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 21 May 2025 to Question HL7244 on Prime Minister: Staff, when the No10 Implementation Unit was disbanded; and whether it was replaced.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
There has not been an Implementation Unit in 10 Downing Street for at least 15 years. It would not be appropriate to comment on the decision made by a previous government to disband the unit. This Government has established the Mission Delivery Unit.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) address and (b) building condition metric of central government buildings.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As has been longstanding practice under successive administrations, on security and operational grounds, details of specific central government building addresses and conditions are not published. However, The State of the Estate report containing the aggregated insights across government estate is laid before parliament on an annual basis.
The Cabinet Office is currently working on plans to publish aggregate building condition data and insights for the reporting period of FY2026/27.
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 26 June 2025 to Question 62083 on House of Lords Appointments Commission, for what reason the competition to recruit members of the House of Lords Appointments Commission is not listed on webpage on gov.uk entitled Apply for a public appointment.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The campaign to recruit up to two independent members to the House of Lords Appointments Commission was launched on 3 January 2025. The competition then closed on 5 February 2025. As such, it is no longer open to new applicants.
The advert can be found on the public appointments website: https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/8519
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 29 January 2025 to Question 25449 on Government Communication Service, what his Department's planned timetable is for publishing its review of the size of the Government Communications Service as part of Phase 2 of the Spending Review.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government Communications Service (GCS) regularly evaluates communications teams to ensure value for money and operational effectiveness. GCS is currently recruiting a Director of Government Communications who will lead the redesign of the service to ensure it reflects both the evolving communications landscape and government priorities.
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 13 June 2025 to Question 57252 on Arms Length Bodies: Parliamentary Scrutiny, whether written Parliamentary Questions on the work of (a) public corporations and (b) private companies owned by the Government are expected to be answered by (i) the sponsoring minister or (ii) through correspondence from the Chief Executive of that body.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Written Parliamentary Questions about specific arm’s-length entities, including public corporations or government-owned companies, should be directed to the relevant sponsoring department. The arrangements for answering such questions are a matter for sponsoring departments to agree in consultation with individual arm’s length entities.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the number of businesses that have ceased trading in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire each day since 1 July 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 4th July is attached.
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 30 June 2025 to Question 62624 on Public Buildings: Concrete, which three Government Property Agency buildings have been found to have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Due to operational and security sensitivities, we do not disclose sites in which Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete is present.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of people live in private rented accommodation in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 4th July is attached.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has undertaken a cross-government review on the use of outsourcing providers with a history of (a) contractual breaches and (b) financial penalties.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The government has taken significant steps to increase transparency in the delivery of public services. Cabinet Office regularly publish a list of the most significant contracts held by central government on Gov.uk. This list includes up to four Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each contract, along with the supplier's performance against those KPIs.
Serco’s contract performance information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/key-performance-indicators-kpis-for-governments-most-important-contracts.
In 2019, the government introduced a new approach to the monitoring and management of strategic suppliers through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the government and each of its strategic suppliers. Strategic Suppliers have agreed to provide government with the information it needs to monitor and manage risks across their supply chains. Details of the current policy can be found here:
The Government does not routinely release information relating to formal warnings issued to suppliers as this may prejudice a supplier’s commercial interests.
Contracting Authorities are responsible for the award of contracts in line with the procurement regulations at the time of the award. This would include undertaking due diligence on suppliers as required by those regulations. It would not be appropriate for the Cabinet Office to comment on any specific procurements, that would be for the relevant Contracting Authority to respond.
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 (https://www.gov.uk/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 (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search/Results).
The government must ensure that there are sufficient safeguards in place to allow the prevention of suppliers with a history of serious contractual failures from being awarded public contracts. The recently launched Procurement Act 2023 has strengthened our ability to respond where issues arise and address poor performance. The Act makes it easier for contracting authorities to exclude suppliers from bidding for public contracts for past poor performance or where there has been breach of contract. Cabinet Office has published extensive guidance to support contracting authorities, in addition to a robust and wide reaching training offer to support the implementation of the Procurement Act.
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 30 June 2025 to Question 62283 on Cabinet Office: Pay, whether the Civil Service Statistics 2025 document will publish the annual wage costs of the EU relations secretariat.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Salary data for the Civil Service is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics. This statistical bulletin presents mean and median salary data for Civil Service departments and their Executive Agencies overall. A detailed breakdown for the structure and associated payscales for the European Relations Secretariat is available as part of the Cabinet Office organogram of Staff Roles & Salaries on gov.uk.