Asked by: Johanna Baxter (Labour - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will publish (a) a timeline for the completion of the implementation of UK Covid-19 Inquiry Module 1 recommendations and (b) target dates for actions in progress.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government responded in full to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 1 report on 16 January 2025 and committed to providing regular updates on implementation of the commitments made in the response. The most recent update was published on 8 July, alongside a suite of key publications which demonstrate this government’s determination to build the UK’s resilience and pandemic preparedness for the future.
Asked by: Neil Shastri-Hurst (Conservative - Solihull West and Shirley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many businesses have ceased trading since 4 July 2024; and what proportion of these closures were in the (a) hospitality, (b) retail and (c) construction sectors.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd July is attached.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the published list of (a) arm’s-length bodies, (b) Government departments, (c) agencies, (d) public bodies, and (e) other related entities for which a Minister or Department is responsible is complete and does not omit any relevant bodies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Cabinet Office publishes a list of Departments, agencies and public bodies which can be accessed on gov.uk. Individual government departments are responsible for ensuring their portfolio of organisations is accurately listed and kept up-to-date.
The Government also publishes a consolidated dataset on arm’s-length bodies annually. The latest version can be found here and provides landscape data for 2024.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many open (a) processes and (b) applications there are for the closure of (i) arm’s-length bodies, (ii) Government Departments, (iii) agencies and (iv) public bodies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
On 6 April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a full review of all UK government arm’s length bodies, and proposals for new bodies, in order to return policy decisions to Ministers, reduce duplication and improve efficiency and transparency. The review is ongoing and outcomes will be announced in due course.
Information about the closures of other types of public bodies is not held centrally.
The decision to create or close Government Departments is the responsibility of the Prime Minister. There are no active processes underway to create or close any departments.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool West Derby)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much from the public purse has been spent on legal representation in public inquests and inquiries in each year between 2020 and July 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
For statutory inquiries, section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005 gives the Chair the power to award funding for legal representation subject to conditions imposed by the Sponsoring Minister. Details of these costs and of the cost of an inquiry’s legal support are available on individual inquiry websites. The Cabinet Office does not keep centralised records of expenditure on legal representation in public inquiries and inquests.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many employees in his Department earn (a) £100,000 and (b) £166,000 or more per year.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Salary information for Senior Cabinet Office employees can be found at https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/ff76be1f-4f37-4bef-beb7-32b259413be1/organogram-cabinet-office. The next update is due to be published by 6th December 2025.
Asked by: Johanna Baxter (Labour - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he plans to take to ensure that UK Resilience Academy expert panels on whole-system risks are available for parliamentary scrutiny; and how the Government plans to (a) respond to and (b) implement as necessary their recommendations.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office will instruct the UK Resilience Academy to convene independently-chaired panels dedicated to reviewing specific whole-system risks. The panels will draw on leading independent experts from across sectors outside government to ensure impartial and credible assurance. Terms of Reference will underpin the panels, and a pilot study will test and refine this approach.
The Government's updates on its actions to improve resilience, including in response to the findings of the independent expert panels, will be set out in the Annual Statement to Parliament on risk and resilience.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Special adviser data releases: numbers and costs, July 2025, published on 17 July 2025, how much of severance costs in 2024-25 related to the severance payment made to Sue Gray.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In line with the Model Contract for Special Advisers which is published online and details the circumstances in which severance is payable, Baroness Gray was not eligible for a severance payment, therefore no such payment was made.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2025 to Question HL8409 on special advisers, whether special advisers who wish to undertake industrial action can only do so as part of industrial action undertaken by their appointing minister’s department.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As special advisers have the same legal rights as other employees, their right to take industrial action is not limited to their appointing minister’s department.
Asked by: Lewis Cocking (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Special adviser data releases: numbers and costs, July 2025, published on 17 July 2025, how much was Sue Gray’s salary.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Annual Report for Special Advisers releases salary information for individuals in post as at 31 March 2025. We do not release salary details outside of this publication.