Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will introduce pre-confirmation hearings before relevant select committees for permanent secretary appointments for government departments.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
There are no plans to introduce pre-appointment hearings for Permanent Secretary roles.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that Civil Service workplace policies fully comply with the Equality Act 2010 as interpreted in the ruling of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers since 16 April 2025.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
All Civil Service workplace policies are developed, reviewed and appropriately updated to ensure that they follow the law, including the Equality Act 2010.
Departments are taking specialist legal advice where necessary and ensuring that any revisions to existing policies are made in accordance with legal advice or recent rulings.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 10 April 2026 to Question 113783 on Cabinet Office: Reviews, whether staff previously employed by Labour Together were involved in the fact finding exercise.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
No staff previously employed by Labour Together were involved in the fact finding exercise.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has assessed the salary outcomes, promotion rates and role progression of participants in the Beyond Boundaries programme compared to a control group of comparable civil servants who did not participate; and whether his Department has undertaken a cost benefit analysis of the programme, including average time to promotion, changes in performance markings, retention rates and the financial return on investment to the public purse.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Beyond Boundaries is a 12-month cross-government talent programme that launched in 2021 and in October 2025 we welcomed 794 participants. It is designed to help participants develop the knowledge, skills and networks required to build a satisfying and effective career in the Civil Service. There has been no direct comparison of Beyond Boundaries participants against a control group. Current evaluation data is based upon an anonymous, post programme, survey of participants providing an aggregated picture of participant outcomes.
In future, Beyond Boundaries will be part of the National School for Government and Public Services and since October 2025 has been supporting our mission to deliver more training in-house and reduce expenditure on external providers to provide better value for the taxpayer. This provided departments with a reduction in the cost per learner of 37.5%
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has sought to recruit a senior official to lead on trans equality since January 2026.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Based on a ‘senior official’ being a Senior Civil Servant (SCS), there have been no SCS recruitment campaigns to lead on trans equality.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what has been the cost to the public purse of staff working in his Department on trans equality and related policy matters since 16 April 2025.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Regarding Cabinet Office roles working on trans equality and ‘related policy matters’, the numbers concerned would relate to five individuals or fewer. We therefore cannot provide details in such cases as the individuals concerned could be identifiable. This is standard statistical reporting. This includes the Office for Equality and Opportunity.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff members are currently working on policy connected to trans equality and related matters.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Regarding Cabinet Office roles working on trans equality and ‘related policy matters’, the numbers concerned would relate to five individuals or fewer. We therefore cannot provide details in such cases as the individuals concerned could be identifiable. This is standard statistical reporting. This includes the Office for Equality and Opportunity.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the transparency data, Expenditure Over £25,000 - February 2026 (Cabinet Office Core), published on 26 March 2026, what is the purpose and nature of the expenditure relating to GRS - SURGE CONTRACT via PEREGRINE INTERNATIONAL.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The expenditure relating to "GRS - SURGE CONTRACT via PEREGRINE INTERNATIONAL" in February 2026 refers to the provision of flexible, ad-hoc recruitment support for the Government Recruitment Service (GRS).
This contract enables GRS to scale its capacity to meet fluctuations in customer demand. In February 2026, the expenditure covered 41 unique recruitment actions across 13 government departments. These actions included application sifting, interview scoring, the provision of virtual panel members, and candidate support sessions for reasonable adjustments. This model ensures the timely delivery of essential recruitment services while maintaining financial efficiency.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 2 June 2025, to Question 52906, on Department of Health and Social Care: Permanent Secretaries, what was the benchmark used to set the salary of the new DHSC Permanent Secretary.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The salary of the DHSC Permanent Secretary was approved in line with the senior pay control process.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of people who were employed in the automotive manufacturing sector in each month since September 2025 up to and including the most recent month for which figures are available.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt. Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 14th April is attached.