We support the Prime Minister and ensure the effective running of government. We are also the corporate headquarters for government, in partnership with HM Treasury, and we take the lead in certain critical policy areas.
Andy Burnham
Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury
Oral Answers to Questions is a regularly scheduled appearance where the Secretary of State and junior minister will answer at the Dispatch Box questions from backbench MPs
Other Commons Chamber appearances can be:Westminster Hall debates are performed in response to backbench MPs or e-petitions asking for a Minister to address a detailed issue
Written Statements are made when a current event is not sufficiently significant to require an Oral Statement, but the House is required to be informed.
Cabinet Office does not have Bills currently before Parliament
A Bill to Make provision about the maximum number of salaries that may be paid under the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975 in respect of certain Ministerial offices.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 29th April 2026 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to remove the remaining connection between hereditary peerage and membership of the House of Lords; to make provision about resignation from the House of Lords; to abolish the jurisdiction of the House of Lords in relation to claims to hereditary peerages; and for connected purposes.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 18th March 2026 and was enacted into law.
A bill to Make provision for persons of the Roman Catholic faith to be eligible to hold the office of His Majesty’s High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 3rd April 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to extend the period within which vacancies among the Lords Spiritual are to be filled by bishops who are women.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 16th January 2025 and was enacted into law.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
I would like there to be another General Election.
I believe the current Labour Government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead up to the last election.
We want an immediate general election to be held. We think the majority need and want change.
Apply for the UK to join the European Union as a full member as soon as possible
Gov Responded - 19 Nov 2024 Debated on - 24 Mar 2025I believe joining the EU would boost the economy, increase global influence, improve collaboration and provide stability & freedom. I believe that Brexit hasn't brought any tangible benefit and there is no future prospect of any, that the UK has changed its mind and that this should be recognised.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 11th September is attached.
The Cabinet Office does not maintain a central policy governing the specific locations in which Civil Service roles must be advertised. Instead, authority regarding recruitment location strategy is delegated to government departments, enabling them to decide locations in line with their specific operational requirements and local departmental policies.
The four month quotation process is a guideline, not a rule. Therefore no consideration has been given to changing this process.
To specifically prioritise cases where members are facing urgent health or financial circumstances, the Department has taken the following direct steps:
Health Circumstances: All outstanding ill-health retirement and death-in-service cases have been placed under strict, individual 'hypercare' tracking. We have deployed a cross-government surge team of over 140 civil servants, alongside experts from the Government Actuary’s Department, to bypass standard queues and directly clear the oldest and most complex cases. We have also established dedicated virtual surgeries for MPs and caseworkers to escalate urgent and exceptional cases directly to our recovery taskforce.
Financial Hardship: To provide immediate financial support to those who may need it, including those who have left under the compensation scheme, arrangements are in place for interest-free bridging loans of £5,000 and up to £20,000 in exceptional cases - to most recent retirees facing payment delays. This is alongside interim lump sum payments being made to provide immediate funds to retiring members.
Other Exceptional Circumstances: These are considered for prioritisation and ‘hypercare’ tracking on a case-by-case basis.
The four month quotation process is a guideline, not a rule. Therefore no consideration has been given to changing this process.
To specifically prioritise cases where members are facing urgent health or financial circumstances, the Department has taken the following direct steps:
Health Circumstances: All outstanding ill-health retirement and death-in-service cases have been placed under strict, individual 'hypercare' tracking. We have deployed a cross-government surge team of over 140 civil servants, alongside experts from the Government Actuary’s Department, to bypass standard queues and directly clear the oldest and most complex cases. We have also established dedicated virtual surgeries for MPs and caseworkers to escalate urgent and exceptional cases directly to our recovery taskforce.
Financial Hardship: To provide immediate financial support to those who may need it, including those who have left under the compensation scheme, arrangements are in place for interest-free bridging loans of £5,000 and up to £20,000 in exceptional cases - to most recent retirees facing payment delays. This is alongside interim lump sum payments being made to provide immediate funds to retiring members.
Other Exceptional Circumstances: These are considered for prioritisation and ‘hypercare’ tracking on a case-by-case basis.
Relevant meetings are published in Special Adviser transparency publications on GOV.UK.
It is routine for incoming ministers to provide their private office with working preferences.
I refer the Noble Lady to the Government’s statement and release of information on 1st June, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address, with the relevant passage copied here for ease. The methodological note included in this publication provides a detailed overview of the information gathering process.
Scope of searches
18. In order that the Government could respond swiftly and transparently to discharge the spirit and letter of the Humble Address, search parameters were included based
on the limbs of the Humble Address motion. These were as follows:
a. Individuals in scope of the limbs of the motion seeking direct correspondence with Peter Mandelson (via email and other electronic messages) were specified as all Ministers, Pay Band 3/4 Special Advisers, Permanent Secretaries and Directors General. This was on the basis that these were the individuals most likely to have come into contact with Peter Mandelson.
b. These individuals were instructed to search their work devices and personal devices for any relevant information.
c. Minutes of meetings between those same individuals and Peter Mandelson where they were the principal attendees were requested, not where they were one member among wider cast lists (for example not including formal committee meetings such as the National Security Council).
d. Electronic messages involving Peter Mandelson that were exchanged as part of a group were requested, as well as those directly between an in-scope individual and Peter Mandelson.
19. While commissions to departments did not specifically request invitations to meetings or schedulers from individuals’ calendars, where these have been provided to the Cabinet Office Humble Address team and where relevant, they have been included in the publication.
20. Some material has been included in the publication where it does not meet the above criteria but includes content relevant to areas where Parliament has expressed a significant interest, such as Peter Mandelson’s campaign to become Chancellor of Oxford University. Material of a party political nature is included in the publication, contrary to usual practice and precedent for information ‘held’ by the Government, in order to demonstrate the maximum possible transparency.
21. Some information was deemed out of scope via the commissioning process so as to keep the returns focused on the most relevant information:
a. Obvious ephemera - for example press cuttings, out of office replies, FCDO internal corporate messaging.
b. Anything which was clearly related to the corporate management of British Embassy Washington (e.g. FCDO personnel decisions and discussions, individual performance reporting, embassy staffing and management plans, estate issues).
c. Routine Embassy business (such as consular work and copylists containing FCDO Diplomatic Telegrams, regional updates, thematic notes and briefing materials, press lines, corporate updates and newsletters).
d. Purely personal information that would not usually be considered ‘held’ by the Government (for example relating to family matters or medical information).
22. On 31 March the SRO wrote to Peter Mandelson - via his solicitors - to request any information held on his personal phone. Peter Mandelson declined to comply with this request. The Government has no further recourse to search the personal devices of Peter Mandelson.
I refer to the Government’s statement and release of information on 1st June, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address, with the relevant passages copied below for ease. The methodological note included in this publication provides a detailed overview of the redaction process.
Redactions
33. It is a longstanding practice across successive administrations that, when the Government responds to a Humble Address motion, it has a responsibility to consider whether it is in the public interest to place certain information into the public domain. In line with practice across successive administrations, this is done using the principles of the Freedom of Information Act, and in line with the Ministerial Code and the resolutions on ministerial accountability, passed by both Houses in 1997 which state that "ministers should be as open as possible with Parliament, refusing to provide information only when disclosure would not be in the public interest, which should be decided in accordance with relevant statute."
34. As set out above, the Government’s overriding priority in responding to the Humble Address has been to respond fully, transparently and swiftly in order to meet the will of the House. Clearly, the scale of the Humble Address disclosure goes far beyond any usual Freedom of Information Act or other transparency request. However, the principles the Freedom of Information Act sets out have been used by previous administrations when responding to such motions - for example when responding to Humble Addresses relating to Randox and the Westferry Printworks. That means that, outside the process for managing papers prejudicial to UK national security or international relations, a number of targeted, specific redactions have been made in order to prevent real-world harms.
35. Specifically, these targeted redactions are in order to protect:
a. Individuals’ email addresses and phone numbers;
b. The identities of junior civil servants;
c. Third party data - including the personal or commercially sensitive data of third parties not relevant to the motion; and
d. Legal professional privilege.
36. A small amount of Peter Mandelson’s personal data has also been redacted: his signature and the location of his home.
37. In the interests of transparency, third party individuals who are considered to be public figures have been named. Third parties who have a reasonable expectation of privacy, because they are not public figures, have not been named. No references to current or former UK politicians have been redacted on the basis of their being third parties. Publication of the names of political figures from countries other than the USA has been limited to world leaders.
38. There has been particular public interest in information involving Global Counsel and Palantir. No redactions have been made to references to Global Counsel, other than to protect the privacy of individuals who are not public figures - their connection to Global Counsel has been made clear in those emails. References to Palantir and Anduril have only been redacted in cases where the redaction has been agreed with the ISC, i.e. on the grounds of being information that is prejudicial to UK national security or international relations.
39. Some company names other than Global Counsel and Palantir have been redacted where this is not relevant to the motion. The Government does not consider it to be in the interests of the taxpayer to damage the Government’s relationship with companies, to damage ongoing Government commercial negotiations, or to potentially damage those companies’ commercial prospects, if they are not relevant to the motion.
40. Where material that has been submitted to the Cabinet Office Humble Address team is already in the public domain, no redactions have been applied to that material.
41. The redaction process has been overseen by the Cabinet Office and, where relevant, in conjunction with the ISC. No Government Minister or Special Adviser has determined any of the redactions.
42. The following labels have been used for redactions in Volume II:
a. Redactions made with the agreement of the ISC have been labelled with asterisks ‘(***)’
b. All email addresses and phone numbers have been redacted with the label ‘PERSONAL’ c. A small amount of personal data contained in the body of documents has also been redacted with the label ‘PERSONAL’
d. All junior civil servants’ names have been redacted with the label ‘JCS’
e. Third party material not relevant to the motion and relating to individuals who are not public figures have been redacted with the label ‘THIRD PARTY’
f. Information relating to companies, where disclosure of the information would be commercially damaging, has been redacted with the label ‘THIRD PARTY’
g. Material attracting legal professional privilege has been redacted with the label ‘LPP’
The responsibility for the publication of information on Direct Ministerial Appointments on the announcement portal rests with individual sponsor departments. The primary function of the portal is to bring together, into a central resource, announcements of new Direct Ministerial Appointments from across government. While the portal records the expected length of term of individual appointments, it does not record actual end dates for those appointments that come to an end. Questions about the status of individual appointments would be for sponsor departments.
The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) publishes regular statistics on its website, detailing those who have registered their intent to claim with the service and the progress in delivering compensation. As of 25 August 2026, 6,321 people have been asked to start their claim. Of these, 1,099 are people acting on behalf of a deceased infected person.
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). IBCA publishes regular statistics on its website, detailing those who have registered their intent to claim with the service and the progress in delivering compensation.
Regarding the matter of whether claims have been rejected or compensation offers lowered due to a lack of medical evidence, IBCA does not publish breakdowns either of the specific awards which individuals have been offered, or of the individual circumstances of claims.
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). IBCA publishes regular statistics on its website, detailing those who have registered their intent to claim with the service and the progress in delivering compensation.
Regarding the matter of whether claims have been rejected or compensation offers lowered due to a lack of medical evidence, IBCA does not publish breakdowns either of the specific awards which individuals have been offered, or of the individual circumstances of claims.
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). IBCA publishes regular statistics on its website, detailing those who have registered their intent to claim with the service and the progress in delivering compensation.
Regarding the matter of whether claims have been rejected or compensation offers lowered due to a lack of medical evidence, IBCA does not publish breakdowns either of the specific awards which individuals have been offered, or of the individual circumstances of claims.
If pensioner members have not received their P60, or are unable to access it, they are able to request a further copy from Capita.
The Government recognises that more can be done on transparency around lobbying and is grateful to the Ethics and Integrity Commission for its thorough work. The Government will present its response to Parliament in due course.
I refer the Noble Lady to the answer given in UIN 3796 tabled in the House of Commons, copied below for ease:
“The Prime Minister asked civil servants in the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics team to establish the facts in relation to allegations concerning the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State jointly in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Cabinet Office.
As has been the case under successive administrations, this process is confidential. Once the facts had been established, the Prime Minister then requested advice from the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards. The Independent Adviser’s subsequent advice to the Prime Minister is published on gov.uk.
As is set out in the Independent Adviser’s terms of reference, “Information provided to the Independent Adviser for the purposes of their functions is provided in confidence” (paragraph 4.2).”
Any publication of tax returns would be announced in the usual way.
The expenditure relates to Codes of Ethical Conduct research projects. The Ethics and Integrity Commission is independent of Government.
The AI Security Institute is in daily conversations with AI developers and works closely with our allies and partners around the world on the risks posed by increasingly capable systems. Further detail is provided in Written Statement UIN HCWS314 'Artificial intelligence update'.
Emergency Alerts operate on cell broadcast technology, which does not require or gather any information from individual handsets. Therefore, it is not possible to validate which handsets have opted out in their phone settings.
Emergency alerts contain life-saving information and should be kept switched on for safety. However, individuals can opt out. For example, victims of domestic abuse with concealed phones may find it appropriate to opt out of receiving Emergency Alerts. Information on opting out can be found at https://www.gov.uk/alerts.
The household resilience public information campaign announced through the Annual Statement on National Resilience is being developed by the Cabinet Office and will launch later this year.
The OneGov Delivery Agency is yet to be formally established. Work is underway to establish the agency for 1 April 2027. Its future budget for 2027-2028 will be determined as design work progresses. Costs incurred during the current year 2026-2027 will be absorbed in existing Cabinet Office budgets.
The Cabinet Office regularly engages with suppliers and industry bodies to seek their feedback on potential burdens when developing procurement policy.
It is a longstanding policy not to comment on HR matters.
The UK Biological Security Strategy sets out the vision that, by 2030, the UK is resilient to a spectrum of biological risks and a world leader in responsible innovation. This vision seeks to harness the transformative role that artificial intelligence will play across the life sciences whilst recognising the dual-use risk that such frontier technologies can pose.
That is why earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence announced an investment of £115 million to raise the UK’s defences against the threats from AI, including using AI to improve our biological security and mitigate risks posed by autonomous AI agents. This is alongside investment of over £1.83 billion to establish a Network of National Biosecurity Centres, including £1 billion in Weybridge, £580 million in Dstl Porton Down, and £250 million over this Parliament in Harwell to bolster defences against biological incidents, accidents and attacks.
Through the AI Security Institute, HMG works proactively with frontier laboratories to test the capability of models and advise them on where safeguards can, and should, be strengthened to prevent risks emerging.
The Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, which Direct Ministerial Appointments are required by their conditions of engagement to follow, requires appointees to comply with the rules of the appointing body on handling conflicts of interests.
The Code itself does not set specific requirements on the public declaration of political activity, however the standard terms of engagement provided in the published Direct Ministerial Appointment guidance requires appointees to declare interests to the department, and states that the appointing department will then determine whether any interests should be published.
The Falcon programme is currently in its pilot phase, which includes three business units. Key technical aspects of the pilot are expected to be completed by Christmas, followed by a wider Cabinet Office rollout starting in January, which will allow benefits to be realized as each business unit transitions.
The programme’s future service model has been designed and will be tested during the pilot, which is scheduled to conclude by 31st March 2027. Regarding governance, the programme has refined and matured its change control and governance processes, enabling faster identification, assessment, and decision-making.
A revised Programme Business Case is underway, with work initiated in late August and is scheduled for submission in November. This document will include both a rebaselined benefits position and rebaselined costs extending to December 2027.
In relation to testing, defects identified during prepilot testing required significant remediation before the programme could pass through its pilot entry gateway review. Subsequent remediations were successfully planned and executed, enabling the programme to proceed through a following gateway review.
The Falcon programme is currently in its pilot phase, which includes three business units. Key technical aspects of the pilot are expected to be completed by Christmas, followed by a wider Cabinet Office rollout starting in January, which will allow benefits to be realized as each business unit transitions.
The programme’s future service model has been designed and will be tested during the pilot, which is scheduled to conclude by 31st March 2027. Regarding governance, the programme has refined and matured its change control and governance processes, enabling faster identification, assessment, and decision-making.
A revised Programme Business Case is underway, with work initiated in late August and is scheduled for submission in November. This document will include both a rebaselined benefits position and rebaselined costs extending to December 2027.
In relation to testing, defects identified during prepilot testing required significant remediation before the programme could pass through its pilot entry gateway review. Subsequent remediations were successfully planned and executed, enabling the programme to proceed through a following gateway review.
The Emergency Alert capability was brought into place in 2023 under the previous government. It was signed off by the Cabinet Office, where the honourable Member asking this question was, at the time, a minister.
As he will know, the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) Part 1 places duties on Category 1 and 2 emergency responders to have arrangements in place to warn the public of emergencies and to provide advice and information.
The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR) permits the government to test and operate an emergency alerting system.
Accounting officer responsibilities for the Cabinet Office group will be published in due course.
The planning and activation of the Emergency Alert capability on 14 August was issued at no cost to the taxpayer.
In Wales, the alert was sent in Welsh followed by English in order to fulfil our legal responsibilities under the Welsh Language Act 1993.
Every Emergency Alert is carefully coordinated with responding public bodies and agencies. This tool is only used in emergency scenarios and where the need is greatest. The Cabinet Office remains committed to reviewing every alert request on a case-by-case basis.
The Government is fully committed to supporting the work of the Covid-19 Inquiry and to learning lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure the UK is better prepared for a future pandemic.
The Inquiry published its report on Module 5 (Procurement) in July. The Government will consider its findings and recommendations in detail and respond in due course.
As confirmed in the King’s Speech, the Government will be bringing forward the European Partnership Bill to implement any agreements between the UK and the EU. We will share further details in due course and Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise the Bill in the usual way.
I refer the honourable Member to the answer given on 28 May 2026 to Question UIN 2754. The government does not routinely publish internal guidance.
The Civil Service values its people, invests in their growth, and is serious about building the capability to meet the challenges of the future. This autumn the National School of Government and Public Services will formally open its doors to civil servants. The learning the school provides will boost public sector productivity and accelerate the pace of progress towards delivering the excellent, digitally-enabled public services to be expected from a modern state.
The learning and development contracts awarded to KPMG and EY enable the National School to procure evaluation and research services from UK universities and research organisations. This complements our wider evaluation, research and data strategy. As part of this, we recently launched our College of Experts, a set of academic and external experts who can bring insight to and advise on all aspects of the National School’s work, and presented on this work at the Universities Policy Engagement Network.
The taskforces have been established to deliver on the immediate priorities of the public, building on action the government has already taken. They will be made up of internal civil service and relevant external expertise and operate with ministerial oversight, but are not cabinet committees. The objectives of the taskforces are laid out within the quoted press release.
Using the AI tool, the Cabinet Office has identified approximately 7000 statutory duties to consult.
The Falcon programme is currently in its pilot phase, which includes three business units. Key technical aspects of the pilot are expected to be completed by Christmas, followed by a wider Cabinet Office rollout starting in January, which will allow benefits to be realized as each business unit transitions.
The programme’s future service model has been designed and will be tested during the pilot, which is scheduled to conclude by 31st March 2027. Regarding governance, the programme has refined and matured its change control and governance processes, enabling faster identification, assessment, and decision-making.
A revised Programme Business Case is underway, with work initiated in late August and is scheduled for submission in November. This document will include both a rebaselined benefits position and rebaselined costs extending to December 2027.
In relation to testing, defects identified during prepilot testing required significant remediation before the programme could pass through its pilot entry gateway review. Subsequent remediations were successfully planned and executed, enabling the programme to proceed through a following gateway review.
The Falcon programme is currently in its pilot phase, which includes three business units. Key technical aspects of the pilot are expected to be completed by Christmas, followed by a wider Cabinet Office rollout starting in January, which will allow benefits to be realized as each business unit transitions.
The programme’s future service model has been designed and will be tested during the pilot, which is scheduled to conclude by 31st March 2027. Regarding governance, the programme has refined and matured its change control and governance processes, enabling faster identification, assessment, and decision-making.
A revised Programme Business Case is underway, with work initiated in late August and is scheduled for submission in November. This document will include both a rebaselined benefits position and rebaselined costs extending to December 2027.
In relation to testing, defects identified during prepilot testing required significant remediation before the programme could pass through its pilot entry gateway review. Subsequent remediations were successfully planned and executed, enabling the programme to proceed through a following gateway review.
The Falcon programme is currently in its pilot phase, which includes three business units. Key technical aspects of the pilot are expected to be completed by Christmas, followed by a wider Cabinet Office rollout starting in January, which will allow benefits to be realized as each business unit transitions.
The programme’s future service model has been designed and will be tested during the pilot, which is scheduled to conclude by 31st March 2027. Regarding governance, the programme has refined and matured its change control and governance processes, enabling faster identification, assessment, and decision-making.
A revised Programme Business Case is underway, with work initiated in late August and is scheduled for submission in November. This document will include both a rebaselined benefits position and rebaselined costs extending to December 2027.
In relation to testing, defects identified during prepilot testing required significant remediation before the programme could pass through its pilot entry gateway review. Subsequent remediations were successfully planned and executed, enabling the programme to proceed through a following gateway review.
The Falcon programme is currently in its pilot phase, which includes three business units. Key technical aspects of the pilot are expected to be completed by Christmas, followed by a wider Cabinet Office rollout starting in January, which will allow benefits to be realized as each business unit transitions.
The programme’s future service model has been designed and will be tested during the pilot, which is scheduled to conclude by 31st March 2027. Regarding governance, the programme has refined and matured its change control and governance processes, enabling faster identification, assessment, and decision-making.
A revised Programme Business Case is underway, with work initiated in late August and is scheduled for submission in November. This document will include both a rebaselined benefits position and rebaselined costs extending to December 2027.
In relation to testing, defects identified during prepilot testing required significant remediation before the programme could pass through its pilot entry gateway review. Subsequent remediations were successfully planned and executed, enabling the programme to proceed through a following gateway review.
Each Central Government Department publishes details of their consultancy expenditure within their individual Annual Report and Accounts.
Based on these reports, in 2023/24, Government spending on consultancy including NHS was £1,224m. In 2024/25, this figure stood at £1,095m.
Not all Departments have published their Annual Report and Accounts for 2025/26 so it is not possible to provide a total spending figure for that year at this stage.
Outcomes of FOI requests are published on a quarterly and annual basis, on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/freedom-of-information-statistics. Providing a summary as requested for those cases closed so far in 2026 could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.
This information is not centrally held by the Government Communication Service.
Departments and public bodies are responsible for publishing their own spending control information, in accordance with the Government's transparency requirements.
The average lump sum paid to Civil Service pensioners is £39,732.04, and the average net monthly pension payment is £742.23. Information regarding the average length of time from the date of retirement to the first payment is not currently available through management information reporting; producing this figure would require significant development work to create and validate the necessary reporting capability.
Current service levels are unacceptable, and the Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account. This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita.
The average lump sum paid to Civil Service pensioners is £39,732.04, and the average net monthly pension payment is £742.23. Information regarding the average length of time from the date of retirement to the first payment is not currently available through management information reporting; producing this figure would require significant development work to create and validate the necessary reporting capability.
Current service levels are unacceptable, and the Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account. This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita.