Cabinet Office

This government has a robust set of security policies and guidance in place that apply to Ministers, Special Advisors and Civil Servants, which are kept under consideration, including ‘Using Non-Corporate Communication Channels for Government Business’, which provides a framework for using these applications on both corporate and non-corporate devices. The Government is considering the way that different non-corporate communication channels are being used, as part of its commitment to raise information security standards.

The Honours Committee handbook released through this request is a version from January 2023 which is no longer accurate. The current handbook is currently being updated. An updated version with relevant redactions will be laid in the House Library as soon as is practicable.

The Government Communication Service utilises tools such as Storyzy to monitor publicly available media posts, under strict controls, to measure communication effectiveness, understand public narratives, and address potential mis/disinformation.

It is not routine to publish correspondence between the Prime Minister and any individual or organisation. This does not mean correspondence has or has not been received.

The Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary wrote to the Intelligence and Security Committee on 3 March 2026. There are no plans for this letter to be published.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 24 February 2026, Official Report, PQ HL13416.

In accordance with the Government Financial Reporting Manual, since 2005, information regarding the remuneration and pension interests of Ministers is published in the annual Resource Accounts (as then named) of the relevant departments for the periods an individual served in a qualifying role.

Historical information concerning Lord Mandelson’s Ministerial pension membership during his periods of government service can be found within the relevant departmental annual reports and accounts dating to 2005/6.

Regarding civil service pensions, the Cabinet Office does not disclose personal information relating to specific individuals' pension arrangements. Such information constitutes personal data and is protected under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation. It is a long-standing policy that individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding their financial affairs and pension entitlements, disclosing such details to a third party would conflict with data protection principles.

I refer you to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The Government is working to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.

Reserve lists have been used in one instance to appoint two members to an honours committee since July 2024.

I refer the Honourable Member to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The Government is working to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.

I refer the Member to answers given to Parliamentary Questions 91383 and 92006.

Applicants and Clearance Holders, for all levels of National Security Vetting (NSV), are advised of their responsibilities with regard to the NSV process both at the point of data collection and through the ancillary guidance published on gov.uk. This includes the need for full and complete disclosure.

UKSV acts as a service provider for NSV only, any decision to take disciplinary action remains separate from NSV and would be undertaken by the employing authority.

As set out in the published Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments, the Cabinet Office has recently made changes to its public appointments digital platform to allow departments to record and track their data on Direct Ministerial Appointments. The Direct Ministerial Appointments announcement portal, which draws data from the digital platform and went live in December 2025, brings together public announcements for these appointments from across government. Departments should also add all existing DMAs to the portal.

Appointing ministers are responsible and accountable to Parliament for the appointments they make and the responsibility for the publication of information about Direct Ministerial Appointments rests with individual departments. As such, all appointing ministers are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the information published on the appointments that they make.

As set out in the published Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments, the Cabinet Office has recently made changes to its public appointments digital platform to allow departments to record and track their data on Direct Ministerial Appointments. The Direct Ministerial Appointments announcement portal, which draws data from the digital platform and went live in December 2025, brings together public announcements for these appointments from across government. Departments should also add all existing DMAs to the portal.

Appointing ministers are responsible and accountable to Parliament for the appointments they make and the responsibility for the publication of information about Direct Ministerial Appointments rests with individual departments. As such, all appointing ministers are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the information published on the appointments that they make.

This information is not held centrally.

All Government departments must follow the Mobile Device Management policy. This directs that no third-party mobile application can be downloaded onto Government devices, unless security requirements can be met and there is a business case for doing so.

Responsibility for decisions and due diligence around who departments engage with sits with those departments and the appropriate policy areas. It is for individual government departments to decide to use these principles, or their own due diligence processes around engagement.

I refer the Noble Lady to PQ HC105789:

Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he will take steps to prevent organisations with which the Government has a policy of non-engagement from submitting written evidence to (a) ministers, (b) officials and (c) public consultations.

Answer: The government does not and will not engage with organisations with whom they have a policy of non-engagement.

All contracts for any firm go through rigorous departmental processes and their decision makers. Contracts procured by Government departments are done so in line with procurement law. This was the case with all contracts to Palantir.

We utilise a range of suppliers based on operational requirements, value for money, and compliance with our security and legal obligations, with all suppliers subject to rigorous due diligence. There are robust processes in place to ensure government contracts are awarded fairly and transparently.

All contracts for any firm go through rigorous departmental processes and their decision makers. Contracts procured by Government departments are done so in line with procurement law. This was the case with all contracts to Palantir.

We utilise a range of suppliers based on operational requirements, value for money, and compliance with our security and legal obligations, with all suppliers subject to rigorous due diligence. There are robust processes in place to ensure government contracts are awarded fairly and transparently.

There are no plans to publish the contract template due to commercial sensitivities.

Performance arrangements for members of the Senior Civil Service stem from a centrally set performance management framework, which makes clear that the objectives should be linked directly to the objectives of the department and minister they serve. These are then assessed by their line manager, throughout the performance year.

The Ministerial Code sets out the standards of conduct expected of ministers. Ministers are personally responsible for deciding how to act and conduct themselves in the light of the Code.

I refer the Hon Member to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The Government is working to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.

I refer the Hon Member to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The Government is working to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.

I refer the Hon Member to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The Government is working to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.

The Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC) is an advisory Non-departmental Body of the Cabinet Office. As such it is not a separate legal entity from the Cabinet Office and the staff employed within it are Cabinet Office civil servants and there are no plans to change this. However, the EIC is operationally independent from the Cabinet Office and is led by an independent Chair and a majority independent Committee of members to safeguard its independence and advice to the Prime Minister.

The indicative budget for the EIC for the 2026/27 financial year is £1m and it is expected to have approximately 18 FTE staff in this period. The budget and staffing allocation for future years is expected to grow and will be determined at a later date in response to the EIC’s remit and requirements. Further details will be published in the EIC's Annual Report in the usual way.

A response has been issued here.

The Ethics and Integrity Commission’s (EIC) terms of reference are available on its website here - https://eic.independent-commission.uk/what-we-do/terms-of-reference/ A new Memorandum of Understanding between the EIC and the Cabinet Office is expected to be published in the coming financial year. As with Framework Documents, there is no requirement to consult the Opposition on these documents prior to publication. The EIC has members nominated by the main political parties.

The Director General, Propriety and Constitution Group is not listed on the senior staff webpage because a biographical page has not yet been created for her. She is currently listed on the 'our governance' webpage. The webpages will be updated in due course.

I refer you to the Oral Statement on the 23rd February, in the name of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, which set out an update on the Government's process and that Departments have been instructed to retain material that may be relevant to the motion.

Sir Ian Horobin’s life peerage was announced on 29th March 1962 and he subsequently withdrew his acceptance voluntarily before Letters Patent were sealed and dated. His peerage was therefore never created nor subsequently removed. There is no established precedent of the Government withdrawing a peerage nomination after it has been announced.

I refer you to the Oral Statement on the 23rd February, in the name of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, which set out that Departments have been instructed to retain material that may be relevant to the motion.

I also refer you to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The Government is working to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves

Guidance on the declaration of ministers' overseas travel and meetings can be found on GOV.UK at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministers-overseas-travel-and-meetings-publication-guidance/ministers-overseas-travel-and-meetings-publication-guidance.

A complete list of Special Advisers is published on an annual basis in the Special Advisers Annual Report. It would not be appropriate to comment on individual staffing matters.

The government is committed to strengthening the Sewel Convention by setting out a new Memorandum of Understanding outlining how the nations will work together on legislation. Officials from each of the four governments of the UK have been working closely on this and good progress has been made. As these discussions are ongoing, further detail on the content of the MoU will be provided in due course.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to Question 108667 on 20 February 2026.

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

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

Honours committees are made up of individuals with considerable experience of the areas covered by the committee. Each of the ten independent committees are made up of senior civil servants (‘official members’) and people who are independent of government (‘independent members’). All honours committees have a majority of members who are independent and each has an independent chairperson.

Each committee sends their recommendations to the Main Honours Committee which is made up of the chairs of all ten honours committees as well as an official chairperson who is appointed by the Cabinet Secretary. This Committee agrees on a final list of recommendations which goes to the Prime Minister and then to The King, who awards the honour.

The names and positions of all committee members are published on gov.uk and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/honours-committees

We require candidates to list the ‘main household earner’ using the ONS definition. In cases where a candidate had multiple households we advise candidates to use the ‘main householder earner’ in the household that best reflects their circumstances.

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

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office of National Statistics.

The Rt Hon. The Baroness Whitaker

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

09 March 2026

Dear Baroness Whitaker,

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what steps are being taken to improve the accuracy, consistency, and disaggregation of ethnicity data relating to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities across public services, following research set out in the Advicenow briefing Unpacking imperfect data: Roma overrepresentation and the need for analytical precision, published in November 2025, indicating that current data practices prevent a reliable understanding of levels of need and representation of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children in care (HL15068).

The Government Statistical Service’s (GSS) harmonisation team oversees the development and review of harmonised standards [1] for statistical data collection across the public sector. In developing harmonised standards, the GSS harmonisation team considers the data needed to inform policy, for equalities monitoring and for service delivery. This enhances the value from public sector data collections by improving the comparability and coherence of statistics across sources. We acknowledge the difficulty in data collection and disaggregation for some populations, particularly where sample sizes are small.

The current ethnicity harmonised standard [2] is based on the 2011 Census questions across the UK. The questions were reviewed and adjusted so they could be used in the 2021 Census for England and Wales, the 2021 Census for Northern Ireland, and the 2022 Census for Scotland. In these censuses, the category “Gypsy or Irish Traveller” was included as a tick box in England, Wales, and Scotland. In Northern Ireland, this category was tailored specifically to “Irish Traveller”. As part of the 2021 census updates, “Roma” was included as a separate tick box option in all nations.

The GSS is currently reviewing the harmonised standard on ethnicity, with the intention to encourage consistent and inclusive data collection across the Government Statistical Service. As part of the review, the team recently ran a public consultation [3] to gather evidence of user, community, and respondent need for additional tick boxes in the new ethnicity harmonised standard; ethnic groups represented in existing response options, as described above, will be retained.

The proposed new ethnicity harmonised standard for online data collection will be published by the end of 2026. We have published wider detail on the programme of work online [4]. We are working closely with departments and organisations across government to encourage adoption of the harmonised standard and support its effective implementation.

While we encourage data collectors in the GSS to align to harmonised standards, they are not compelled to do so. Some non-statistical data collectors in the public sector and beyond also align, though due to operational constraints sometimes this alignment is not always to the latest standard. Meanwhile, the GSS recognises that some data collectors choose not to align because their needs for data differ. This is why the options for responding to ethnicity questions vary across different data collectors.

Additionally, a team within the UK Statistics Authority is conducting qualitative research with Roma communities in England and Wales, due to be published later this year. The findings will support a more nuanced understanding of their lived experience and specific needs, as well as providing insights to inform statistical producers in considering how Roma identity is represented and captured in data in the future.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

[1] https://analysisfunction.civilservice.gov.uk/government-statistical-service-and-statistician-group/user-f

[2] https://analysisfunction.civilservice.gov.uk/policy-store/ethnicity-harmonised-standard/

[3] https://consultations.ons.gov.uk/harmonisation/gss-ethnicity-harmonisation-consultation/

[4] https://analysisfunction.civilservice.gov.uk/policy-store/review-of-the-ethnicity-harmonised-standard-overview-of-our-redesign-research-to-date/

Departments and agencies have delegated authority to determine their own practices and procedures for the recruitment of staff to the Civil Service, including the Senior Civil Service (SCS), as outlined in the Civil Service Management Code.

The Government People Group are collaborating with dedicated SCS Recruitment leads from the core Government departments to support them in sharing best practice and making relevant changes to their hiring practices, in line with the ambition set out in the Chief Secretary to the Prime Ministers’ speech of 20 January 2026.

Any costs associated with routine updates to branding guidance are covered by existing staff costs. The redesign of the Lesser Arms to accommodate the Tudor Crown cost £4,950.

I refer the Noble Lord back to HL12683:

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government on what dates calls have been held between the government and corporate lobbyists since 4 July 2024; which lobbying firms joined those calls; and which ministers have joined those calls.

Answer: Details of Ministers and Senior Officials' meetings, including those held using video or audio-conferencing technology, and including phone calls where these replace or take the format of an official meeting, are published by departments on GOV.UK every quarter.

GOV.UK transparency publications list details of Ministers' and Senior Officials' official meetings with all external organisations, including organised group telephone or video calls, where these replace or take the format of an official meeting.

These publications include the dates of meetings or calls, and the name(s) of the organisation(s) with whom the minister or senior official met.

The guidance was developed and agreed upon by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Number 10.

There are no plans to discontinue the use of "His Majesty's Government". This term continues to be used on relevant official communications and records, and this will not change.