Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the top 10 UK service export destinations were in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Answered by Josh Simons - 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 10th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what were the running costs of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration in the first full year of operation following its establishment; what were the annual running costs for the latest year for which figures are available; and what has been the total cost since its inception.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government does not hold information on the running costs of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration which was established in 1967 and was superseded by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) in 1973. Information on the running costs of the PHSO are set out in its published annual reports and accounts. The running costs for the years for which the PHSO holds information are as follows:

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what new measures they are considering (1) to reduce the time for hiring and vetting, and (2) to attract and develop more applicants with STEM skills, in order to improve socio-economic diversity in recruitment to the Civil Service fast stream summer internship programme.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Initiatives are under way to improve time to hire across the Civil Service, which include establishing and benchmarking standardised recruitment metrics and using ‘test and learns’ to find new ways to attract and recruit talent.

UK Security Vetting (UKSV) has made significant progress in improving overall times to process applications for National Security Vetting. Performance continues to track at an all time high and UKSV remains committed to continuous improvement.

Our Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme will be for undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds for 2026. The annual recruitment exercise aligns to the academic year, with vetting and recruitment conducted in time for the students summer start dates.

The Fast Stream, for which the Summer Internship is a feeder route, continues to focus on its 2022 ambition that 50% of hires to the Fast Stream will have a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) qualification. This was exceeded in 2023 and 2024.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2025 to Question 41254 on Ministers: Aviation, whether (a) his Department and (b) the Crown Commercial Service hold information on the (i) locations and (ii) activities undertaken by EDF under that contract.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office has used the HMG Crown Commercial Services (CCS) RM6251 Energy Supply Framework (Additional Services) with EDF for offsetting GBNI related emissions.

CCS has no involvement in the contract beyond providing the framework. The Cabinet Office does not hold details of EDF’s activities or locations under the Energy Supply Framework.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of public sector procurement with local suppliers in each English region in each year between 2010 and 2025.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Information on the effectiveness of public sector procurement with local suppliers in each English region is not held centrally.

This Government is determined to ensure public procurement delivers jobs, growth and investment across all regions of the UK. Our National Procurement Policy Statement encourages contracting authorities to consider how procurement can foster economic growth, support small businesses, strengthen UK supply chains and drive delivery of the Government’s Industrial Strategy and missions.

We are considering additional measures to further assist local suppliers and support British skills and jobs.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework: Joint Statement, 2 October 20255, if he will publish further detail on the significant work that remains to be undertaken to deliver in full the safeguards underpinning the flexibilities for the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government regularly engages with the EU on the Windsor Framework, which it is implementing on an ongoing basis in line with its manifesto commitment to doing so and its commitment to the UK internal market. UK/EU Specialised Committee meetings are conducted in line with the confidentiality obligations set out in Annex VIII of the Withdrawal Agreement, with agendas being released in advance and a statement following the meeting at GOV.UK. Information is provided in the most recent statement of 2 October on the operational activity being undertaken in the areas of SPS and customs to support the smooth operation of the Windsor Framework, and the Government will continue to engage all relevant stakeholders as it moves forward.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework: Joint Statement, 2 October 2025, what the pending issues are that the Committee agreed to make progress on at high pace.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government regularly engages with the EU on the Windsor Framework, which it is implementing on an ongoing basis in line with its manifesto commitment to doing so and its commitment to the UK internal market. UK/EU Specialised Committee meetings are conducted in line with the confidentiality obligations set out in Annex VIII of the Withdrawal Agreement, with agendas being released in advance and a statement following the meeting at GOV.UK. Information is provided in the most recent statement of 2 October on the operational activity being undertaken in the areas of SPS and customs to support the smooth operation of the Windsor Framework, and the Government will continue to engage all relevant stakeholders as it moves forward.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to correspondence dated (a) 5 March 2025, (b) 13 May 2025 and (c) 11 June 2025 from the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge, case reference BS35623.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Government is committed to transparency and accountability, including through clear and timely responses to correspondence. I can confirm that your letter to the then-Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster dated 5 March, and subsequent emails of 13 May and 11 June, have been passed to me as the Minister responsible for this policy, and I have replied to your letter. Please accept my apologies for the delay.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any civil servants in his Department have been granted authorisation to attend the (a) Labour, (b) Conservative, (c) Liberal Democrat, (d) Scottish National Party and (e) Reform party conference in a private capacity in 2025.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

This information is not held centrally within the Cabinet Office.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the value was of the contract awarded by his Department to Korn Ferry for the recruitment of the National Armaments Director.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The competition was supported by Kornferry: details of the contract award and value are available here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/be88f513-c01a-4620-89f9-1cb2cc686895 and here Executive & Non-Executive Recruitment Services - CCS

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to Questions 75061 and 75064 on National Armaments Director: Recruitment.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

A response for both questions has been issued here and here.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the child poverty strategy.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

This Government is determined to bring down child poverty. The Child Poverty Taskforce was established by the Prime Minister to develop an ambitious child poverty strategy to achieve this. The strategy will be published in the autumn.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data his Department holds on the number of UK-based distilleries that have (a) opened and (b) closed in each of the last five years.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 10th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many pubs have closed since 5 July 2024 in Louth and Horncastle constituency.

Answered by Josh Simons - 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 10th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many pubs have closed since 5 July 2024 in Lincolnshire.

Answered by Josh Simons - 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 10th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many ombudsman bodies exist in the United Kingdom; and who is responsible for their funding.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Cabinet Office is responsible for a subset of public bodies administratively classified as Arm's-Length Bodies, which include Executive Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, and Non-Ministerial Departments.

There is no statutory definition of "ombudsman" in government, and bodies with varying functions can be labelled as ombudsman

Data on which ALBs are ombudsman bodies, or how they are funded, is not held centrally.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding he has allocated to the Women Peace and Security Agenda through the Integrated Security Fund for (a) 2025-26, (b) 2027-28 and (c) 2028-29.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) supports UK National Security and as part of that delivers on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) in support of UK’s WPS National Action Plan. All projects funded through the ISF consider how their work can benefit gender and social inclusion. ISF projects use marker tools such as the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) indicators to ensure that gender issues are considered from the design stage.

In 2025-26 the Fund has a dedicated allocation for gender and national security work. Funding allocations for 2025/26 are due to be published in the autumn alongside the ISF Annual Report 2024/25 and allocations for future financial years will be announced in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Women, Peace and Security Agenda remains a fund-level outcome for the UK Integrated Security Fund.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Supporting women and girls is a priority for this Government. The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) supports UK National Security and as a part of that delivers on Women, Peace and Security through the UK National Action Plan. The ISF addresses gender and national security threats, both domestically and internationally across the breadth of its work. All ISF programmes consider the impact of gender on their work alongside dedicated projects.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the key drivers behind the emigration of highly skilled UK (a) graduates and (b) other workers.

Answered by Josh Simons - 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 10th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many children were victims of (a) all forms of violent assault, (b) battery, (c) actual bodily harm and (d) grievous bodily harm by (i) age and (ii) gender in each year since 2015.

Answered by Josh Simons - 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 10th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many new businesses have registered in (a) England, (b) Lancashire and (c) Fylde constituency in each of the last five years.

Answered by Josh Simons - 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 10th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the Gross Domestic Product of Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency in (a) July 2024 and (b) October 2025.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 10th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office for National Statistics classifies rolling stock leasing liabilities as part of the public sector balance sheet.

Answered by Josh Simons - 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 10th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to improve (a) oversight and (b) enforcement of performance standards in the Civil Service Pension Scheme administration.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The government has taken significant steps to improve both the oversight and enforcement of performance standards in the Civil Service Pension Scheme administration, primarily through the new contract with Capita and enhanced internal controls. Capita has been contracted to assume full administrative responsibilities from 1 December 2025.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to improve oversight of the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The government has taken significant steps to improve both the oversight and enforcement of performance standards in the Civil Service Pension Scheme administration, primarily through the new contract with Capita and enhanced internal controls. Capita has been contracted to assume full administrative responsibilities from 1 December 2025.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) unallocated cases and queries, (b) cases and queries allocated but not yet in progress and (c) cases and queries in progress but not yet completed being dealt with by the Civil Service Pension Scheme administrator, MyCSP Ltd. were still in progress as of 1October 2025.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

MyCSP; the Civil Service pension scheme administrator, does not record the data in the format requested. It reports to the Cabinet Office on a monthly basis. 85,503 new work items were received for the month of September. A work item reflects an individual piece of work or task. There are 67,540 outstanding items - 13,783 cases awaiting a response and 53,757 items assigned for work to be completed.

The outstanding volumes are in line with what we would expect to see based on the differing clearance targets for certain tasks, such as retirements which can take up to 4 months to process. This is what the Cabinet Office expects to see and monitors on a monthly basis.

The Cabinet Office continues to emphasise to MyCSP the importance of meeting contractual performance levels and improving member experience.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of paying council tax on the former Deputy Prime Minister's flat in Admiralty House in each of the next three months.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The council tax charges levied by Westminster City Council are available online on their website at https://www.westminster.gov.uk/council-tax/council-tax-bands-and-charges.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2025 to Question 79077 on Ethics and Integrity Commission, if he will set out the nature of the advice the Cabinet Office will provide to the Prime Minister before the establishment of a public inquiry; and whether that advice will be made public.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Advice will be tailored to the specifics of each case. Broadly, the Cabinet Office will provide advice on whether a proposed inquiry model and its terms of reference appear appropriate to investigate the particular matter in question. This will help ensure that the right response is taken and that we do not adopt approaches that would delay accountability to victims, survivors and their families.

In line with the longstanding approach across multiple administrations, confidential advice to Ministers will not be made public.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of bringing forward the timetable for full compensation payments to (a) infected blood victims and (b) their estates.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). As of 7 October, IBCA has contacted 3,614 people to start their compensation claim, and 3,350 have started the claim process. 2,204 offers of compensation have been made, totalling over £1.6 billion, and so far 1,761 people have accepted their offers with more than £1 billion paid in compensation.

The IBCA Framework Document, published in March, sets out the timelines agreed between IBCA and Cabinet Office; namely for the bulk of infected people to be paid no later than the end of 2027 and the bulk of affected people to be paid no later than the end of 2029.

These timescales have been agreed with IBCA, to ensure that the door is kept open for those who have not yet identified themselves as being infected or affected. In my oral statement to the House on 21 July, I set out that these dates are not targets for delivery, but ‘backstops’.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of waiting until 2029 to make full infected blood compensation payments on (a) victims and (b) their families.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). As of 7 October, IBCA has contacted 3,614 people to start their compensation claim, and 3,350 have started the claim process. 2,204 offers of compensation have been made, totalling over £1.6 billion, and so far 1,761 people have accepted their offers with more than £1 billion paid in compensation.

The IBCA Framework Document, published in March, sets out the timelines agreed between IBCA and Cabinet Office; namely for the bulk of infected people to be paid no later than the end of 2027 and the bulk of affected people to be paid no later than the end of 2029.

These timescales have been agreed with IBCA, to ensure that the door is kept open for those who have not yet identified themselves as being infected or affected. In my oral statement to the House on 21 July, I set out that these dates are not targets for delivery, but ‘backstops’.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to ensure that all (a) interim and (b) full infected blood compensation scheme payments are made sooner than 2029.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). As of 7 October, IBCA has contacted 3,614 people to start their compensation claim, and 3,350 have started the claim process. 2,204 offers of compensation have been made, totalling over £1.6 billion, and so far 1,761 people have accepted their offers with more than £1 billion paid in compensation.

The IBCA Framework Document, published in March, sets out the timelines agreed between IBCA and Cabinet Office; namely for the bulk of infected people to be paid no later than the end of 2027 and the bulk of affected people to be paid no later than the end of 2029.

These timescales have been agreed with IBCA, to ensure that the door is kept open for those who have not yet identified themselves as being infected or affected. In my oral statement to the House on 21 July, I set out that these dates are not targets for delivery, but ‘backstops’.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has set a target date for making full compensation payments to all living victims of the infected blood scandal.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). As of 7 October, IBCA has contacted 3,614 people to start their compensation claim, and 3,350 have started the claim process. 2,204 offers of compensation have been made, totalling over £1.6 billion, and so far 1,761 people have accepted their offers with more than £1 billion paid in compensation.

The IBCA Framework Document, published in March, sets out the timelines agreed between IBCA and Cabinet Office; namely for the bulk of infected people to be paid no later than the end of 2027 and the bulk of affected people to be paid no later than the end of 2029.

These timescales have been agreed with IBCA, to ensure that the door is kept open for those who have not yet identified themselves as being infected or affected. In my oral statement to the House on 21 July, I set out that these dates are not targets for delivery, but ‘backstops’.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to support the estates of deceased infected blood victims to access interim payments of compensation.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Following the publication of the Inquiry’s Additional Report, the UK Government has announced further interim payments of £210,000 for eligible estates of someone registered with an IBSS or predecessor scheme (on or before 17 April 2024) who sadly passed away.

This is in addition to the £100,000 interim payments to the estates of deceased infected beneficiaries which opened in October 2024. Since then, 600 interim payments of £100,000 have already been paid to estates.

On 26 September, the Government announced that applications for these interim payments will open on 23 October.

These payments will be made by the administrators of the existing Infected Blood Support Schemes, on behalf of the UK Government. The UK Government is working closely with the devolved administrations and the Infected Blood Support Schemes to make the necessary arrangements to make these payments as swiftly as possible.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on making the appointment of Ambassadors subject to the regulated public appointments process.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Heads of Mission are civil servants and as such are subject to different recruitment and appointment rules and processes to public appointees. The Cabinet Office has no plans to make such roles subject to the regulated public appointment process.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 August 2025 to Question HL9337 on Ministers: Official Residences, if he will publish the internal document which states that the sponsoring department will pay the council tax bill for the Minister.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Ministers are advised on allocation of an official residence that the responsibility for payment of council tax depends on whether the property is their primary or secondary residence. This is a long-standing policy position in place for successive administrations, reflected in a parliamentary question to the then Prime Minister the Rt Hon Sir Tony Blair as follows:

“The level and responsibility for payment of council tax is determined on whether the property is the Minister's main or secondary residence. If a main residence, the responsibility for payment of the tax falls to the Minister. If the property is a secondary residence, responsibility for payment falls to the responsible Department.”

This question is available at the following link: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo000605/text/00605w14.htm#00605w14.html_spmin0.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 70468 on Government Communication Service: Staff, what is the most recent estimate of the headcount size of the Government Communication Service, using the same methodology used by the Cabinet Office in the response to FOI IR2025/05101.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The figures cited in the parliamentary question and the FOI Internal Review of Government Communications remain the most up to date information available as the 2025 Data Collection is still undergoing validation.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish an updated list of Ministerial responsibilities.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I refer the Hon Member to the response given to Question HL10390 of 26 September.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 17 September 2025 to Question HL10221 on Baroness Shafik, what Baroness Shafik's remuneration is.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

It would not be appropriate to comment on individuals. The level of remuneration and the management of relevant outside interests for this role have been agreed in line with relevant guidance and processes.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the interests of the new Executive Director of Communications in 10 Downing Street.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

There is a rigorous process to ensure any potential conflicts of interest are captured, and have appropriate mitigations in place to reflect specific circumstances. Ahead of his appointment, the new Executive Director of Communications in 10 Downing Street fully complied with this process.

This is set out in the Special Adviser Code of Conduct and lists of Special Adviser interests are published annually.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his timetable is for the payment of compensation to people approved for a second interim payment for estates under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Following the publication of the Inquiry’s Additional Report, the UK Government has announced further interim payments of £210,000 for eligible estates of someone registered with an IBSS or predecessor scheme (on or before 17 April 2024) who sadly passed away.

This is in addition to the £100,000 interim payments to the estates of deceased infected beneficiaries which opened in October 2024. Since then, 600 interim payments of £100,000 have already been paid to estates.

On 26 September, the Government announced that applications for these interim payments will open on 23 October.

The Government expects the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to begin making payments to the estates of deceased infected people this year.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department had discussions with Lord Mandelson on defence procurement contracts between 10 February and 11 September 2025.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As Ambassador to the United States, Lord Mandelson met regularly with senior officials to discuss a range of issues across the UK-US relationship, including opportunities for closer collaboration on technology partnership, AUKUS and other ways to deepen the UK-US bilateral relationship.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 3.9 of the report by the National Audit Office entitled Investigation into the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, published on 16 June 2025, HC 951, what further steps he plans to take to ensure that his Department has sufficient commercial levers to influence Capita's administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The government has taken significant steps to ensure the Cabinet Office has sufficient commercial levers to influence Capita's administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme. The new contract provides a more robust and strengthened position that includes a number of levers to address any aspects of under performance by the supplier.

Steps have been built into the new contract primarily through enhanced enforcement mechanisms, new key performance indicators, and financial penalties.

Alongside this we have increased development within the contract management functions to ensure that the overall delivery continues to meet the requirements for the scheme.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the report by the National Audit Office entitled Investigation into the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, published on 16 June 2025, HC 951, what steps he has taken to ensure that changes to (a) staffing levels and (b) other matters within the contract with Capita for the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme are effectively monitored.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The government has taken specific steps to ensure that changes to (a) staffing levels and (b) other matters within the Capita contract are effectively monitored. Key measures include setting contractual expectations for sufficient resourcing and establishing robust governance structures and reporting requirements to oversee delivery and continuous improvement.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his planned timetable is for further interim payments to the estates of infected people who died after joining infected blood support schemes.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Following the publication of the Inquiry’s Additional Report, the UK Government has announced further interim payments of £210,000 for eligible estates of someone registered with an IBSS or predecessor scheme (on or before 17 April 2024) who sadly passed away.

This is in addition to the £100,000 interim payments to the estates of deceased infected beneficiaries which opened in October 2024. Since then, 600 interim payments of £100,000 have already been paid to estates.

On 26 September, the Government announced that applications for these interim payments will open on 23 October.

The Government expects the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to begin making payments to the estates of deceased infected people this year.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward the 2029 deadline for payments under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA). As of 7 October, IBCA has contacted 3,614 people to start their compensation claim, and 3,350 have started the claim process. 2,204 offers of compensation have been made, totalling over £1.6 billion, and so far 1,761 people have accepted their offers with more than £1 billion paid in compensation.

The IBCA Framework Document, published in March, sets out the timelines agreed between IBCA and Cabinet Office; namely for the bulk of infected people to be paid no later than the end of 2027 and the bulk of affected people to be paid no later than the end of 2029.

These timescales have been agreed with IBCA, to ensure that the door is kept open for those who have not yet identified themselves as being infected or affected. In my oral statement to the House on 21 July, I set out that these dates are not targets for delivery, but ‘backstops’.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Manchester Digital Campus project on national security.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Government Property Agency is working with the Cabinet Office to progress a business case for the Manchester Digital Campus (“MDC”). Subject to final approval MDC will form a central component of this Government’s Digital, AI and Innovation Campus in Manchester and would build capacity benefitting multiple Government Missions.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 3.14 of the report by the National Audit Office entitled Investigation into the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, published on 16 June 2025, HC 951, when he expects the track my case function to be available for members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office expects the ‘Track My Case’ function to be available for members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme after the full service transition to Capita in March 2026.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2025 to Question 71198 on Unherd: Advertising, whether the Government Communication Service SAFE framework currently permits government advertising on the websites of (a) The Sun, (b) The Daily Star, (c) Spiked and (d) Ladbible.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

SAFE framework assessments have been conducted on The Sun, The Daily Star, and Ladbible, and they have been assessed as appropriate for government advertising. No SAFE framework assessment has been conducted on Spiked.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the profit margin obtained by MyCSP in each year of their administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme contract.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

MyCSP is required to provide updates on profit as part of the gainshare provisions within the contract. MyCSP continues to provide this to the Cabinet Office on a six monthly basis. This information is financially sensitive and is not currently reported in the public domain.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 13 October 2025 entitled Government of Service, HCWS939, what criteria will be used in the recruitment process for the three new independent members of the Ethics and Integrity Commission.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I refer the Honourable Member to the recruitment advert for the Ethics and Integrity Commission Independent Member roles which was published on Monday 13 October 2025. The full details, including the essential criteria, can be found on the public appointments website at: https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/9003

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's press notice entitled Civil Service staff networks to only meet outside working hours and have all events signed off by senior managers, published on 23 September 2025, if he will set out the criteria used to determine whether a staff network event directly benefits an organisation.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

In circumstances where organisers believe that the event could be attended during working time, it will be for the Senior Civil Servant signing-off the event to determine whether it is directly related to a business outcome or individual learning and development. Where this is the case individuals would also need to obtain line manager approval before attending.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to expand the range of defibrillator manufacturers and suppliers available through Government procurement frameworks.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office does not currently offer a commercial agreement for defibrillators. CCS (an agency of the Cabinet Office) agreements do not cover medical devices; departments procure these through their own routes. NHS Supply Chain operates a commercial agreement for defibrillation devices and related services and accessories for use by approved organisations.

The Procurement Act 2023, introduced in February 2025, opens up frameworks to give greater flexibility to both buyers and suppliers, and provide more opportunity for innovation.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's press notice entitled Civil Service staff networks to only meet outside working hours and have all events signed off by senior managers, published on 23 September 2025, how many civil service staff network events were considered inappropriate in the 12 months prior to the issuance of the guidance on civil service staff networks.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office does not hold data relating to the number of events deemed inappropriate.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Permanent Secretaries have left their posts since July 2024; and what was the cost to the public purse of exit packages.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Since July 2024, thirteen Permanent Secretaries have left their posts. Any exit package costs are published in Departmental Annual Reports and Accounts for the financial years in which they were made.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Influencer Marketing Privacy Notice, updated on 10 September 2025, which agencies have been used by (a) his Department and (b) the Government Communications Service to select appropriate influencers to support government communication campaigns since July 2024.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Influencers have proven to be effective in reaching audiences that traditional marketing channels find hard to reach.

Influencers work is supported primarily via the agencies OmniGov and Pablo Unlimited via the Campaign Solutions 2 framework, detailed at the following link:

https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/RM6125

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 for responding to cyber attacks.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 and the associated Regulations deliver a single framework for civil protection in the UK. The Cabinet Office has a legal obligation to review the CCA every five years. The most recent review was published in March 2022 and concluded that the Act continues to achieve its stated objectives. The next review will be by 2027.

The legislation is deliberately broad ranging and sets out the requirements to consider all emergencies that threaten serious damage to human welfare in the UK; the environment of a place in the UK; or war, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK.

We have been clear that cyber security is an absolute necessity to protect the British people, our public services and businesses. The UK has arrangements in place for a range of potential emergencies, including cyber attacks.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made a recent assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the threat level of the (a) Chinese Government and (b) Chinese Communist Party.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

This Government recognises that China poses a series of threats to UK national security - from cyber-attacks, foreign interference and espionage targeting our democratic institutions, to transnational repression of Hong Kongers. We are also alive to the fact that China presents the UK with opportunities as the world’s second largest economy and - together with Hong Kong - the UK’s third largest trading partner. We will continue to develop a consistent and pragmatic approach to economic engagement without compromising on our national security.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate she has made of the total value of funds likely to be recovered through the Voluntary repayment of Covid-19 funding scheme by 31 December 2025.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This government is leaving no stone unturned to investigate and recover public funds lost to fraud and error during the pandemic - getting back what is owed to the British people.

At the recommendation of the Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner, the government launched the Voluntary Repayment Scheme on September 12th. The scheme is one element in a wider package of measures recommended by the Commissioner and will provide crucial learnings for his final report.

The Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) has not made an estimate of the value of funds likely to be recovered. The scheme is subject to uncertainty due to its novel nature, the time elapsed since the pandemic, and the time it takes for departments to report recovery success back to the PSFA. However, the PSFA will undertake a comprehensive assessment of the scheme’s impact once it’s concluded.

The scheme will continue to provide individuals who received money from COVID-19 support schemes which they did not need or were not eligible for, an opportunity to repay until December 2025, before the introduction of new investigatory powers in the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish an account of the total cost of the government reshuffle, listing totals for (a) redundancy payments, (b) severance payments, (c) relocation costs, and (d) administrative costs associated with ministerial changes.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Severance reform

This Government has reformed ministerial severance payments to ensure that payments are both proportionate and fair. Ministers are now expected to forgo their entitlement to a ministerial severance payment if they have served in office for less than six months or leave office following a serious breach of the Ministerial Code. Ministers who return to office within three months of leaving will be asked to forgo their salary until the end of that three-month period and ministers who have seriously breached the Business Appointment Rules will be expected to repay any severance payment received.

Severance payments

Details of severance payments received by ministers and special advisers are routinely published in the relevant department’s Annual Report and Accounts. Any severance costs associated with the September reshuffle will be included as part of the 2025-26 Annual Report and Accounts which will be published in late summer 2026.

Relocation costs

Relocation costs are not recorded by the Cabinet Office

Administrative costs

Any administrative costs associated with the reshuffle will be part of the costs of running the department and will not be published separately in the Annual Report and Accounts.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many new businesses have been registered in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.

Answered by Josh Simons - 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 14th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will set how the Public Sector Fraud Authority is working with local authorities to prevent fraud at the local level.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) works closely with local authorities to prevent fraud through the National Fraud Initiative (NFI), which is one of the PSFA’s key data and analytics services.

The NFI specialises in data matching, which involves comparing sets of data electronically, such as the council tax records of an authority, against other records held by the same or another authority, to see to what extent they match.

The NFI is vital in tackling fraud in local authority spending. This includes the removal of fraudsters from social housing properties, ensuring they go to those families in genuine need, and cracking down on blue badge fraud - of which 22,000 fraudulent permits were cancelled in the last year alone. It also has a strong record of delivering outcomes for local authorities. To date, the NFI has detected, prevented and recovered over £3bn in fraud and error.

The NFI is collaborating closely with local authorities to tackle fraud in other areas of local spending. For example, the introduction of the Legislative Reform (Disclosure of Adult Social Care Data) Order 2025, will once again ensure that fraud in adult social care spending can be identified and investigated by local authorities.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Record fraud crackdown saves half a billion for public services, published on 24 September 2025, if he will set out how the AI fraud prevention tool will be deployed across departments; and whether training will be provided to civil servants to use it.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Fraud Risk Assessment Accelerator is another example of how this government is staying one step ahead of fraudsters, making sure public funds are protected and used to deliver public services for those who need them most.

The Fraud Risk Assessment Accelerator is already being deployed and will be available to all departments by November, offering public bodies access to the latest AI advancements without the additional costs of building and hosting their own solutions.​

We've designed the tool with usability in mind. Users can upload schemes via a GOV.UK​-style frontend, and the AI will assess how fraudsters are likely to target them. The Public Sector Fraud Authority will also continue to provide user training to support wider adoption and usage across government.​

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the level of (a) exports and (b) imports trade (i) to the nearest billion pounds and (ii) by share with the (A) EU, (B) US and (C) rest of the world in the last period for which data is available.

Answered by Josh Simons - 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 10th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2025 to Question 73832 on Special Advisers: Political Parties, whether special advisers have been asked to undertake opposition research.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As has been the case under successive governments, special advisers are required to adhere to the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers at all times.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total expenditure was on Government Car Service cars for Ministers in the week of (a) 1 September 2025 and (b) 8 September 2025.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Expenditure details for the period requested are not yet available. Invoicing for Ministerial car usage covering the specified dates has not yet been raised or processed.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of UK readiness against cyber-attacks.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre said this week that the gap between the rising pace of the cyber threat and the UK’s collective resilience against it continues to grow. Cyber attacks are increasing in scale and impact. The number of nationally significant cyber incidents has more than doubled in the last year, including the recent attacks against Jaguar Land Rover, Marks & Spencer and other major British businesses.

The Government is committed to strengthening cyber security across the UK. I wrote to chief executives and chairs of the FTSE 350 this week asking them to make cyber security a top priority. The forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will strengthen the UK’s cyber defences and ensure that critical infrastructure and the digital services that companies rely on are secure. Our proposed legislative measures on ransomware - a targeted ban on ransom payments, a payment prevention regime and mandatory reporting - will build on the foundation that the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will set. Together they form part of a series of cyber legislation that will secure the UK against cyber threats.

Early next year the Government will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan that will set out how we will respond to the growing threat and work with industry to raise resilience levels across the economy.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to increase the UK’s readiness against cyber-attacks.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre said this week that the gap between the rising pace of the cyber threat and the UK’s collective resilience against it continues to grow. Cyber attacks are increasing in scale and impact. The number of nationally significant cyber incidents has more than doubled in the last year, including the recent attacks against Jaguar Land Rover, Marks & Spencer and other major British businesses.

The Government is committed to strengthening cyber security across the UK. I wrote to chief executives and chairs of the FTSE 350 this week asking them to make cyber security a top priority. The forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will strengthen the UK’s cyber defences and ensure that critical infrastructure and the digital services that companies rely on are secure. Our proposed legislative measures on ransomware - a targeted ban on ransom payments, a payment prevention regime and mandatory reporting - will build on the foundation that the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will set. Together they form part of a series of cyber legislation that will secure the UK against cyber threats.

Early next year the Government will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan that will set out how we will respond to the growing threat and work with industry to raise resilience levels across the economy.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to recommendation 32 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, which senior Ministers sit on the National Security Council (Nuclear) committee.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Membership of the National Security Council (Nuclear) comprises the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Secretary of State for the Home Department, Secretary of State for Defence, and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The membership is published on Gov.uk.

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees, including how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what recent progress he has made on establishing national resilience goals.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Government published the Resilience Action Plan on 8 July 2025 to set out its resilience strategy. It set out three core objectives to improve the UK’s resilience to the full range of risks: (1) continually assess how resilient the UK is in order to target interventions and resources; (2) enable the whole of society to take action to increase their resilience; and (3) strengthen the core public sector resilience system. These goals inform a series of activities to deliver greater resilience across the whole of society, as set out in the Resilience Action Plan.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times the National Security Council (Nuclear) Committee has met since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Membership of the National Security Council (Nuclear) comprises the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Secretary of State for the Home Department, Secretary of State for Defence, and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The membership is published on Gov.uk.

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees, including how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what progress he has made on issuing public communications on preparedness for risks.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Government’s Resilience Action Plan has committed to do more to provide households with preparedness information. In September, the Prepare website was included in the message sent out to UK mobile phones as part of the Government’s test of the Emergency Alerts system. Mobile Network Operators have confirmed that the test of the Emergency Alert capability on 7th September reached 96% coverage in the UK. This represents an increase of 6% on the previous test, held in April 2023.

We continue to work with our local and national partners, including organisations from the voluntary, community and faith sectors, to highlight the importance of preparing for risks.

In wider communications activities, as part of Flood Action Week, running this year from 13th-19th October, the Environment Agency is encouraging people to prepare for flooding by taking proactive steps such as knowing their flood risk, preparing a flood plan, and signing up for flood warnings.

The Government is currently considering what further public communications activities might support improvements to public preparedness for emergencies. For example, the Cabinet Office published the first annual UK Public Survey of Risk Perception, Resilience and Preparedness in July 2025, and the results will be used to inform the development of future public preparedness communications and to monitor trends.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, when the next national exercise to test whole-of-society preparedness will take place.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Government’s Resilience Action Plan has committed to the delivery of the National Exercise Programme (NEP). This covers a range of whole-system risks, with the priority areas for testing informed by our assessment of cross-cutting and systemic vulnerabilities and capability gaps. The NEP sets out a timetable of annual Tier 1 exercises requiring a central response and cross-government coordination. Tier 1 exercises are scalable national exercises involving devolved governments and regional and local tier responders, as well as relevant industry engagement such as critical businesses and voluntary and community organisations. Government departments fully participate at senior official and ministerial levels.

The national exercise for 2025 is a pandemic preparedness exercise led by the Department of Health and Social Care. It is the first of its kind in nearly a decade and is set to be the biggest in UK history. It aims to test our ability to respond to a pandemic arising from a novel infectious disease, involving all regions and nations of the UK and thousands of participants. It is currently underway, with every UK government department participating. As part of the National Exercise Programme future government exercises are being coordinated to test all levels of government and those from across society to increase preparedness across the whole of society.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to review the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 in response to new threats from (a) state actors and (b) non-state actors.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 and the associated Regulations deliver a single framework for civil protection in the UK. The Cabinet Office has a legal obligation to review the CCA every five years. The most recent review was published in March 2022 and concluded that the Act continues to achieve its stated objectives. The next review will be delivered by 2027.

The legislation is deliberately broad ranging and sets out the requirements to consider all emergencies that threaten serious damage to human welfare in the UK; the environment of a place in the UK; or war, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what progress he has made on the 12-week consultation on updating definitions covering the 17 sensitive areas of the economy subject to mandatory notification under the National Security and Investment Act.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

On 22 July 2025, the former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Rt Hon Pat McFadden MP, published a 12-week consultation on updating the definitions of the 17 sensitive areas of the economy subject to mandatory notification requirements under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 through the Notifiable Acquisition Regulations.

The consultation closed on 14 October. The Government is currently considering the feedback received and will publish a consultation response summarising responses and setting out the proposals that will be taken forward, including possible secondary legislation, in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Civil Service 2024/2025 External Expenditure on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, published on 30 May 2025, whether his Department holds data on arm’s length bodies expenditure authorised by those bodies in 2024-25.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Expenditure which is exempted under the requirements of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Expenditure Guidance must be reported to the Cabinet Office by departments and ALBs who employ civil servants.

Reported expenditure is published annually.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 41438 on Government Departments: Conditions of Employment, whether his Department has issued guidance on the use of (a) zero hour contracts and (b) contingent labour.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office has not issued guidance on (a) zero hours contracts as the Department does not use this method of employment for Cabinet Office employees. In respect of (b) Contingent labour for Cabinet Office, guidance is published as part of the wider Cabinet Office Recruitment Controls.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants are employed on Level 7 apprenticeships.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

As of 31 December 2024, there were 1,635 Level 7 apprentices across the Civil Service. This government remains committed to apprenticeships as one pathway to break down barriers to opportunity.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2025 to Question 71231 on New Media Unit: Staff, what the (a) operating costs and (b) budget for (i) marketing and (ii) advertising are for the New Media Unit.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Operational costs are charged at a departmental level, rather than being broken down to the team level. The New Media Unit has a budget of £13.2 million allocated for marketing, media, and advertising expenditures.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans his Department has to mark the 200th anniversary of Catholic emancipation.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The 200th anniversary of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 will take place in 2029.

The Act removed many of the legal barriers to participation in public life for Roman Catholics and was an important milestone in the development of religious freedom in the UK.

While the Government currently has no specific plans to mark the anniversary, the Government engages with the Catholic Church along with a wide range of other Churches at national, regional and local level, and remains committed to valuing the contribution which Christians make to society.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) methodology and (b) guidance used under the Government Communication Service SAFE framework to assess website.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Beyond the information currently accessible via the provided link below, there are no plans to release further detail on the SAFE framework.

https://www.communications.gov.uk/publications/safe-framework-the-4-principles-for-hmg-brand-safety/

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2025 to Question 74186 on Cabinet Office: Council Tax, if he will publish that policy.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The long-standing policy referred to in Question 74186 was set out in a parliamentary question to the then Prime Minister the Rt Hon Sir Tony Blair as follows:

“The level and responsibility for payment of council tax is determined on whether the property is the Minister's main or secondary residence. If a main residence, the responsibility for payment of the tax falls to the Minister. If the property is a secondary residence, responsibility for payment falls to the responsible Department.”

This question is available at the following link: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo000605/text/00605w14.htm#00605w14.html_spmin0.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 75368 on Parliamentary and Political Service Committee: Public Appointments, what the remaining period of time is for each of the independent members’ current terms of office.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee (PPS Committee) is one of ten specialist honours committees, made up of individuals with considerable experience of the area the committee covers.

The current membership of the PPS Committee comprises an independent chair and four independent members each appointed through a public appointments process, and three official members who are the incumbent chief whips from the three largest political parties in the House of Commons.

The current independent committee memberships appointment terms are as follows:

• Chair: Dame Rosie Winterton DBE. Appointed August 2025 for a 5 year term.

• Member: Lord Johnny Oates. Appointed July 2024 for a 5 year term.

• Member:Lord Iain McNicol. Appointed July 2024 for a 5 year term.

• Member: Professor Stephanie Rickard. Appointed November 2024 for a 5 year term.

• Member: Craig Stephenson OBE. Appointed November 2024 for a 5 year term.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an equalities impact assessment of the provisions within the (a) Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 and (b) Jews Relief Act 1858 in the context of the appointment of bishops within the Church of England on the advice of (i) Catholic and (ii) Jewish Prime Ministers.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government recognises that there are historical restrictions in statute on Roman Catholic and Jewish people making and advising the Crown on Church appointments. The Government will keep this matter under review but, given other pressing issues, this is not a current priority.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2025 to Question 75722 on Government Departments: Advertising, how much was spent by each Department by (a) platform and (b) programme or activity.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

For section (a) please see the below table, noting that some figures may differ slightly from those previously stated in the referenced parliamentary question. This is due to different accounting practices related to departmental reporting categorisations versus billing categorisations.

The information is being provided in this format to protect potential sensitivities.

For section (b), the information requested is not held in a format suitable for publication.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the civil service has implemented a policy of paid leave for staff who have experienced domestic abuse.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Civil Service is committed to raising awareness of domestic abuse and providing guidance and support to managers and employees in tackling its occurrence and effects. It is for departments to decide their domestic abuse policy and the provision of paid special leave to victims of domestic abuse.

Model policy guidance issued to departments by the Cabinet Office sets out a framework of advice and support for managers and their team members experiencing domestic abuse.

The model guidance advises managers to consider using special leave to support domestic abuse victims. Other forms of special leave may also be relevant such as emergency leave for dependants and leave for court attendances.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the civil service has implemented a domestic abuse policy for employees.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The Civil Service is committed to raising awareness of domestic abuse and providing guidance and support to managers and employees in tackling its occurrence and effects. It is for departments to decide their domestic abuse policy and the provision of paid special leave to victims of domestic abuse.

Model policy guidance issued to departments by the Cabinet Office sets out a framework of advice and support for managers and their team members experiencing domestic abuse.

The model guidance advises managers to consider using special leave to support domestic abuse victims. Other forms of special leave may also be relevant such as emergency leave for dependants and leave for court attendances.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact of the Falcon programme using Integrated Corporate Services on costs to the public purse of that programme.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Falcon Programme is facilitating the Cabinet Office's transition from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. The initial strategy, commenced under the previous administration, involved the Cabinet Office developing a bespoke IT system for this migration. Under this Government, the Cabinet Office has since identified and commenced the implementation of a more cost-effective strategy to deliver the Falcon Programme, entailing a move to the existing government service of Integrated Corporate Services. This will save over £20 million of public money compared to the strategy set under the previous administration.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress he has made on implementing the Falcon programme.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Falcon Programme is facilitating the Cabinet Office's transition from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365.

Falcon has completed the design and build of the platform working with Microsoft and the Integrated Corporate Services, and is now progressing into the delivery phase. Full migration of the Cabinet Office and its Arms Length Bodies is anticipated in 2026.

This is part of the drive to improve the productivity, security and efficiency of systems in the Cabinet Office and across Whitehall.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Falcon programme will provide AI tools for use by his Department.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This Government is committed to harnessing Artificial Intelligence to increase productivity in Whitehall and across the public sector, so that it can better serve the public. As part of this, the Cabinet Office is actively working to include Artificial Intelligence provisions within the Falcon Programme.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has assessed the suitability of Fujitsu Ltd to continue holding public sector contracts following its role in the Horizon IT system failures.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The impact that the Horizon scandal has had on postmasters and their families is horrendous. This Government is determined to hold those responsible to account.

Fujitsu’s culpability needs to be assessed in light of the final report of Sir Wyn Williams’s Inquiry. Once it is published we will carefully consider whether to launch debarment investigations based on the findings in that report.

In January 2024, Fujitsu committed to withdraw from bidding for contracts with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concluded – it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has a contract with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s capabilities. Fujitsu’s correspondence on this matter is deposited in Parliament.

The Cabinet Office is monitoring Fujitsu’s compliance with these bidding constraints and carries out regular reviews of Fujitsu’s performance across their Government contracts. The Crown Representative meets regularly with the UK CEO to discuss this and other issues.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how Fujitsu Ltd’s central role in the Horizon IT failures is affecting its eligibility for future government contracts.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The impact that the Horizon scandal has had on postmasters and their families is horrendous. This Government is determined to hold those responsible to account.

Fujitsu’s culpability needs to be assessed in light of the final report of Sir Wyn Williams’s Inquiry. Once it is published we will carefully consider whether to launch debarment investigations based on the findings in that report.

In January 2024, Fujitsu committed to withdraw from bidding for contracts with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concluded – it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has a contract with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s capabilities. Fujitsu’s correspondence on this matter is deposited in Parliament.

The Cabinet Office is monitoring Fujitsu’s compliance with these bidding constraints and carries out regular reviews of Fujitsu’s performance across their Government contracts. The Crown Representative meets regularly with the UK CEO to discuss this and other issues.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether Baroness Shafik has provided any advice, or been involved in discussions, about the funding of (1) the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, (2) the Victoria and Albert Museum, and (3) other national museums, in her capacity as Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to HL10218:

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government whether Baroness Shafik will recuse herself from matters relating to the funding of (1) the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, (2) the Victoria and Albert Museum, and (3) other national museums, in her role as Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister. HL10218

Answer: Baroness Shafik has been appointed to be the Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister as a Direct Ministerial Appointment. This role is therefore subject to the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, which sets out requirements on political activity.

The management of relevant outside interests for this role has been agreed in line with relevant guidance and processes.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Government was first advised by the Office for National Statistics that the information provided by coroners on death registrations relating to drug deaths could lack detail on the specific drugs involved.

Answered by Josh Simons - 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 10th October is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 2.43 of the Spring Statement 2025, CP 1298, published on 26 March 2025, how many civil servants have left through the employee exit scheme.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Information on the number of civil servants that have left under employee exit schemes is not held centrally.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 90 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, what progress has he made on codifying civilian assistance to military authorities in crisis and conflict.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

Developing plans for civilian assistance to the military in a time of conflict is a key component of the Cabinet Offices Home Defence Programme (HDP). Working with the MoD and across Whitehall departments, the HDP will set a baseline understanding of the requirements of support that defence would need and how positions and roles may need to be backfilled in a conflict scenario. This work is ongoing.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Government Response to the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament Report 'IRAN', published in September 2025, CP 1403, what information the Government holds on whether hostile actors from Iran have infiltrated Parliament through parliamentary staffers.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

HMG does not routinely comment on the details of operational matters or specific threats.

However, we take all threats to national security, including those from Iran, incredibly seriously. Whilst the security of Parliament is a matter for the Parliament, HMG will do whatever is needed to help keep our democratic institutions safe from foreign interference and espionage threats.

This includes protecting them from malign Iranian influence activity in the UK, including placing the whole of the Iranian State- including Iran’s intelligence services- on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. This means that those who are directed by Iran to conduct activities in the UK must register that activity, whatever it is, or face 5 years in prison.

On 13 October, MI5’s National Protective Security Authority published new guidance to better protect the UK’s democratic institutions from all foreign interference and espionage threats.The guidance is designed to help MPs, peers, councillors, Parliamentary staff and candidates understand the threat and take simple, effective steps to protect themselves, their teams, and the integrity of the UK’s democracy.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the merger of Anglo American and Teck on national security.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Government has powers under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021 to review and, where required, intervene in investments that may pose a risk to national security.

The NSI Act both facilitates investment into sensitive sectors with appropriate safeguards where needed, and provides powers to act in the interests of national security where necessary and proportionate.

Given national security and commercial considerations, the Government will not generally comment on specific acquisitions or the potential applicability of the NSI Act 2021.

Acquisitions considered under the NSI Act are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and the Government will not hesitate to use its powers where necessary.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 90 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, published on 8 July 2025, whether UK plans are coherent with NATO planning.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The UK’s Home Defence planning is closely aligned and coherent with our obligations associated with NATO plans. The government takes a NATO first approach to defence planning and remains committed to our responsibilities in the alliance. Further details are set out in the Strategic Defence Review, National Security Strategy and Resilience Action Plan.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many unique visitors with (a) a UK IP address and (b) IP addresses from elsewhere have accessed the prepare.campaign.gov.uk website since the sub-domain was first set up.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Prepare website brings together advice and useful material from a range of sources into one place to help individuals, households and communities prepare for emergencies. The civil service hours were not recorded. The cost of creating the content for the campaign site was £60,000.

Of the unique users recorded between 22nd May 2024 and 13th October 2025, 327,555 were from the UK (92%) and 29,756 were from outside the UK (8%). These figures only include users who accepted GOV.UK cookies.

To date, no paid-for-marketing activity has taken place to promote prepare.campaign.gov.uk. The Government’s Resilience Action Plan has committed to do more to provide households with preparedness information. In September, the Prepare website was included in the message sent out to UK mobile phones as part of the Government’s test of the Emergency Alerts system.

We continue to work with our local and national partners, including organisations from the voluntary, community and faith sectors, to raise awareness of advice on the Prepare website and to seek feedback to inform updates to the content.

The Government is currently considering what further public communications activities might support improvements to public preparedness for emergencies. We published the first annual UK Public Survey of Risk Perception, Resilience and Preparedness in July 2025. The results will be used to inform the development of future public preparedness communications and to monitor trends.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of expenditure on marketing the prepare.campaign.gov.uk website on public preparedness in the event of an emergency.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Prepare website brings together advice and useful material from a range of sources into one place to help individuals, households and communities prepare for emergencies. The civil service hours were not recorded. The cost of creating the content for the campaign site was £60,000.

Of the unique users recorded between 22nd May 2024 and 13th October 2025, 327,555 were from the UK (92%) and 29,756 were from outside the UK (8%). These figures only include users who accepted GOV.UK cookies.

To date, no paid-for-marketing activity has taken place to promote prepare.campaign.gov.uk. The Government’s Resilience Action Plan has committed to do more to provide households with preparedness information. In September, the Prepare website was included in the message sent out to UK mobile phones as part of the Government’s test of the Emergency Alerts system.

We continue to work with our local and national partners, including organisations from the voluntary, community and faith sectors, to raise awareness of advice on the Prepare website and to seek feedback to inform updates to the content.

The Government is currently considering what further public communications activities might support improvements to public preparedness for emergencies. We published the first annual UK Public Survey of Risk Perception, Resilience and Preparedness in July 2025. The results will be used to inform the development of future public preparedness communications and to monitor trends.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what marketing (a) has taken place and (b) is planned to drive traffic to the prepare.campaign.gov.uk website.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Prepare website brings together advice and useful material from a range of sources into one place to help individuals, households and communities prepare for emergencies. The civil service hours were not recorded. The cost of creating the content for the campaign site was £60,000.

Of the unique users recorded between 22nd May 2024 and 13th October 2025, 327,555 were from the UK (92%) and 29,756 were from outside the UK (8%). These figures only include users who accepted GOV.UK cookies.

To date, no paid-for-marketing activity has taken place to promote prepare.campaign.gov.uk. The Government’s Resilience Action Plan has committed to do more to provide households with preparedness information. In September, the Prepare website was included in the message sent out to UK mobile phones as part of the Government’s test of the Emergency Alerts system.

We continue to work with our local and national partners, including organisations from the voluntary, community and faith sectors, to raise awareness of advice on the Prepare website and to seek feedback to inform updates to the content.

The Government is currently considering what further public communications activities might support improvements to public preparedness for emergencies. We published the first annual UK Public Survey of Risk Perception, Resilience and Preparedness in July 2025. The results will be used to inform the development of future public preparedness communications and to monitor trends.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil service hours were incurred in creating prepare.campaign.gov.uk; and what the cost was.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Prepare website brings together advice and useful material from a range of sources into one place to help individuals, households and communities prepare for emergencies. The civil service hours were not recorded. The cost of creating the content for the campaign site was £60,000.

Of the unique users recorded between 22nd May 2024 and 13th October 2025, 327,555 were from the UK (92%) and 29,756 were from outside the UK (8%). These figures only include users who accepted GOV.UK cookies.

To date, no paid-for-marketing activity has taken place to promote prepare.campaign.gov.uk. The Government’s Resilience Action Plan has committed to do more to provide households with preparedness information. In September, the Prepare website was included in the message sent out to UK mobile phones as part of the Government’s test of the Emergency Alerts system.

We continue to work with our local and national partners, including organisations from the voluntary, community and faith sectors, to raise awareness of advice on the Prepare website and to seek feedback to inform updates to the content.

The Government is currently considering what further public communications activities might support improvements to public preparedness for emergencies. We published the first annual UK Public Survey of Risk Perception, Resilience and Preparedness in July 2025. The results will be used to inform the development of future public preparedness communications and to monitor trends.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, when he plans to publish the report on the biological security strategy.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Network of Biosecurity Centres will strengthen and formalise the strong existing collaborations between the UK Health Security Agency, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. It will ensure we are better prepared for a crisis, can respond more effectively when an incident does happen, and deliver a more holistic, One Health and National Security approach to biological research.

The Network will support the Centres’ development and operation, with investment in the laboratory facilities of more than £1bn over the next four years to ensure we have the capabilities we need. Initial steps will include agreeing collaboration priorities, such as operation standards and skills development.

The Cabinet Office oversees implementation of the UK Biological Security Strategy. That includes ensuring we have the capabilities across government to protect the public from a spectrum of biological risks, no matter how they occur and no matter who or what they affect. Funding to tackle specific biological risks is based on the UK ‘Lead Government Department (LGD)’ model. Designated LGDs are responsible for leading work to identify serious risks, and ensuring that the right planning, response and recovery arrangements are in place - including the prioritisation of departmental spending to ensure the right capabilities are in place to mitigate risks, within allocated budgets.

The UK Biological Security Strategy is clear that a thriving life sciences sector is key to our biological security. The government has committed £380 million to engineering biology and £2bn to life sciences over the spending review period.

At the publication of the UK Biological Security Strategy in June 2023, we committed to update Parliament annually on the progress made to implement the Strategy. The government published its first UK Biosecurity Strategy Implementation report in July 2025, which sets out the range of short term commitments delivered. The report is available here.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 39 of the National Security Strategy 2025, published in June 2025, CP 1338, what measures are contained within each pillar of the Strategic Framework in order to bolster overall security with respect to China.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The three pillars of the National Security Strategy 2025 set out comprehensive measures on how we will bolster the UK's overall security. Our approach to China, as a country that poses both a series of threats to UK national security and significant economic opportunities, necessarily cuts across all three pillars. From pillar one's focus on measures to bolster our security at home, to pillar two's emphasis on direct and high level engagement with China in support of UK interests to pillar three's focus on our international competitiveness and reducing our dependence on others.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, how his Department plans to allocate funding to help tackle biological (a) incidents, (b) accidents and (c) attacks.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Network of Biosecurity Centres will strengthen and formalise the strong existing collaborations between the UK Health Security Agency, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. It will ensure we are better prepared for a crisis, can respond more effectively when an incident does happen, and deliver a more holistic, One Health and National Security approach to biological research.

The Network will support the Centres’ development and operation, with investment in the laboratory facilities of more than £1bn over the next four years to ensure we have the capabilities we need. Initial steps will include agreeing collaboration priorities, such as operation standards and skills development.

The Cabinet Office oversees implementation of the UK Biological Security Strategy. That includes ensuring we have the capabilities across government to protect the public from a spectrum of biological risks, no matter how they occur and no matter who or what they affect. Funding to tackle specific biological risks is based on the UK ‘Lead Government Department (LGD)’ model. Designated LGDs are responsible for leading work to identify serious risks, and ensuring that the right planning, response and recovery arrangements are in place - including the prioritisation of departmental spending to ensure the right capabilities are in place to mitigate risks, within allocated budgets.

The UK Biological Security Strategy is clear that a thriving life sciences sector is key to our biological security. The government has committed £380 million to engineering biology and £2bn to life sciences over the spending review period.

At the publication of the UK Biological Security Strategy in June 2023, we committed to update Parliament annually on the progress made to implement the Strategy. The government published its first UK Biosecurity Strategy Implementation report in July 2025, which sets out the range of short term commitments delivered. The report is available here.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what recent progress he has made on establishing a new network of national biosecurity centres.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Network of Biosecurity Centres will strengthen and formalise the strong existing collaborations between the UK Health Security Agency, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. It will ensure we are better prepared for a crisis, can respond more effectively when an incident does happen, and deliver a more holistic, One Health and National Security approach to biological research.

The Network will support the Centres’ development and operation, with investment in the laboratory facilities of more than £1bn over the next four years to ensure we have the capabilities we need. Initial steps will include agreeing collaboration priorities, such as operation standards and skills development.

The Cabinet Office oversees implementation of the UK Biological Security Strategy. That includes ensuring we have the capabilities across government to protect the public from a spectrum of biological risks, no matter how they occur and no matter who or what they affect. Funding to tackle specific biological risks is based on the UK ‘Lead Government Department (LGD)’ model. Designated LGDs are responsible for leading work to identify serious risks, and ensuring that the right planning, response and recovery arrangements are in place - including the prioritisation of departmental spending to ensure the right capabilities are in place to mitigate risks, within allocated budgets.

The UK Biological Security Strategy is clear that a thriving life sciences sector is key to our biological security. The government has committed £380 million to engineering biology and £2bn to life sciences over the spending review period.

At the publication of the UK Biological Security Strategy in June 2023, we committed to update Parliament annually on the progress made to implement the Strategy. The government published its first UK Biosecurity Strategy Implementation report in July 2025, which sets out the range of short term commitments delivered. The report is available here.

Found: the Women and Equalities Committee noted in its report on the Rights of Older People that the Cabinet Office

Found: In May 2025, the Cabinet Office was approached by investigators on the CPS’s behalf to ask whether the

Found: In May 2025, the Cabinet Office was approached by investigators on the CPS’s behalf to ask whether the

Found: In May 2025, the Cabinet Office was approached by investigators on the CPS’s behalf to ask whether the

Found: ISSN 2755-1938 3 Cabinet Office, Department for International Development, and Foreign, Commonwealth

Found: document entitled “Suggested Improvements to Afghan Resettlement Schemes” which was provided to the Cabinet Office

Found: document to ‘initiate a review’: This document given to court in Feb 2025 by Dominic Wilson of the Cabinet Office

Found: Sir Chris Wormald KCB Cabinet Secretary Cabinet Office 70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS

Found: Darren Jones MP Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Cabinet Office 70 Whitehall London

Found: THE CABINET OFFICE LONDON SW1A 2AS From The National Security Adviser, and The

Found: We asked the Cabinet Office and MyCSP why complaint levels were so high.

Found: We are working with the Cabinet Office to set and enforce robust standards of protection and resilience

Found: ISSN 2755-1938 3 Cabinet Office, Department for International Development, and Foreign, Commonwealth

Found: Correspondence with Minister for the Cabinet Office relating briefings ahead of Withdrawal Agreement

Found: Cabinet Office, Northern Ireland Office, Cabinet Office, and Northern Ireland Office Oral Evidence

Found: Darren Jones MP Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Cabinet Office

Found: of State for Northern Ireland; Nick Thomas- Symonds MP, Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Found: Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office and HM Paymaster General on the launch of the

Found: the Labour Force Survey – HM Treasury, having consulted with Cabinet Office, have taken the decision

Found: non-ministerial Department and operationally independent, the Treasury consults and works with the Cabinet Office

Found: Yours sincerely, Dan Jarvis MBE MP Security Minister Cabinet Office and Home Office

Found: You would have to ask the Cabinet Office and the Treasury.

Found: At the moment, you have Sir Stephen Lovegrove within the Cabinet Office and then the governance across

Found: I think that we have got very serious engagement from the Cabinet Office and DSIT to work with the

Found: Monday 20 October 2025 Rt Hon Darren Jones MP Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Cabinet Office

Found: The Government Security Board, chaired by the Cabinet Office, will track overall

Found: Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, HM Treasury, and DSIT Oral Evidence

Found: the previous Government appears to have overlooked. 28. recommendation We recommend that the Cabinet Office

Found: JointCtteeNSS parliament.uk 17 October 2025 Sir Chris Wormald Cabinet Secretary Cabinet Office

Found: departments.5 Annex 1: Breakdown of Departmental Returns Key to Department/Public Body acronyms CO Cabinet Office

Found: www.biometricupdate.com/202508/a-quick-fix-on-uk-digital-identity-will-do-more-harm- than-good). 17 Cabinet Office

Found: together of expertise is reflected in how effectively all departments, including the Home Office, Cabinet Office

Found: The Government Digital Service was warned by the Cabinet Office in 2022 and National Cyber Security

Found: remained with the checkers undermined the purpose of the framework being encouraged by DSIT/Cabinet Office

Found: and efficiencies in return for a higher pay award and is subject to agreement with HMT and Cabinet Office

Found: widening-gap-between-cyber-threats-and-defence-capabilities 47 NCSC, NCSC Annual Review 2024, Op Cit. 48 UK Cabinet Office

Found: The Cabinet Office warned the Government Digital Service in November 2022 about “serious data protection

Found: Cyber-security maturity— current Cabinet Office assessments list “legacy IT” as a major national-security

Found: The last consultation on the matter of digital ID, undertaken by the Cabinet Office during the Conservative

Found: .  Compliance Challenges: A Cabinet Office investigation found unauthorized biometric processing and

Found: That is predicated on quite a lot of enabling work that we are doing, working with the Cabinet Office

Found: DHSC is the department responsible for the delivery of the exercise alongside the Cabinet Office.

Found: BII’s governance framework aligns with Cabinet Office and HM Treasury guidance for managing public finance

Found: Case will be presented to HMPPS including full scrutiny of value for money and then sent to Cabinet Office

Found: Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Cabinet Office

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on how many occasions his Department has withheld information due to the risk of prejudicing private commercial interest under Section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in this Parliament.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Since 5 July 2024 the Department has withheld information under section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on 120 occasions. We do not differentiate in our reporting whether information has been withheld specifically under section 43(1), 43(2), or 43(3) of the act, nor is it detailed whose commercial interests the exemption relates to. Statistics on the number of times specific Freedom of Information exemptions are used by the Department are published by Cabinet Office on a quarterly and annual basis, and are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of mandatory digital ID on minority groups.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government has announced plans for a new digital ID to be available to UK citizens and legal residents aged 16 and over. Employers will be required to conduct digital right to work checks using the new digital ID by the end of this parliament, but it will not be mandatory for other purposes.

The Government will deliver a comprehensive inclusion programme to help ensure everyone eligible is able to access the new digital ID, including minority groups. We expect that groups that currently struggle to prove their identity, whether it’s due to the cost of passports or other reasons, will benefit from the opportunity to access free digital ID.

The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, setting out the proposed approach in more detail and seeking views on this. This will include the proposed approach to inclusion.

The Government will work closely with expert stakeholders from a range of organisations to make the programme as effective and inclusive as possible.

Following the Machinery of Government changes of 23/10/2025 policy responsibility now sits with the Cabinet Office.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many officials were investigated under their Department's disciplinary processes in each of the last five years.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

DSIT was formed following machinery of government changes in 2023 which saw staff join the department from BEIS, DCMS and Cabinet Office. Consequently, data is only available from 2024 onwards. HR Casework data indicates the following number of disciplinary investigations in 2024 and 2025 respectively:

2024 – 4

2025 – 9

The data provided only relates to occasions where HR Casework Services (HRCW) were engaged for support. Investigations conducted where the investigations manager did not require support from HRCW will not be reflected in this data, and there is no central repository of these investigations. This data reflects core DSIT employees and not those employed by partner organisations including UKSA or BDUK.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether digital ID cards will have centralised logging and verification; and whether public bodies will have access to metadata logs.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government has announced plans for a new digital ID to be available to UK citizens and legal residents aged 16 and over. It will be designed with privacy at its core and will follow existing industry standards for security. This includes established standards for cyber security, counter-fraud and data storage.

The new service will follow UK GDPR and privacy principles to only collect and store the minimum data required. The Government will start a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year to further inform our approach.

Following the Machinery of Government changes of 23/10/2025 policy responsibility now sits with the Cabinet Office.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she has taken with the Minister for the Cabinet Office to help tackle the increase in whole-life costs associated with levels of delivery confidence in the Government's Major Projects Portfolio.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The government recently created the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) which will have an important role in supporting and monitoring major projects in the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP).

NISTA provides expert advice and independent assurance on the GMPP and conducts regular deliverability assessments of major projects. Those assessments are published each year, most recently on 11 August 2025.

The increase in whole life cost of the GMPP portfolio reflects several new large high-cost projects joining and smaller projects successfully leaving the GMPP over the last year. By nature, GMPP projects and programmes are the longest, most complex and highest-cost projects, and therefore will inevitably experience challenges and hurdles. By being on the GMPP, these projects receive bespoke support, guidance and oversight which helps to set them on a path to success.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, who the (a) members are and (b) chair is of the Inter-ministerial Group on Rough Sleeping and Homelessness.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Inter-Ministerial Group includes ministers from across government and is focused on developing a long-term strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness. This includes ministers from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Home Office, Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Health and Social Care, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Justice, Cabinet Office, and His Majesty’s Treasury.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government or his delegate chairs the Inter-Ministerial Group on homelessness.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Emma Reynolds MP received any correspondence from the (a) Treasury and (b) the Cabinet office on the (i) timetable, (ii) options and (iii) modelling for inheritance tax changes since 1 July 2024.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether their Department has run any (a) recruitment and (b) internship schemes aimed to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups in the workforce in the last year.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMT has not run any recruitment or internship schemes specifically aimed at increasing the number of people from underrepresented groups.

HMT has participated in some cross-government internship schemes such as the Cabinet Office run Summer Intern Placement (SIP), Autism Exchange Internship Placement and the Department of Work and Pensions’ Movement to Work Scheme.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3 in the section entitled Civil Servants of the the Cabinet Office publication entitled Annual party conferences 2025, updated on 8 September 2025, how many civil servants in her Department have been permitted to attend (a) Labour Party Conference, (b) Conservative Party Conference, (c) Liberal Democrat Party Conference, (d) SNP Party Conference and (e) Reform Party Conference this year.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Permanent Secretary’s Office did not receive any requests to grant permission to attend any party conferences from HMT officials in 2025, in either an official or personal capacity.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 26 September (HL10217), whether they will now answer the question put: namely, whether Baroness Shafik informed the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of her proposed appointment as Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister, and what the Department’s advice was.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Baroness Shafik has been appointed to be the Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister as a Direct Ministerial Appointment, which was made by the Cabinet Office. The management of relevant outside interests for this role has been agreed in line with relevant guidance and processes.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 90 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, when plans for home defence were last fully updated.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Ministry of Defence routinely plans against a range of potential threats to ensure the UK remains prepared to respond swiftly and effectively to any threat, including an armed attack on the UK. While we keep these plans under regular review, we are taking the recommendations of the Strategic Defence Review forward, working closely with the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence Programme.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 71234 on Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, for what reason her Department organised a training event for 70 Philippines officials in Manila; and what was the topic of the training.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The training showcased British expertise and standards in sustainable infrastructure, shared UK best practice in infrastructure planning, design, finance and delivery, demonstrating the quality and innovation of British approaches that are helping to drive growth and opportunity at home. By sharing proven UK standards, the event strengthened the UK's position as a trusted infrastructure partner whilst exploring opportunities for future collaboration that could benefit British businesses, expertise and economic interests.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of water shortages on food security.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Drought has caused an early harvest with reduced crop quality and yields. Livestock farmers face risks with forage and winter feed supplies.

The Environment Agency’s (EA) measures to support farmers include:

• Improving water access outside of licenced conditions

• Supporting Water Abstractor Groups to enable water rights and infrastructure sharing

• Local Resource Option studies driving scheme collaboration.
  

The EA’s upcoming Autumn prospects report will help inform farmers, improve resilience and planning for next year.

Defra assesses the potential impacts of water shortages on food supply as part of the National Risk Register (NRR) cycle. We work closely with Defra Water colleagues, the Cabinet Office (which leads on the NRR) and with the wider resilience and Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) community across Government to ensure that risks to food supply are fully considered in national risk assessments and contingency planning.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, which Departments contributed to the cost of redesigning the GOV.UK logo.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The cost of redesigning the GOV.UK brand was drawn from the Cabinet Office and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

The refreshed GOV.UK brand is much more than just a logo. It is a comprehensive system of guidance, assets and components that are being used across the whole GOV.UK product suite, including the new GOV.UK App, to ensure a modern, coherent and accessible online user experience, as set out in the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 91 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, by when he will enable the annual publication of schedule data of (a) in-development and (b) upgrade programmes.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) set out the need for external scrutiny of UK warfighting readiness through annual reporting of key data, as one of a number of possible measures in a wider Defence Readiness Bill. Given its potentially broad scope, a Defence Readiness Bill may be a legislative vehicle for wider Government, not just Defence. We are therefore working closely across Government through the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence programme to shape key requirements, and understand and identify the measures needed. This preliminary work will allow us introduce legislation when parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 91 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, by when he plans to enable the annual publication of percentage availability of in-service programmes.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) set out the need for external scrutiny of UK warfighting readiness through annual reporting of key data, as one of a number of possible measures in a wider Defence Readiness Bill. Given its potentially broad scope, a Defence Readiness Bill may be a legislative vehicle for wider Government, not just Defence. We are therefore working closely across Government through the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence programme to shape key requirements, and understand and identify the measures needed. This preliminary work will allow us introduce legislation when parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 91 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, by when he plans to enable the annual publication of a summary of assessments on programme availability.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) set out the need for external scrutiny of UK warfighting readiness through annual reporting of key data, as one of a number of possible measures in a wider Defence Readiness Bill. Given its potentially broad scope, a Defence Readiness Bill may be a legislative vehicle for wider Government, not just Defence. We are therefore working closely across Government through the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence programme to shape key requirements, and understand and identify the measures needed. This preliminary work will allow us introduce legislation when parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Defence Readiness Bill on balancing fefence mobilisation requirements with current and future industrial demand for specialist personnel working in (a) private sector industries critical to an effective national response to emergencies and (b) critical national infrastructure.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Strategic Defence Review set out the need for Defence Readiness legislation this Parliament to give the Government more robust or additional powers to make the UK safe. This could include measures to improve the preparedness of key industries including nuclear, to better protect our Critical National Infrastructure and to support the mobilisation of wider Defence, including industry reserves. As this Government set out to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy on 30 June, a Defence Readiness Bill is potentially a legislative vehicle for the wider Government, not just Defence. We are therefore working closely across Government through the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence programme to shape our key requirements, and understand and identify the measures needed. This will lay the groundwork to introduce legislation when Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2025 to Question 58980 on Information Commissioner's Office: Remote Working, what the strategic objectives are which the decision to relocate was based on.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

On completion of the Property Control Approval Request (PCAR) process, the Circle Square Manchester option was lowest in cost on a lifecycle basis across the 10 years. As part of this approval process the Cabinet Office assesses any proposed lease of office space against value for money, efficiency, sustainability and increasing professional skills and expertise. We cannot for reasons of commercial confidentiality reveal real estate costs without the agreement of the landlords but can assure the Right Honourable Member that, in order to gain approval, the relocation represents value for money.

The ICO’s decision to relocate was approved by the Cabinet Office under existing delegated authorities from Cabinet Office Ministers. This enables National Property Controls to provide a cross-department, objective perspective to property transactions to check alignment with the Government Property Strategy and ensure financial and space efficiency.

In response to your question regarding working from home, the ICO offer hybrid working in support of their commitment to attract the best talent, enabling their staff to work where they are most productive, including at one of their five office locations in the UK.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Information Commissioner's Office made a comparative estimate of the cost of office space in (a) Wilmslow and (b) Manchester before deciding to relocate.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

On completion of the Property Control Approval Request (PCAR) process, the Circle Square Manchester option was lowest in cost on a lifecycle basis across the 10 years. As part of this approval process the Cabinet Office assesses any proposed lease of office space against value for money, efficiency, sustainability and increasing professional skills and expertise. We cannot for reasons of commercial confidentiality reveal real estate costs without the agreement of the landlords but can assure the Right Honourable Member that, in order to gain approval, the relocation represents value for money.

The ICO’s decision to relocate was approved by the Cabinet Office under existing delegated authorities from Cabinet Office Ministers. This enables National Property Controls to provide a cross-department, objective perspective to property transactions to check alignment with the Government Property Strategy and ensure financial and space efficiency.

In response to your question regarding working from home, the ICO offer hybrid working in support of their commitment to attract the best talent, enabling their staff to work where they are most productive, including at one of their five office locations in the UK.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the Information Commissioner's Office sought ministerial approval for the decision to approve the move from Wilmslow to Manchester.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

On completion of the Property Control Approval Request (PCAR) process, the Circle Square Manchester option was lowest in cost on a lifecycle basis across the 10 years. As part of this approval process the Cabinet Office assesses any proposed lease of office space against value for money, efficiency, sustainability and increasing professional skills and expertise. We cannot for reasons of commercial confidentiality reveal real estate costs without the agreement of the landlords but can assure the Right Honourable Member that, in order to gain approval, the relocation represents value for money.

The ICO’s decision to relocate was approved by the Cabinet Office under existing delegated authorities from Cabinet Office Ministers. This enables National Property Controls to provide a cross-department, objective perspective to property transactions to check alignment with the Government Property Strategy and ensure financial and space efficiency.

In response to your question regarding working from home, the ICO offer hybrid working in support of their commitment to attract the best talent, enabling their staff to work where they are most productive, including at one of their five office locations in the UK.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to recommendation 29 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on establishing a protected Defence AI Investment Fund.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Good progress has been made in establishing the AI components which will form the basis of the Defence AI Investment Fund. Working in close collaboration with other Government Departments and the Cabinet Office to ensure a joined-up approach, the scope of the Defence AI Investment Fund will be confirmed and announced as part of the Defence Investment Plan in Autumn 2025.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the UK’s food security.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK has a resilient food supply chain and is equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.

Food security is built on supply from diverse sources, strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.

The Food Sector is one of the UK's 13 Critical National Infrastructure sectors. Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are joint Lead Government Departments (LGDs), with Defra leading on supply and the FSA on food safety. We work closely with the Cabinet Office and other LGDs ensuring food supply is fully incorporated as part of emergency preparedness, including consideration of dependencies on other sectors.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the level of compliance by government departments with UK General Data Protection Regulation.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

All departments are controllers of the personal data they hold and are individually responsible for demonstrating compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation. Under the same legislation, all departments are required to appoint a data protection officer (DPO), who are responsible to measure compliance. Government is taking concrete action led by the Government Digital Service in DSIT working with the Government Security Group in the Cabinet Office and the National Cyber Security Centre to improve data protection across government in a broad range of areas, including strengthening policies and placing greater emphasis on handling personal data securely in our training and communications.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what recent progress he has made on meeting the NATO Alliance-wide resilience objectives.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The UK sees national and collective resilience as an essential basis for credible deterrence and defence and is committed to NATO Article 3, which requires Allies to maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack.

The Government's work to deliver against NATO's seven baseline requirements for resilience is being delivered through the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence Programme, in which Defence has a leading role. As set out in the National Security Strategy and the Resilience Action Plan, this coordinates civil and military preparations across the whole of government to ensure that all sectors are prepared for and able to respond to the most catastrophic risks.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, CP 1338, published on 24 June 2025, what recent progress he has made on meeting NATO's seven baseline requirements for resilience.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The UK sees national and collective resilience as an essential basis for credible deterrence and defence and is committed to NATO Article 3, which requires Allies to maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack.

The Government's work to deliver against NATO's seven baseline requirements for resilience is being delivered through the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence Programme, in which Defence has a leading role. As set out in the National Security Strategy and the Resilience Action Plan, this coordinates civil and military preparations across the whole of government to ensure that all sectors are prepared for and able to respond to the most catastrophic risks.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 9 April (HL5959), what progress has been made in identifying and possibly contacting civil servants dismissed from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as a result of the then-ban on homosexuals serving in the Diplomatic Service.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

The Cabinet Office is continuing to review this matter, given the wider implications beyond former Foreign & Commonwealth Office staff, and they will update Parliament on the outcome in due course.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether their Department has run any (a) recruitment and (b) internship schemes aimed to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups in the workforce in the last year.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Recruitment

As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, MHCLG are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds to create a modern Civil Service, now and for the future

Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010 which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition

Going Forward into Employment (GFiE, pronounced gif-ee) accredits life chance recruitment pathways across government. GFiE pathways recruit people from a wide range of backgrounds into the Civil Service, including people from low socio-economic backgrounds, prison leavers, veterans, carers and care leavers. People recruited by GFiE develop skills, gain experience and build a career, contributing to the Opportunity Mission and to the wider economy.

MHCLG participated last year in the Care Leavers GFiE scheme, offering work experience in government to those entitled to a leaving care package.

In February 2025, MHCLG also gained accreditation to deliver Civil Service Masterclasses as a new life-chance pathway. This is a unique two-week face to face programme designed to support candidates aged 19+ from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The programme breaks down barriers and helps participants in a practical learning setting to develop skills and knowledge to access Civil Service roles at AO or EO level. The scheme is available to all departments and supporting bodies based in the Liverpool City Region, Greater Manchester, and County Durham/Darlington areas.

Internships

In this period, MHCLG participated in the following internship schemes with a focus on increasing representation of under-represented groups:

• The Autism Exchange Internship Programme, recruited by Cabinet Office in partnership with Ambitious about Autism, which aims to support young autistic people by providing work experience opportunities that help prepare them to enter the workplace.

• Change 100, recruited by Leonard Cheshire, which offers professional development and mentoring for talented students and graduates with a disability or long-term condition.

• The Summer Internship Programme, recruited by Cabinet Office, which provides work placements for individuals in their final two years at university.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) scale and (b) nature of Russian drone capabilities; and what assessment his Department has made of their potential impact on UK national security.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Ministry of Defence keeps all potential threats from hostile states under review to help protect the UK, but we do not comment on any details that could be useful to adversaries. Protecting CNI is an important pillar of work in the Home Defence Programme, which is led by the Cabinet Office and aims to develop a cross-government plan to strengthen the nation's security preparedness and resilience in order to deter threats to and defend the UK homeland. Defence works closely on this with the Cabinet Office.

We maintain robust measures at Defence sites, including counter-drone capabilities.

We constantly monitor UK airspace to identify and respond to any credible threat to its integrity. There are multi-layered and multi-domain measures in place to protect UK airspace, including through 24-hour surveillance and Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon jets.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential threat posed by Russian drone activity on (a) critical national infrastructure and (b) defence installations.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Ministry of Defence keeps all potential threats from hostile states under review to help protect the UK, but we do not comment on any details that could be useful to adversaries. Protecting CNI is an important pillar of work in the Home Defence Programme, which is led by the Cabinet Office and aims to develop a cross-government plan to strengthen the nation's security preparedness and resilience in order to deter threats to and defend the UK homeland. Defence works closely on this with the Cabinet Office.

We maintain robust measures at Defence sites, including counter-drone capabilities.

We constantly monitor UK airspace to identify and respond to any credible threat to its integrity. There are multi-layered and multi-domain measures in place to protect UK airspace, including through 24-hour surveillance and Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon jets.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 90 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on devising a strategy for the protection of critical national infrastructure by the (a) MOD Guard Service and (b) UK intelligence community.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The protection of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) is an important pillar of work in the Home Defence Programme. This work is led by the Cabinet Office and aims to develop a cross-Government plan to strengthen the nation’s security, preparedness, and resilience in order to deter threats to and defend the UK homeland. Defence continues to play a significant contributory role with partners and the private sector to protect CNI from a full spectrum of threats.

The UK already has an existing strategy for protecting CNI which includes a partnership between intelligence agencies, and components of the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC), such as the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) Guard Service (MGS) provides unarmed security services for MOD sites. The MGS are just one of the MOD policing and guarding organisations that could contribute to the protection of CNI under the cross-Government plan.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 90 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made on establishing a programme of exercises to test plans for response to an armed attack on (a) the UK and (b) NATO allies.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Government regularly performs exercises on its ability to respond to an armed attack on the United Kingdom and our NATO Allies.

The Ministry of Defence works closely with the Cabinet Office and the Home Office to test and strengthen national resilience and home defence arrangements. These exercises enhance coordination between the Armed Forces, civil authorities and emergency services, ensuring the UK remains prepared to respond swiftly and effectively to any armed threat.

In addition, NATO has an extensive set of plans outlining how to respond to an armed attack on any Ally, including the UK. These exercises enhance Allied interoperability, validate defence and deterrence strategies, and reinforce the credibility of NATO's collective defence posture.

The largest of these exercises is the STEADFAST series, NATO's most extensive and comprehensive exercise programme. Last year, Exercise STEADFAST DEFENDER 2024, the largest NATO exercise since the Cold War, involved around 20,000 UK personnel.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 110 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Army’s contribution to the (a) planning, (b) preparation and (c) delivery of defence support to domestic resilience if it were mobilised for war.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Army, Royal Navy and RAF all continuously contribute to national resilience and would do so in a time of war. At present personnel are held at very high readiness to respond to domestic crises, and have formed the backbone of domestic resilience efforts over the past several years, including during Covid.

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and National Security Strategy highlighted the importance of domestic resilience in a time a crisis. Working closely with the Cabinet Office-led Home Defence Programme, we are developing plans and policies in a range of Home Defence related areas, taking the spirit and recommendations of the SDR and applying that to the whole range of policy areas that flow from it, including support to domestic resilience planning and preparation.

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