Cabinet Office

The Forfeiture Committee is chaired by a Permanent Secretary on delegation from the Cabinet Secretary. This is currently Dame Sarah Healey, MHCLG. She has been in post as Chair since July 2025. The other permanent member is the Treasury Solicitor, currently Sussana McGibbon. She has been a member of the Committee since March 2021.

The Committee has four independent members, drawn from the Chairs of the ten independent honours committees. These Chair appointments are made through a Public Appointments process. The current independent members are Sir Hamid Patel, John Booth CVO, Stephen Kelly and Dame Jane Dacre. Each was appointed to the Forfeiture Committee in October 2022.

The Governance Code on Public Appointments requires that relevant political activity, as defined within the Code, should be publicly disclosed for successful candidates. This is expected to happen at the time that a department or appointing body announces the successful candidate. Or in the case of those appointments subject to pre-appointment hearing by a House of Commons select committee, the preferred candidate.

Tom Kibasi was recruited via secondment.

Please see below Cabinet Office spend by social platform from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025:

There are a wide variety of public appointments which are made by Ministers. A person appointed to such a position is an office holder, whose appointment is defined by the office itself, not a contract.

An office holder’s terms of engagement will set out a Minister’s authority to terminate an appointment at any time with or without notice. Office holders do not receive payment in lieu of notice or severance for loss of office because they are not employees with contractual rights.

The government uses paid advertising to communicate important government announcements and campaigns that affect the public. Please refer to the table below for Government spend on advertisements and subscriptions (please note - figures from 2015-2018 are not available):

*Please note the figures for 2018 are partial year spend due to contract changes.

The Government recognises that there are historical restrictions in statute on Roman Catholic and Jewish people making and advising the Crown on Church appointments. The Government keeps this matter under review, but, given other pressing issues, this is not a current priority.

As the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the Sovereign must be in communion with the Anglican Communion. Individuals practising the Roman Catholic faith therefore cannot become Sovereign, Regent or a Counsellor of State.

The Commissioner for Public Appointments routinely provides independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with the Principles of Public Appointments and the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Following the Commissioner’s investigation into the appointment of the Chair of the Independent Football Regulator, the Government welcomes his findings against which we are reviewing the robustness of the current guidance with a view to learning the lessons from the report.

The Government published a revised Governance Code on 30 October. In addition, the Cabinet Office will be required to publish departmental performance information for the first time, to enable effective scrutiny of performance on public appointments.

That approach is a strengthening of the public appointment process, which was not in place under the previous Government.

Details of official meetings held in a ministerial capacity with external organisations or individuals are declared quarterly on GOV.UK.

The Civil Service has a number of cross-government groups to address common issues, find solutions to complex policy challenges and support the sharing of best practice.

The Cross-Government Group on Working Flexibly meets on an adhoc basis and focuses on effective and positive ways of working in a hybrid world, as well as supporting the implementation of related legislation changes across departments.

The Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) is one of the largest in the UK, currently paying pensions to approximately 730,000 members every month. The scheme administrator processes an average of 6,000 retirements each month.

The Cabinet Office, as the Scheme Manager, holds the administrator (MyCSP) accountable for meeting contractual performance levels to ensure members are paid on time. Over the last 6 months, MyCSP achieved 100% of its key service level agreements for retirement processing. We continue to monitor performance closely and work to ensure that any errors are identified and addressed as quickly as possible.

The government has taken significant steps to improve both oversight and enforcement. A new administration contract has been awarded to Capita, which goes live on 1st December 2025. This new contract includes significantly tighter and more rigorous contractual performance indicators, enhanced service levels, reduced processing times, and a new financial penalty scale to ensure accountability and improve the member experience.

There are no plans to publish this guidance.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 20 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 81328.

It is the role of the independent Commissioner for Public Appointments to provide independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with the Government’s Principles of Public Appointments and Governance Code.

The report of the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ inquiry into the process of appointing the Chair of the Independent Football Regulator was published on 6 November 2025 and can be found here.

Prime Ministerial flights are carbon offset where that is possible.

The Government Communication Service (GCS) conducts an annual data collection, requiring government organisations to submit accurate and timely returns through departmental single points of contact. It should be noted that some organisations may have undergone significant changes since the data was collected in July 2025.

At the time of the collection:

(a) Downing Street: The Number 10 Civil Service Communications team consisted of 44.8 FTE.

(b) Cabinet Office: Core Cabinet Office comms roles consisted of 40.43 FTE (of which 22 are roles within Press Office and Cabinet Office Digital Communications) with 141.52 FTE in the Central GCS team (also based within the Cabinet Office).

On 30 October the government published for the first time guidance for departments on the process for ministers making Direct Ministerial Appointments. This replaced earlier internal desk note guidance for departments, which had been rewritten to provide greater clarity for a wider audience, including setting out publicly where Direct Ministerial Appointments sit within the various routes into government.

On 3 November the Cabinet Secretary, during his evidence session before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, agreed to send - and subsequently sent - a copy of the previous internal departmental desk note to the Committee. A copy of this now superseded desk note guidance will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

The Commissioner for Public Appointments provides independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with the Principles of Public Appointments and the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Following the Commissioner’s investigation into the appointment of the Chair of the Independent Football Regulator, the Government welcomes his findings against which we are reviewing the robustness of the current guidance with a view to learning the lessons from the report.

Before the Second Home premium was introduced in Westminster, the Cabinet Office were aware that the former Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) was occupying Admiralty House (AH) as a second home and that council tax would therefore be payable by Government. In line with long standing precedent under successive administrations, as the property was a second residence the Government was responsible for paying the Council Tax on Admiralty House, not the former DPM. Similarly, the Cabinet Office is responsible for liaising with Westminster City Council (WCC) for matters concerning residency at Admiralty House.

WCC were notified at the beginning of May that the former DPM was occupying AH as a second home for council tax purposes, and details were provided for WCC to issue a bill accordingly.

GPA wrote to WCC in June to confirm that the second homes premium applied. WCC issued an invoice in July which was paid the same day.

Before the Second Home premium was introduced in Westminster, the Cabinet Office were aware that the former Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) was occupying Admiralty House (AH) as a second home and that council tax would therefore be payable by Government. In line with long standing precedent under successive administrations, as the property was a second residence, the Government was responsible for paying the Council Tax on Admiralty House, not the former DPM. Similarly, the Cabinet Office is responsible for liaising with Westminster City Council (WCC) for matters concerning residency at Admiralty House.

WCC were notified at the beginning of May that the former DPM was occupying AH as a second home for council tax purposes, and details were provided for WCC to issue a bill accordingly.

GPA wrote to WCC in June to confirm that the second homes premium applied. WCC issued an invoice in July which was paid the same day.

The Government Car Service (GCS) transferred to the Cabinet Office from the Department for Transport, as a result of a machinery of government change, on 1st April 2025. Freedom of Information (FOI) requests relating to GCS prior to that date were answered by the Department for Transport.

Since 1st April 2025, information on expenditure has been released by the Cabinet Office in response to FOI requests, where appropriate, and in line with the terms of the Freedom of Information Act.

10 Downing Street engages with businesses from a variety of sectors to deliver economic growth, in collaboration with other government departments. There has been no hospitality expenditure by the No10 Business Team since 4 July 2024.

As stated in the Government's response to the report of the House of Commons Committee on Standards (HC637), the Government believes that the Recall of MPs Act 2015 is broadly operating as intended. Where there are procedural challenges, the standards system has evolved to accommodate these.

The Arms Length Body (ALB) Review, formally launched on 7th April 2025, is ongoing and its outcomes will be communicated in due course.

The Cabinet Office does not hold a definition of Islamophobia. We take all allegations of inappropriate language, hostility, discrimination or prejudice very seriously. We have robust processes in place to investigate such matters. Possible sanctions as a result of such behaviours could include dismissal.

The department does not hold any information on whether public bodies operate four day weeks.

The Cabinet Office does not publish correspondence between unions and officials as this would undermine the ability to communicate freely.

A formal complaints procedure relating to the Lieutenancies was published in 2021. The Lieutenancies Act 1997 and the Northern Ireland (Lieutenancy) Order 1975 provide the statutory framework relating to Lieutenancies.

The correspondence was published in error and therefore it was removed from GOV.UK.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 10 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 74276.

I refer the Hon Member back to the answer of 5 November 2025, Official Report, PQ 86240.

Providing BSL translations of pre-recorded audio and video content on public services is a legislative Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AAA criterion. As outlined in the Government Service Standard, all digital government services must as a minimum meet Level AA. AAA is best practice.

Through the Service Standard and Service Assessments, the Government Digital Service encourages departments to incorporate BSL into service design. In May this year DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) launched the UK Government’s first British Sign Language (BSL) online translation service for candidates booking their theory test online. DVSA held a series of user research session with BSL users, with one participant calling the service ‘life-changing’.

There are opportunities to use AI to accelerate the creation of accessible content across public services. If public bodies trial the use of AI in approaches to BSL, they would be required to conform with both WCAG and the Service Standard, and must conduct research with disabled people, including Deaf users and where appropriate to the service provision, those who use sign language or a sign language interpreter to interact with the service.

Regardless of if AI generated, services must also make sure any BSL video is culturally appropriate by working with the BSL community, testing it, or getting feedback.

Evaluation results for the GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland Campaign have not yet been finalised for financial year 2024/25. We expect initial economic returns generated by the campaign in 2024/25 to have been assessed and validated before the end of the year, and will be published via the GREAT website when appropriate.

Evaluation results for the GREAT Britain & Northern Ireland Campaign have not yet been finalised for financial year 2024/25. We expect initial economic returns generated by the campaign in 2024/25 to have been assessed and validated before the end of the year, and will be published via the GREAT website when appropriate.

Due to commercial and broader sensitivities surrounding this expenditure, we are unable to provide a more detailed breakdown as this could negatively affect the government's ability to engage with influencers in the most cost-effective manner.

Pippa Greenslade was appointed through a fair and open competition in 2019. Her second term as Generalist Member of the Senior Salaries Review Body was extended by 12 months, ending on 1 June 2026. Extensions do not require an open competition. The majority of the Cabinet Office’s public appointments are delivered internally; staff and administrative costs are absorbed within the department's existing budget.

The Prime Minister has made clear public service is a privilege and is committed to restoring trust in government by ensuring ministers are held to the highest standards.

Last year the Prime Minister published a new, strengthened, Ministerial Code which sets out the standards expected of all government ministers. It includes a full articulation of the Seven Principles of Public Life, bringing the importance of public service to the front and fore of the Code.

This commitment was further demonstrated in October when the Prime Minister updated the Ministerial Code. This update implemented reforms in relation to ministerial severance payments and changes to the operation of the Business Appointment Rules.

Before the Second Home premium was introduced in Westminster, the Cabinet Office was aware that the former Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) was occupying Admiralty House (AH) as a second home and that council tax would therefore be payable by Government. In line with long standing precedent under successive administrations, as the property was a second residence the Government was responsible for paying the Council Tax on Admiralty House, not the former DPM. Similarly, the Cabinet Office is responsible for liaising with Westminster City Council (WCC) for matters concerning residency at Admiralty House.

WCC were notified at the beginning of May that the former DPM was occupying AH as a second home for council tax purposes, and details were provided for WCC to issue a bill accordingly.

GPA wrote to WCC in June to confirm that the second home's premium applied. WCC issued an invoice in July which was paid the same day.

A record of this information is not held. Admiralty House is occasionally used overnight by Civil Servants where there is operational need. This is in-line with the usage of Admiralty House across successive governments.

Prior to the 2023 procurement for the Civil Service Pensions Scheme (CSPS), the Cabinet Office conducted a formal, evidence-based Delivery Model Assessment. This assessment was carried out in line with Public Sector Procurement legislation and the Sourcing Playbook, evaluating the risks and benefits of various models, including insourcing.

The assessment considered capability, capacity, and value for money, which informed the decision to procure from the third-party market. The subsequent procurement exercise was competitive, attracting multiple bidders and confirming a viable market.

The new contract contains robust governance procedures and contractual options, such as step-in rights, to manage supplier performance. As is current practice, performance data will continue to be published to ensure transparency.

The 2023 procurement was a formal process conducted in line with all legal requirements and is now complete, and there are no plans to review the exercise. The department is now focused on the transition to the new service. Capita has been contracted to assume full administrative responsibilities from 1 December 2025.

Special Advisers are provided with guidance regarding Civil Service Pension schemes during onboarding and offboarding, as well as throughout their tenure. Special Advisers are also directed to published Civil Service Pension scheme resources.

Special Advisers are provided with guidance regarding Civil Service Pension schemes during onboarding and offboarding, as well as throughout their tenure. Special Advisers are also directed to published Civil Service Pension scheme resources.

Secondments into the Civil Service from other sectors are a key route to bring essential skills and experience into the right roles and teams, enabling talented individuals from outside the Civil Service to contribute to the work of Government by sharing critical capabilities and innovative thinking for a set period of time.

The secondments data commission provides insight on inward and outward secondments taking place across government. The Cabinet Office has worked closely with departments to improve the amount, detail and quality of the data available. The limited number of records/data sets makes the data personally identifiable information, therefore it will not be possible to publish this data.