Cabinet Office

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

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

Lord Taylor of Goss Moor

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

27 November 2023

Dear Lord Taylor,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking a) how many babies were born in England each year since 1945 (HL435) and b) how many babies were registered in Cornwall in each year since 1945 (HL436).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes statistics on births registered in England. Birth statistics are based on year of registration, rather than date of birth.

Table 1 of the attached dataset provides numbers of live births registered in England from 1945 to 2022, and stillbirths registered from 1981 to 2023. Data on stillbirths registered in England prior to 1981 are not available.

Table 2 of the attached dataset provides numbers of live births and stillbirths registered in Cornwall from 1981 to 2022. Figures for Cornwall are based on the mother’s usual residence. Data on the mother’s usual residence prior to 1981 is not available.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

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

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

Lord Taylor of Goss Moor

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

27 November 2023

Dear Lord Taylor,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking a) how many babies were born in England each year since 1945 (HL435) and b) how many babies were registered in Cornwall in each year since 1945 (HL436).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes statistics on births registered in England. Birth statistics are based on year of registration, rather than date of birth.

Table 1 of the attached dataset provides numbers of live births registered in England from 1945 to 2022, and stillbirths registered from 1981 to 2023. Data on stillbirths registered in England prior to 1981 are not available.

Table 2 of the attached dataset provides numbers of live births and stillbirths registered in Cornwall from 1981 to 2022. Figures for Cornwall are based on the mother’s usual residence. Data on the mother’s usual residence prior to 1981 is not available.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

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

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Lord Taylor of Goss Moor

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

28 November 2023

Dear Lord Taylor,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking about the number of (1) over 65-year-olds (HL437), and (2) over 80-year-olds in each year since 1945 for both the UK as a whole and those living in Cornwall (HL438).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing population estimates for the United Kingdom. The attached Excel file provides estimates for the United Kingdom from 1953 to 2021 and for England and Wales from 1945 to 2022. United Kingdom age group estimates are not available from before 1953. Estimates for the United Kingdom for 2022 are not yet available due to synchronisation issues caused by the latest census being held in 2021 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and in 2022 in Scotland.

The file also contains estimates for Cornwall from 1971 to 2022. Age group estimates prior to 1991 are not available for Cornwall as local authority reorganisation in the early 1970s prevents comparisons prior to 1971.

When accessing any of our files please read the 'notes, terms and conditions' contained within them.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

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

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Lord Taylor of Goss Moor

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

28 November 2023

Dear Lord Taylor,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking about the number of (1) over 65-year-olds (HL437), and (2) over 80-year-olds in each year since 1945 for both the UK as a whole and those living in Cornwall (HL438).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for publishing population estimates for the United Kingdom. The attached Excel file provides estimates for the United Kingdom from 1953 to 2021 and for England and Wales from 1945 to 2022. United Kingdom age group estimates are not available from before 1953. Estimates for the United Kingdom for 2022 are not yet available due to synchronisation issues caused by the latest census being held in 2021 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and in 2022 in Scotland.

The file also contains estimates for Cornwall from 1971 to 2022. Age group estimates prior to 1991 are not available for Cornwall as local authority reorganisation in the early 1970s prevents comparisons prior to 1971.

When accessing any of our files please read the 'notes, terms and conditions' contained within them.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

The Deputy Prime Minister, as Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office, takes decisions under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 in a quasi-judicial capacity. The Investment Security Unit coordinates expertise from across Government so that the Secretary of State may make decisions based on the evidence. It would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases.

The Deputy Prime Minister, as Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office, takes decisions under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 in a quasi-judicial capacity. The Investment Security Unit coordinates expertise from across Government so that the Secretary of State may make decisions based on the evidence. It would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases.

The Deputy Prime Minister, as Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office, takes decisions under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 in a quasi-judicial capacity. The Investment Security Unit coordinates expertise from across Government so that the Secretary of State may make decisions based on the evidence. It would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases.

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

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 28 November is attached.

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

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 28 November is attached.

The use of consultants provides short term, specialist advisory services for specific engagements. Consultants provide niche skills that are not required full time within the Civil Service.

Every department is responsible for their own use of consultancy with governance, assurance and control over budgets to ensure value for money.

(a) As of 21 November 2023, the IT infrastructure spend is £12 million in the last 3 years. The figure includes infrastructure (private/public cloud and data centre) contracts that the Cabinet Office has direct contracts for or with; and excludes Software-as-a-service (SaaS) or Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products and solutions, that the infrastructure is owned by the supplier.

(b) As of 21 November 2023, £2 million has been spent on what is considered as Legacy IT in the last 3 years.

(c) The Cabinet office does not have any IT infrastructure first purchased in 2013 or earlier on record.

The Cabinet Office is actively managing their legacy estates, and is seeking to exit legacy systems via existing or new change plans.

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.

I refer the Hon Member for Glasgow South to my answer on 26 July 2023 (UIN 194823).

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

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 22 November is attached.

The Unicorn Kingdom campaign was launched by GREAT in March 2023. The campaign’s primary purpose is to improve perceptions of the UK tech ecosystem and drive inward investment.

To date the campaign has directly engaged US investors representing over $500 billion in assets under management and several of those investors are actively engaging with HMG in relation to establishing offices in the UK.

A comprehensive evaluation will be completed in 2024 to assess the campaign's impact on international perceptions of the UK's technology ecosystem, the number of overseas investors considering investing in the UK, and the amount of overseas investment attributed to the campaign. We will continue to monitor impact from the campaign beyond this initial evaluation period.

As of 21 November 2023 the Cabinet Office has 4 red-rated legacy IT systems as defined in the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework.

The Cabinet Office is actively managing their legacy systems. Since May 2023 the newly formed CTO Function within Cabinet Office Digital have been proactively addressing legacy management and risk mitigation across the Department. This work is refining the definition of Legacy Technology building on the CDDO framework and creating an assessment for all systems within the Cabinet Office. This is still in progress and we will be delivering a governance and decision framework, founded on the CDDO assessment framework, to create plans for remediation which are based upon assessed risk. This work is due to complete this calendar year and will provide a revised and enhanced legacy risk assessment position for the department.

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

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 21 November is attached.

To date, the Government has committed nearly £30m towards ending veteran homelessness, including:

• £20m capital housing fund over three years to provide extra housing for veterans through the development of new builds and the refurbishment of social and charitable housing.

• £500k to fund Op FORTITUDE, a dedicated referral scheme to provide a single central point for local authorities, charities and housing providers to support homeless and rough sleeping veterans, in addition to over £7.2m to fund specialist help for veterans in more than 900 veteran supported housing units.

To date, the Government has committed nearly £30m towards ending veteran homelessness, including:

• £20m capital housing fund over three years to provide extra housing for veterans through the development of new builds and the refurbishment of social and charitable housing.

• £500k to fund Op FORTITUDE, a dedicated referral scheme to provide a single central point for local authorities, charities and housing providers to support homeless and rough sleeping veterans, in addition to over £7.2m to fund specialist help for veterans in more than 900 veteran supported housing units.

To date, the Government has committed nearly £30m towards ending veteran homelessness, including:

• £20m capital housing fund over three years to provide extra housing for veterans through the development of new builds and the refurbishment of social and charitable housing.

• £500k to fund Op FORTITUDE, a dedicated referral scheme to provide a single central point for local authorities, charities and housing providers to support homeless and rough sleeping veterans, in addition to over £7.2m to fund specialist help for veterans in more than 900 veteran supported housing units.

I thank the honourable Member for her question. I would like to reassure her that I am meeting with colleagues across Whitehall, including Treasury Ministers, to discuss the Infected Blood Inquiry recommendations, and the Government’s response, and will update the House as soon as I can.

The number of Senior Civil Servants by Director, Director General and Permanent Secretary paybands are shown in the table below.

This information is published each year by payband through the Government evidence to the Senior Salaries Review Board.

Table 1: Number of Senior Civil Servants by Director, Director General and Permanent Secretary paybands, as at 1 April 2023

Source: SCS Database, Cabinet Office

Notes: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.

Numbers are provisional and subject to revision over time.

Numbers refer to the centrally managed 'Senior Civil Service' that does not include the Diplomatic Service and a number of civil servants that work at a senior level, for example some senior military officials and health professionals, and who are not part of the 'Senior Civil Service'.

As at 31 October 2023, the Cabinet Office employs 74 people at Director level and 21 people at Director General level.

The number of Senior Civil Servants (SCS) stems from our coordinating role at the heart of Government. First, the professional experts who lead functional services across the whole of the Civil Service sit in Cabinet Office (the level of professional expertise required, often recruited from the private sector, means a high number of SCS roles). Second, the Cabinet Office also delivers secretariat functions which need to be led at a senior level given their national significance, including the National Security Secretariat and Joint Intelligence Organisation.

The Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) has been discussing the design of the Capital Housing Fund with Scottish Government officials since May 2023. The Fund is now open for applications from across the United Kingdom.

Details of the salaries and allowances currently paid to Ministers at different ranks can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-salary-data

This will be updated in due course.

The full list of ministers can be found on gov.uk at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministerial-appointments-november-2023

The ministers and whips in the House of Lords currently appointed and not in receipt of a ministerial salary are: Baroness Nevile-Rolfe DBE CMG, Lord Ahmad, Rt Hon Lord Benyon, the Earl of Minto, Lord Bellamy KC, Viscount Camrose, Lord Markham CBE, Rt Hon Earl Howe GBE, Lord Johnson CBE, Lord Offord of Garvel, Baroness Barran MBE, and Baroness Swinburne.

The full list of ministers can be found on gov.uk at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ministerial-appointments-november-2023

The ministers currently appointed who are not in receipt of a ministerial salary are: Richard Holden MP, Rt Hon John Glen MP, Baroness Nevile-Rolfe DBE CMG, Lord Ahmad, Rt Hon Lord Benyon, the Earl of Minto, Lord Bellamy KC, Rt Hon Sir John Whittingdale OBE MP, Andrew Griffith MP, Viscount Camrose, Lord Markham CBE, Rt Hon Earl Howe CBE, Lord Johnson CBE, Lord Offord of Garvel, Baroness Barran MBE, and Baroness Swinburne.

Storm Debi brought strong winds to parts of north Wales and northern England on Monday 13th November. The strongest winds and rain were felt in the Republic of Ireland, leading Met Éireann - the Irish Met service - to name the weather system. There were no impacts in England from Storm Debi that required national response. Localised, short-lived impacts were managed by the relevant Local Resilience Forums and emergency services. The Cabinet Office, as the Lead Government Department for severe storms, maintained close contact with the Met Office and stood ready to respond for the duration of the storm.

The £10 million commitment to support veterans is new funding for the Veterans’ Places, Pathways and People Programme, which will increase support to a significant community of vulnerable veterans throughout the UK. The funding will be spent over three financial years 2024-2025, 2025-2026 and 2026-2027.

The £10 million commitment to support veterans is new funding for the Veterans’ Places, Pathways and People Programme, which will increase support to a significant community of vulnerable veterans throughout the UK. The funding will be spent over three financial years 2024-2025, 2025-2026 and 2026-2027.

The Office for National Statistics is due to publish the initial results of the Veterans’ Survey on 15th December this year. Future releases will be announced on the ONS website in due course.

In October this year, the Prime Minister asked me to coordinate departmental plans for relocating eligible Afghans and their families under both the ARAP and ACRS schemes. Departments retain responsibility for their specific policy areas.

The Ministerial Code makes clear that Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise. It is the personal responsibility of each Minister to decide whether and what action is needed to avoid a conflict or the perception of a conflict, taking account of advice received from their Permanent Secretary and the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ interests.

As set out in Chapter 7 of the Ministerial Code, there is an established regime in place for the declaration and management of private interests held by ministers. Cabinet members appointed on 13 November 2023 are following this standard process. On appointment to each new office, ministers must provide their Permanent Secretary and Independent Adviser with a full list of interests which might be thought to give rise to a conflict. This includes interests of the minister’s spouse or partner and close family which might be thought to give rise to a conflict.

The Independent Adviser publishes a list of relevant interests. Work is underway on the next List which will include all ministers appointed week commencing 13 November.

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet, and its Committees, is not normally shared publicly.

Op Fortitude is coordinated by the Cabinet Office and delivered by third sector partners requiring flexible support depending on the demands on the service.

The Riverside Group is the lead delivery partner for Op FORTITUDE, bringing together Local Authorities, charities and housing providers across the UK to support homeless or rough sleeping veterans.

Searches by my Office have not identified such correspondence. If the hon. Member would like to provide a copy, my Office will arrange for a reply to be sent.

The Government is committed to responding to the recommendations in the second interim report as quickly as possible following the publication of the final report. The timeline for the publication of the final report is a matter for the independent Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry.

The Government is committed to responding to the recommendations in the second interim report as quickly as possible following the publication of the final report. The timeline for the publication of the final report is a matter for the independent Chair of the Infected Blood Inquiry.

The previous Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Deputy Prime Minister chaired meetings of the UK Resilience Forum on the 2nd of February and 19th July 2023, to discuss risk and resilience capability building with senior stakeholders from across national, regional and local government; the private and voluntary sectors and other interested parties. More widely, the Cabinet Office engages regularly with all local partners on national resilience, as part of the Government’s commitment to implement the December 2022 UK Government Resilience Framework.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is the Lead Government Department responsible for managing the relationship between central government and local authorities.

The Privy Council has no jurisdiction to investigate or intervene in the internal affairs of Chartered bodies. The only role that the Privy Council has in relation to Chartered bodies is the reactive one of considering amendments to Charters and Bylaws that are submitted to it for approval by the Chartered body.

The grant of a Royal Charter confers independent legal personality on a body and defines its objectives, constitution and powers to govern its own affairs. Incorporation by Royal Charter is a prestigious way of acquiring legal personality. Complaints against a Chartered body should be addressed to the body itself or, if a member, by raising issues directly with the organisation.

Diversity monitoring forms, which include the Enterprise Resource Planning system used in the Cabinet Office, use question sets in line with the Office for National Statistics harmonised standards. This is considered best practice across government.

As set out in the Autumn statement, the audit of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) spending is coming to its conclusion and, subject to further work, the Government is streamlining EDI training and HR processes with a view to getting value for the taxpayer. As the Minister for the Cabinet Office, I will be outlining the final proposals in due course.

The Cabinet Office leads on, and coordinates across government, key elements of the UK’s national security policy. This includes the development and implementation of the Integrated Review Refresh. Published in March, the Refresh updated the government’s security, defence, development and foreign policy priorities to reflect changes in the global context since the Integrated Review 2021. Flowing from this, the Cabinet Office has played a key role in developing and overseeing the National Cyber Strategy, National Security and Investment Programme, and the Biological Security Strategy. The department is taking essential steps to ensure delivery of these and other issues.

Specific recent outcomes include the launch of the National Security and Investment Act call for evidence, and the leading role the department has played in coordinating the government’s response to several international and domestic crises.

The Government has committed to responding to the recommendations in the second interim report, including the recommendation to establish an arms-length body, following the publication of the Inquiry’s final report.

Ministers regularly meet with departmental officials and external stakeholders. Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

The Government continues to make progress with the work necessary to enable a response to the full report when it is published in March next year. It is only reasonable that the Inquiry, whose work is in train, concludes and provides their final recommendations before the Government takes action. The Government recognises that there is interest in pre-registration for compensation ahead of its response to the Inquiry’s final report. However, as the Minister for the Cabinet Office set out to the Inquiry in July, opening registration for compensation before the Government has finalised its response would be a difficult step to take.