Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to carry out their next review of the X social media platform under their SAFE Framework.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Assessments under the SAFE Framework are regularly carried out on channels to ensure compliance. These assessments are not routinely published in the public domain.
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 3 September 2025 to Question 70517 on Government Departments: Directors, which departments did the five leave from; and what was the cost to the public purse of exit packages.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Although the directors may have left their post, they have not necessarily left their organisation, or the Civil Service.
The Government Departments were:
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Department for Education
Department for Business and Trade
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Any cost to the public purse would not be centrally held as directors are directly employed by their department.
Asked by: Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the value of goods imported from China to the UK each year for the past 10 years.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
27 October 2025
Dear Lord Elliott,
As Acting National Statistician, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking for the value of goods imported from China to the UK each year for the past 10 years (HL11221).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes UK trade in goods data at country level in our trade in goods: country by commodity imports dataset as part of our monthly UK trade release[1]. This data is available up to August 2025.
Data on UK imports of goods from China can be found in Table 1. Please note that all data are in current prices and, as such, include the effect of inflation.
Table 1: UK imports of goods from China, 2015 – 2024
£ billion, current prices, including precious metals
Year | Import value (£bn) |
2015 | 36.947 |
2016 | 40.827 |
2017 | 43.706 |
2018 | 44.231 |
2019 | 49.973 |
2020 | 55.198 |
2021 | 65.970 |
2022 | 71.481 |
2023 | 68.109 |
2024 | 67.264 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
Yours sincerely,
Emma Rourke
Asked by: Viscount Stansgate (Labour - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish an updated edition of the Cabinet Manual.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As stated in the answer given on 24 February 2025 (HL4720), the Government takes the function of the Cabinet Manual seriously and we will keep it under review:
HL4720
Q: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish an updated edition of the Cabinet Manual.
A: The Government takes the function of the Cabinet Manual seriously and we will keep it under review.
Asked by: Lord Pack (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the review of the X social media platform carried out in April 2023 under their SAFE Framework.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Assessments under the SAFE Framework are regularly carried out on channels to ensure compliance. These assessments are not routinely published in the public domain.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens Rights Survey 2025, published on 1 October 2025, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle discrimination in (a) work and (b) public services against EU citizens living in the UK.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The UK takes seriously its obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement, including those set out in Article 23 on equal treatment of EU citizens and in Article 24 on the rights of workers. EU nationals with a status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) are entitled to work in the UK and can access public services subject to relevant criteria depending on the service.
The Equality Act 2010 (the Act) provides legal protection for the protected characteristic of race, which includes colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origins to everyone in the UK, including EU citizens. This means the Act provides protection against unlawful racial or ethnic discrimination in employment and in other areas covered by the Act such as services, transport, education and housing.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has held discussions with the EU on waiving the need for passports for school groups visiting the UK as part of his negotiations on a youth experience scheme.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We recognise the importance of cultural and educational exchanges between UK and other nations. Any decisions relating to our policy on school trip travel must be made with due regard to the proper functioning of our immigration system. The UK and France agreed measures in 2023 which made UK-France school trip travel easier. These arrangements were agreed as part of a wider package of measures. A similar agreement with Germany has also been reached, as part of the wider UK-Germany Friendship and Bilateral Cooperation Treaty, which was signed by the Prime Minister in London on 17 July.
These arrangements are separate from our discussions with the EU regarding a youth experience scheme.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 July 2024 on Government of service, HCWS870, whether the breach of the Ministerial Code by the former Deputy Prime Minister was deemed a serious breach.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer you to the advice provided by the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards and the subsequent exchange of letters between the Prime Minister and the former Deputy Prime Minister. These are published on gov.uk at the following link:
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has had recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of the European Union on the proposed EU Mobility Scheme outlined in the UK-EU Reset Deal.
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 are subject to discussion. We cannot give a running commentary of ongoing negotiations.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has an assessment of the potential impact proposed EU Mobility Scheme on (a) economic growth and (b) attracting talent to the UK workforce.
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 are subject to discussion. We cannot give a running commentary of ongoing negotiations.