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 28 April 2025 to Question 44475 on Cabinet Office: Civil Servants, whether such groups are represented by any civil service diversity network.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
There is no specific Civil Service network for asexual or aromantic people. The Civil Service has an LGBT+ network. The network is inclusive of people who identify as other sexual orientations or gender identities.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the performance of Capita as administrator of the Civil Service Pension Scheme; what the current size of the casework and payments backlog is; what steps are being taken to address reported delays, errors and problems with the online pension portal; and how Capita is being held to account to ensure pension payments are made accurately and on time.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in receiving their pension quotes are unacceptable. I want to reassure you that this Government has taken firm action to help put things right as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery. For priority cases, we have deployed additional resources and improved communication with affected colleagues, so that staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.
Existing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver improved performance and higher penalties for failure, including financial penalties. These have already applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Capita has made lump sum payments to 8,979 members, the majority of whom have retired but are not yet receiving their pension, and are on track to bring these members into regular pension payments by the end of April.
To provide immediate financial support to those who may need it, arrangements are in place for interest-free bridging loans typically up to £5,000 or £10,000 in exceptional cases to most recent retirees facing payment delays. This is alongside interim lump sum payments being made to provide immediate funds to retiring members. The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time.
The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update is available at this weblink: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates
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 March 2026 to Question 117004, whether those provisions applied to the recent Cabinet Secretary recruitment process.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer to my answer 115556, the Cabinet Manual sets out that the Cabinet Secretary is appointed directly by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister receives advice from the First Civil Service Commissioner, but is the final decision maker.
The announcement (here) explained that “this appointment was made following a full fair and open external competition, chaired by the First Civil Service Commissioner.”
The announcement of the current Cabinet Secretary (here) explained that “the Prime Minister and the First Civil Service Commissioner agreed a process to appoint a new Cabinet Secretary. Once this process was complete, the First Civil Service Commissioner confirmed that Dame Antonia Romeo is an exceptional candidate of the highest calibre, having run two of the largest operational departments in Government, and confirmed her track record makes her the right candidate for the role.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the (a) No10 security team and (b) Government Security Group contacted the Metropolitan Police over the theft of the phone of the Prime Minister's chief of staff on 20 October 2025.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
There are long established and robust processes to manage information security following the theft of No10 work devices and those processes were followed.
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 26 March 2026 to Question HL15096 on Labour Together, whether the Cabinet Office has a policy of non-engagement with Labour Together.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided for HL15096 which details the Government's policy on engagement with external stakeholders.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2025, to Question 22450, on Cabinet Office: Senior Civil Servants, what is the maximum amount of time that a Senior Civil Servant can remain in post on a temporary promotion.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Normally covering a role at a higher grade should not exceed 6 months and be reviewed every 3 months, exceptions would be in line with “lifecycle events” for example maternity leave cover.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, by when will his department answer question 113290, published on 12 February 2026.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
A response has been issued here.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that organisations critical to national security and critical national infrastructure have secure and resilient digital processes and platforms.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The government is working tirelessly to improve the cyber resilience of our most critical services and systems, including the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).
The Resilience Action Plan, published in July 2025, sets out a strategic ‘all hazards approach’ to building national resilience for the whole of society. The Action Plan includes specific pledges to improve cyber resilience levels of our CNI.
The Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill, currently going through Parliament, will also strengthen the UK’s cyber defences and ensure that the essential and digital services that the public relies upon are more secure.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department took to track Morgan McSweeney’s lost Government phone, including the use of cell site analysis data.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
There are long established and robust processes to manage information security following the theft of No10 work devices and those processes were followed.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish his Department's guidance on Mutually Agreed Exits.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Guidance on the use of Mutually Agreed Exits is available on the Civil Service Pensions website. This is applicable to all employers who use the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.
This document, and others, are included in the CSCS Employers page on the Civil Service Pensions Scheme website here https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/employerhub/employer-responsibilities/member-support/civil-service-compensation-scheme-cscs/
The Annex 6F document is published on the CSPS website here https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/annex-6f