on the basis of fair and open competition following the principles set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments (although the Civil Service Commission is not a regulated body).
As set out in the Commission's Annual Report and Accounts for 2024-25, a department's audit report, score and recommendations are discussed and agreed at one of four audit moderation meetings with the First Civil Service Commissioner, a panel of Commissioners and the Chief Executive.
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 No10 press release, Appointment of Alex Lloyd Hunter as the Advisor on Digital Communications Processes & Strategy, what the terms of reference are of the review of the No10 Digital Operation; what the timetable is; whether a report will be published; and whether the review engages the work of the (a) New Media Unit and (b) Government Media Unit.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The DMA portal has been updated with the information that was published on gov.uk about the appointments of the Expert Adviser on Structure and Process and the Adviser on Digital Communication Process and Strategy.
Gautam Rangarajan will advise on internal No.10 structures and processes and was selected in line with the published DMA guidance.
Information about the appointment of Alex Lloyd Hunter and his role are available on gov.uk and the DMA portal. This is an internal review, and the relevant internal stakeholders will be engaged as appropriate.
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 10 Downing Street press releases entitled Appointment of Gautam Rangarajan as an Expert Advisor on Structure and Process, and Appointment of Alex Lloyd Hunter as the Advisor on Digital Communications Processes & Strategy, published on 11 August 2026, when she will publish the details and terms of the appointment on the Direct Ministerial Appointments portal on gov.uk.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The DMA portal has been updated with the information that was published on gov.uk about the appointments of the Expert Adviser on Structure and Process and the Adviser on Digital Communication Process and Strategy.
Gautam Rangarajan will advise on internal No.10 structures and processes and was selected in line with the published DMA guidance.
Information about the appointment of Alex Lloyd Hunter and his role are available on gov.uk and the DMA portal. This is an internal review, and the relevant internal stakeholders will be engaged as appropriate.
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 No10 press release entitled Appointment of Gautam Rangarajan as an Expert Advisor on Structure and Process, of 11 August 2026, what (a) structure and (b) process Gautam Rangarajan is advising the Prime Minister on; and how he was selected.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The DMA portal has been updated with the information that was published on gov.uk about the appointments of the Expert Adviser on Structure and Process and the Adviser on Digital Communication Process and Strategy.
Gautam Rangarajan will advise on internal No.10 structures and processes and was selected in line with the published DMA guidance.
Information about the appointment of Alex Lloyd Hunter and his role are available on gov.uk and the DMA portal. This is an internal review, and the relevant internal stakeholders will be engaged as appropriate.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2026, to Question 13827, on Cabinet Office: Marketing, and with reference to the Cabinet Office press release, Government-branded merchandise and away days banned, 6 April 2025, for what reason (a) branded t-shirts were purchased by the Government People Group and (b) t-shirts were purchased for a diversity network; and what the branding was on each of the t-shirts.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The purchase of t-shirts supports the Civil Service’s longstanding attendance at Pride events and are reused as much as possible before being replaced. All spending decisions must represent value for the taxpayer, and we are fully focused on ensuring every pound spent delivers for the public.
The shirts have the phrase ‘Civil Service Pride’ on the front, and the phrase ‘Civil Service LGBT+ Network’ and the a:gender logo (the cross-government support network) on the back.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which government Department will be responsible for managing the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA).
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Prime Minister announced a series of changes to the Machinery of Government on 21 July. This included the Public Sector Fraud Authority’s (PSFA) transfer to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - whilst retaining its sponsorship by HM Treasury.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Chief Executive of the Civil Service Commission may determine complaints regarding the Cabinet Office while being line managed by a Cabinet Office Director General.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As set out in the Framework Agreement between the Cabinet Office and the Civil Service Commission, the Chief Executive of the Civil Service Commission is a Senior Civil Servant at the Cabinet Office, recruited to the Civil Service on merit following an open and fair competition carried out under the terms of the Recruitment Principles, and seconded to the Civil Service Commission. They are line managed by the Senior Sponsor, the Director of Propriety and Ethics, with input from the First Civil Service Commissioner into their performance objectives and annual appraisals
The Commission is operationally independent of the Government. The Commission and its staff, including the Chief Executive, act in accordance with its legislation and under the direction of the independent First Civil Service Commissioner and the independent Civil Service Commissioners, who are appointed on merit on the basis of fair and open competition following the principles set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments (although the Civil Service Commission is not a regulated body).
As set out in the Commission's Annual Report and Accounts for 2024-25, a department's audit report, score and recommendations are discussed and agreed at one of four audit moderation meetings with the First Civil Service Commissioner, a panel of Commissioners and the Chief Executive.