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 7 July 2026 to Question 14355 on Public Appointments: Equality, whether socio-economic background of an applicant is a material consideration in the appointment process for (a) regulated public appointments and (b) civil servants.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The socio-economic background of an applicant is not a material consideration in the regulated public appointment process. Applicants are assessed against the advertised criteria for the role.
On civil service recruitment, while data on candidate socio-economic background status is collected during a recruitment campaign, it is for recording and monitoring purposes only. It is not shared with those involved in the appointment process of civil servants for individual candidates and is not a determining factor for appointments.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent comparative assessment her Department has made of average house prices and average household incomes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 14th July is attached.
Asked by: Gordon McKee (Labour - Glasgow South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many exercises testing national resilience arrangements have been conducted in each of the last five years.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office encourages all departments to conduct or participate in exercises on cross-cutting risks in line with the National Security Risk Assessment, via the National Exercising Programme. The Cabinet Office is not responsible for exercising across the entire system but offers support and guidance.
The Cabinet Office oversaw three cross-system exercises within this period. Exercise MIGHTY OAK on preparedness for a national power outrage ran in March 2023. Exercise PEGASUS on pandemic preparedness was conducted in three primary phases in September and October 2025. A classified cross-system cyber resilience exercise was also conducted in 2026.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a peer can be removed from the Roll of the Peerage if they do not (a) volunteer and (b) consent for their removal.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The June 2004 Royal Warrant provided for the creation and maintenance of the Roll of the Peerage. Under the terms of the Warrant, any person entered on the Roll may apply to be removed from it.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will ask the Office for National Statistics to publish a daily dashboard of deaths by date.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Parliamentary Question of 16th July is attached.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Minister is responsible for the efficiency of the UK Statistics Authority.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 16th July is attached.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what powers (a) the Prime Minister and (b) Ministers have to dismiss civil servants.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Under Section 3 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, the statutory power to manage the Civil Service, is vested in the Prime Minister in their capacity as Minister for the Civil Service, and a parallel power exists for the Secretary of State in relation to the Diplomatic service. However, day-to-day management functions, including the authority to appoint, manage and dismiss individual civil servants, are delegated to Heads of Departments provided for under statutory powers in the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992.
Decisions regarding individual employment matters, including disciplinary action and dismissals, are handled directly by employing departments and agencies as the employer in accordance with their policies and employment law.
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 26 June 2026 to Question 10641 on National School of Government and Public Services, whether he plans to roll out the clay modelling and ethnography across the Civil Service.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
There are no plans for the National School of Government and Public Services to roll out clay modelling and ethnography across the Civil Service.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Answer of 14 July 2026 to Question HL1591, what public interest factors were weighed in reaching the decision not to disclose the model Policy and Guidance: Supporting Trans and Non-binary Employees; and what conclusion was reached under section 2(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
It is long established that effective policy development relies on the ability of ministers and their officials to exchange views and provide free and frank advice on the options available. Disclosing the requested information is likely to have a detrimental effect on the quality of the advice and the way it would be given, which would not be in the public interest.
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 13 July 2026, to Question 12791, on Government: Policy, publish the Cabinet Secretary letter and guidance.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
There are no plans to publish internal-facing correspondence and guidance.