Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what role the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has in monitoring Bloom Procurement Services Ltd’s compliance with the NEPRO3 framework; and whether CCS is required to audit the fees and margins applied by Procurement Services Ltd on behalf of client departments.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The NEPRO3 framework is not managed or administered by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS).
CCS does not monitor the compliance of Bloom Procurement Services Ltd with the NEPRO3 framework, and it does not have a role in auditing any fees or margins that may be applied by Bloom Procurement Services Ltd to departments.
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 21 October 2025, to Question 82673 on Government Departments: Social Media, how much has been spent on social influencers through (a) OmniGov and (b) Pablo Unlimited since July 2024.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Spend on influencer costs (exclusive of agency fees) since July 2024 to the date of this PQ is £365,331. This figure is reflective of currency conversion rates at the time of the request.
Please note, some data has been withheld due to commercial and wider sensitivities.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of abolishing the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are no plans to abolish the House of Lords Appointments Commission.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to support British manufacturing SMEs to bid for contracts.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government is determined to ensure the £400 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually delivers economic growth and supports British businesses, especially SMEs.
The Government’s reforms to the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) requires contracting authorities to consider ways to increase procurement spend with SMEs and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs), like in the manufacturing sector.
We have also introduced changes allowing local councils to reserve over one billion pounds worth of lower value contracts to suppliers based locally or within the UK which has recently become law, a step strongly supported by SMEs.
We will set out further reforms, including the response to the recent public procurement consultation, in due course. These reforms will further support British SMEs, like in manufacturing, to bid for contracts.
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 9 April 2025 to Question 42994 on Government Departments: Aviation, whether helicopter travel under the Central Cabinet Office Corporate Travel Agency Contract has been commissioned since April 2025.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Ministerial travel is carefully considered to ensure both efficiency and the interests of the taxpayer are prioritised.
While the Cabinet Office can facilitate helicopter travel in exceptional circumstances, routine helicopter journeys for ministers are no longer carried out under this Government.
Helicopter travel has been commissioned under the Cabinet Office Central Travel Contract on five occasions since April 2025. Only one of these flights was for a government minister.
24 Prime Ministerial helicopter tasks were facilitated under the Command Support Air Transport Fleet between 01 February 2021 and 04 September 2023.
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 Government's correspondence entitled Letter from the Prime Minister on government transparency and open data, published on 14 December 2017, whether the approach set out in the letter is Government policy.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government's approach to transparency and open data is set out on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-to-publish-central-government-transparency-data.
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 Department’s fixed asset register.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Summary information relating to the Cabinet Office fixed asset register is available in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25.
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