Cabinet Office

The Director of Public Prosecutions took an independent decision to not proceed with the case as the evidential bar was not met. There was no political interference or direction in the provision of evidence.

The Director General, Propriety and Constitution group remains a SCS3 civil service post. The Cabinet Office gov.uk page will be updated in due course.

The government is committed to ensuring that public appointments are more representative of our nations and regions and will set out its approach in due course.

There is guidance in place when it comes to the use of non-corporate communications channels, available on gov.uk.

Each department, including the Cabinet Office, is required to publish their compliance with the Corporate governance code for central government departments 2017, on a comply or explain basis, within their annual report and accounts.

There is a mandatory retirement age of 70 prescribed by section 1(3) of the Ecclesiastical Offices (Age Limit) Measure 1975 which applies to all Archbishops, Bishops, Deans, Archdeacons, residentiary Canons, parish incumbents and curates. Archbishops may be continued in office until the age of 71 at the Sovereign's discretion. Clergy other than Archbishops may continue beyond the age of 70 provided they hold Common Tenure, which covers almost all clergy; they are covered by regulation 29A of the Ecclesiastical Offices (Terms of Service) Regulations 2009. That Regulation makes comprehensive provision for holding office beyond the age of 70. For bishops and certain other clergy, their period in office can be extended until they reach the age of 75. For parish clergy, they can be extended in office beyond the age of 70 where certain conditions are met; there is no upper age limit in these cases. The Archbishops’ Council has issued guidance under regulation 29A of the attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 10th of December is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 11th of December is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 15th of December is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 12th of December is attached.

The Strategic Partnership Arrangement 2024 (SPA24) provides discounts and favourable terms to UK public sector customers. Contract prices are locked at the time of each authority's contract, for the duration of that contract. Any global price changes implemented by Microsoft during the life of the contract do not have an impact until an individual contract is renewed.

Under SPA24, Microsoft reports any global price changes to the Crown Commercial Service but again, these do not impact individual authority contracts until they are renewed. SPA24 includes governance in the form of both monthly meetings and confidential communications for Microsoft to share advance notice of price changes.

SPA24 is designed not to restrict the ability of public sector organisations to switch providers or ensure competitiveness because customers accessing Microsoft products through SPA24 are required to carry out a compliant procurement process and make their own assessment of value for money. There is no obligation on any public sector organisation to use Microsoft, or any of its specific offerings.

The Cabinet Office is compliant with Phase 2 TCFD requirements for the 2024-25 financial year, covering Governance, Risk Management, and Metrics and Targets (p45 of the annual report). These disclosures were reviewed by the NAO audit to ensure mandated requirements were published. We reported Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions and are proceeding with Phase 3 implementation in the 2025-26 Annual Report.

Security is a core principle of the new national digital credential that government is building, and will follow National Cyber Security Centre advice and international best practice.

Data will be federated, not centralised, minimising risks by keeping information securely stored where it already is. Advanced encryption and regular penetration testing will be part of a wider infrastructure to help protect against cyber threats, fraud, and hacking.

The system will comply with GDPR, operate strict legal firewalls, and empower individuals to have more control over what data is shared. All of these elements will help ensure there are robust safeguards to protect personal data from hostile actors.

I refer the Hon Member to PQ 95176.

The Cabinet Office guidance on reporting trade union facility time data includes examples of what counts as trade union duties and activities. See, the Cabinet Office guidance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-trade-union-facility-time-data

For detailed definitions of trade union duties and activities, please refer to the Acas Code of Practice on time off for trade union duties and activities:

Acas Code of Practice: https://www.acas.org.uk/acas-code-of-practice-on-time-off-for-trade-union-duties-and-activities

The Cabinet Office issued Facility Time Framework is intended to apply to all departments and executive agencies employing civil servants. It encourages Arms Length Bodies to adopt the Framework where possible.

The Framework specifies that paid time off to undertake trade union activities should be agreed by the department’s Secretary of State or Permanent Secretary.

A copy of the Facility Time Framework and its supporting guidance was deposited in the House Library earlier this year.

Whilst indicative figures are part of the cases submitted to Cabinet Office, the Redundancy and Compensation control does not hold data on the final number or cost of exits payments. This data is available in each department’s annual report and accounts.

A copy of the Facility Time Framework and its supporting guidance was deposited in the House Library in May of this year.

A copy of the Facility Time Framework and its supporting guidance was deposited in the House Library in May of this year.

HVCTS will be paid by property owners not residents. Where official residences are owned by the state, any tax will be paid to the Exchequer at no overall cost to the taxpayer.

Prime Ministerial travel is published on gov.uk and includes both domestic and international visits. The Prime Minister’s first ever official visit as Prime Minister was to Scotland.

This information is not held centrally and would only be held by individual departments.

Information about this Pension Scheme, including a calculation of the cash equivalent transfer value, was included in the Crown Prosecution Service's annual report and accounts for 2013-14. The Pension Scheme is managed by the Cabinet Office, and details of individual benefits are held by Capita, the Scheme Administrator (the cash equivalent transfer value is calculated only when required). There has been no change to the policy under the last Administration not to publish information about civil servants' individual pensions apart from in the remuneration reports contained in departmental annual reports and accounts.

As was the case under successive administrations, an itemised list is not routinely published. Total expenditure from the Prime Minister’s allowance on their official residence is disclosed in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Rt. Hon the Lord Spellar

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

09 December 2025

Dear Lord Spellar

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what the latest figures for the number of trainee welders in the UK are (HL12585).

The ONS uses the Annual Population Survey (APS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK, to estimate information on apprentices and the number of people in different occupations. We classify people’s occupations using the Standard Occupational Classification 2020 (SOC20), based on their own description of their occupation. For this question we have used SOC20 group 5213, welding trades.

Table 1 contains APS estimates of the number of apprentices in occupation 5213, welding trades, resident in the UK, for APS periods from July 2021 to June 2022, until July 2024 to June 2025, the latest APS dataset available. All estimates in Table 1 are based on a small sample size. This may result in less precise estimates, which should be used with caution. The ongoing challenges with response rates, response levels and weighting approach mean that labour market statistics based on the Annual Population Survey (APS) are subject to increased volatility and are considered ’official statistics in development’ until further review.

Table 1: Number of apprentices in the Welding Trades (SOC20 5213), UK, not seasonally adjusted

Source: Annual Population Survey

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

Cabinet Office ministers have had no official government meetings on the formulation of policy with the leader of Labour in Scotland, Anas Sarwar MSP.

Ministers listen to a wide range of representations on policymaking, including those from Scottish Labour.

It is for the lead Secretary of State to determine the membership of their Mission Board.

We have not made an assessment as we have been clear there will be no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement. We are focused on strengthening our relationship with the EU to make trade easier, help British businesses and support economic growth. At the first UK-EU Summit, the Prime Minister announced a deal with the EU which will deliver on what the British public voted for and which was welcomed by businesses.

The Scheme has been designed to minimise as far as possible the burden on those applying, and as set out in the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2024, eligibility for the Scheme will be determined based on the balance of probabilities. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority will provide assistance to those who believe their medical records have been lost or destroyed.

In addition to this, on 3 July 2025, the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office wrote to the Chairs of the PAC and PACAC Committees to set out the measures being taken to prioritise faster compensation payments, and one of these measures is to use the powers in the Victims and Prisoners Act to get records from the Infected Blood Inquiry, and using testimony to contribute to the assessment of proof of infection.

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) was formed last year, began processing compensation claims within two months of receiving the legislative powers to do so. It has been set an unprecedented challenge and is working hard to meet the needs of all those it serves in delivering justice to victims.

Of the £5.278bn downward revision of the Resource AME requirement, £5.118bn (97%) was related to the recalculation of the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme future payment provision.

Estimating eligible claim volumes is challenging, relying on various assumptions which are refined on an ongoing basis. Changes in the overall provision stem from evolving assumptions and estimates, updates to regulations and other factors. Crucially, these estimates do not limit IBCA’s ability to make payments and everyone who is eligible and makes a claim will be paid in accordance with the legislation.

As of 2 December, 2,867 people have received an offer of compensation, and over £1.7 billion has been paid.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 8th of December is attached.

It is, and always will be, an absolute priority for this Government to protect our democratic and electoral processes. This is why on 18 November, I set out a Counter Political Interference and Espionage Action Plan to disrupt and deter foreign influence and spying from foreign states.

We recognise that elected representatives are potential targets for foreign influence and interference. In October 2025, the National Protective Security Agency published its guidance on how members of Parliament and their Parliamentary staff can protect themselves from foreign states and its proxies in relation to espionage and foreign interference.

Before his appointment as a special adviser, Mr Allan sought and received advice on his interests. He has followed every element of the advice received.

Mr Allan has formally waived his rights as a shareholder over any matter requiring consent or approval of investors, as well as rights to receive shareholder information. He has also waived his rights to receive any dividend, and will not receive any share options. He agreed not to increase his shareholdings in Strand Partners during his time as a special adviser. Mr Allan has recused himself from engagement with Strand Partners in relation to the firm’s business, and from involvement in any procurement relating to Strand Partners during his period of employment. He retains an investment in the company.

A copy of the Facility Time Framework and its supporting guidance was deposited in the House Library in May of this year.

Palantir is not a strategic supplier and therefore details of contracts are not collated centrally.

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 and for procurements commenced after 24 February 2025 are published on Find a Tender Service

All special advisers are bound by the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers sets out special adviser's obligations with regards to the media.

The severe space weather risk was first added to the National Risk Register in the 2012 edition in light of lessons from the 2010 Iceland volcanic eruptions.

All risks in the National Risk Register, including those related to severe space weather, are kept under review to ensure that they are the most appropriate scenarios to inform emergency preparedness and resilience activity.

The current procurement rules, which came into force on 24 February 2025, encourage contracting authorities to engage with the market before commencing a procurement. 5,000 pre-market engagement notices have now been published. This engagement is of particular importance under the new rules, where contracting authorities have significant flexibility to design and tailor their competitive procurement procedures.

We have consulted on procurement reforms to further boost domestic supply chains and create more opportunities for businesses across the UK, including across the housing sector. We will be publishing the consultation outcome - and legislative proposals - soon.

The Government does not disclose the security arrangements at official residences.

The existing policy regarding TikTok on government devices remains unchanged. It is a longstanding principle that for security reasons, it would not be appropriate to comment on 10 Downing Street’s IT systems.

Chequers is owned by The Chequers Trust, and therefore payment of Council Tax is not a matter for the government.

The Cabinet Office has no plans to review the existing arrangements for challenging final ombudsman decisions.

Departments and their partner organisations are currently collecting the data for the next ‘high earner’ list. It will be published when the data set is complete and the personal information being released about individuals has been fully quality assured. As set out in my previous answer, salary information for the Senior Civil Service is already in the public domain.

Chequers is owned by The Chequers Trust, and therefore payment of Council Tax is not a matter for the government.