Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics. The Cabinet Office also uses these standards to collect diversity data.
The current harmonised standard is based on the 2011 Census questions used across the UK; those questions were updated for the 2021 and 2022 Censuses. The current standard does not include specific “Sikh” and “Jewish” categories for a person’s ethnic group. The ONS is reviewing the harmonised standard to ensure this remains appropriate and meets the needs of both data users and respondents. This will include a public consultation later this year.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in view of the judgment in Lindsey Smith, R (on the application of) v The Chief Constable of Northumbria Police, they intend to review the rules that allow civil servants to display political symbols.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government notes the judgment in Lindsey Smith, R (on the application of) v The Chief Constable of Northumbria Police, and is considering any wider implications for the Civil Service.
Civil servants are expected to carry out their roles serving the government of the day in accordance with the core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality and the standards of behaviour set out in the Civil Service Code.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54826 on Senior Civil Servants: Training, whether external venues have been booked for away days since 6 April 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
On 4 April, guidance was issued on restrictions to booking external venues. Departments were asked to put appropriate approval mechanisms in place. The guidance was clear that external venues for awaydays and events should only be used when space in government buildings is unavailable. When it is absolutely necessary to use an external venue, they should be procured through established procurement routes where available.
The Cabinet Office issued instructions on its intranet on 30 April 2025 that prior to booking any external venues approval must be obtained from the relevant Budget Holder and Finance Business Partner. Prior to this period, bookings may have been made which would have proved more costly to cancel, therefore some pre-booked events may still take place. However, this guidance is now live across the Department and is being implemented accordingly.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 1.24 of the Review Body on Senior Salaries publication Forty-seventh annual report on senior salaries published in May 2025, what steps the Government is taking to reduce excessive (a) bureaucracy and (b) process in the Civil Service.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This Government is committed to creating a productive and agile state. This includes reducing bureaucracy and simplifying processes through adoption of digital technology and AI tools, improving Ministerial oversight and accountability in arms-length bodies, streamlining approval processes, creating a cost-conscious culture that relentlessly roots out waste, drives efficiency, and protects taxpayers’ money, and establishing a more productive, higher-skilled civil service with stronger accountability for performance.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 21 July (HLWS867), what the line management structure will be of (1) the Ethics and Integrity Commission, and (2) the secretariat supporting the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards; and whether those staff will report to a named senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Line management for the secretariat of the Committee on Standards in Public Life - which will be established as the Ethics and Integrity Commission - and for the Independent Adviser Secretariat sits in the Propriety and Constitution Group of the Cabinet Office. There are no current plans to alter these arrangements.
The EIC, as with CSPL, will remain an independent Advisory Non-Departmental Public Body of the Cabinet Office, led by its Chair and other officeholders. The Independent Adviser remains an independent office-holder, as set out in the role's existing terms of reference.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the Civil Service committees or individuals that exercise management functions in relation to the Civil Service, including the membership of each committee; and what changes, if any, have been made to the Civil Service Governance Framework since the publication of Independent Review of Governance and Accountability in the Civil Service: The Rt Hon Lord Maude of Horsham on 13 November 2023.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Civil Service governance structures and fora were reorganised in January 2025.
Current Civil Service committees that exercise management functions in relation to the Civil Service are:
There have been a number of changes to the composition of these Civil Service boards and committees (for example due to the appointment of new permanent secretaries). Once these changes are complete the details of the new arrangements and membership will be published on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the secretariat supporting (1) the Ethics and Integrity Commission, and (2) the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, will be (a) independent of the Propriety and Constitution Group, and (b) under the line management of the Director General of the Propriety and Constitution Group.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Line management for the secretariat of the Committee on Standards in Public Life - which will be established as the Ethics and Integrity Commission - and for the Independent Adviser Secretariat sits in the Propriety and Constitution Group of the Cabinet Office. There are no current plans to alter these arrangements.
The EIC, as with CSPL, will remain an independent Advisory Non-Departmental Public Body of the Cabinet Office, led by its Chair and other officeholders. The Independent Adviser remains an independent office-holder, as set out in the role's existing terms of reference.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 21 July (HLWS867), whether they will publish all individual decisions or recommendations relating to the application of the Business Appointment Rules by (1) the Civil Service Commission in respect of former civil servants and special advisers, and (2) the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards in respect of former ministers; and if not, what criteria will govern decisions on publication.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Business Appointment Rules set out the expectations on publication which will continue to apply once the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments’ functions are transferred to the Civil Service Commission and Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 21 July (HLWS867), whether former ministers who left office while the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments was operating will now receive retrospective advice in relation to business appointments from the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments will continue to process and provide advice on applications it receives from former ministers until its closure. Advice on applications after the Committee closes will be provided by the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 21 July (HLWS867), whether they will publish the audit findings by the Civil Service Commission on the application of Business Appointment Rules below senior levels; and what redress will be available to applicants in the event that a department is found to have applied the rules inconsistently.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government's policy is set out in the Written Ministerial Statement. Further details will be shared with Parliament in due course.