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: 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: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason did National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 23 March 2026.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The National Security Adviser meets with a range of individuals and organisations as part of his role providing advice to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on national security matters. Such meetings are often sensitive in nature, and the Government does not routinely comment on them or their content.
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, 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, for what reason Simon Case and Alex Chisholm were given differing exit payments.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer to my answer to 108238, as set out in the Cabinet Office accounts (page 86), the payment for the former Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, was a severance payment, with the value calculated using the Civil Service Compensation Scheme tariff.
In answer to the second part of your question, I refer to my answer to 112182. The Business Appointment Rules for Crown Servants set out that Permanent Secretaries are required to observe a three month waiting period, and the Rules set out that it may be appropriate to pay former civil servants who are required to observe a waiting period before taking up an external role.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he will respond to Question 109579 tabled on 29 January 2026.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
A response has been issued here.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he will respond to Question 109580 tabled on 29 January 2026.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
A response has been issued here.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what consideration is given to disqualifying companies fined for non compliance for paying the national minimum wage when awarding Government contracts.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Non compliance with paying the national minimum wage is unacceptable and has no place in government contracts or in wider society.
The Procurement Act 2023 provides contracting authorities with strong powers to exclude suppliers from public procurements where an exclusion ground applies, including where they have breached existing labour laws.
Where the circumstances that cause an exclusion ground to apply are continuing or likely to reoccur, contracting authorities must exclude suppliers subject to mandatory exclusion grounds.
Such grounds could include where a supplier is convicted of the offences of refusing or wilfully neglecting to pay the national minimum wage, or of failing to comply with a labour market enforcement order (which can relate to offences under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998). Where a discretionary exclusion ground applies, such as if a labour market enforcement order is made against the supplier, contracting authorities can choose whether to exclude them.
The Debarment Review Service can also carry out investigations in accordance with the Act to establish whether a supplier can be added to the debarment list.
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.