Asked by: Lord Swire (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 9 February (HC110416), which (1) bodies, and (2) individuals, they consulted before making the strategic decision to adopt "UK Government" as the primary identity for all public-facing communications in the place of “HM Government”.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
For information relating to stakeholder engagement, I refer the Noble Lord to Question HC112168:
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister, as the King's principal adviser, (a) was consulted on and (b) approved the decision to change the HM Government identity to the UK Government; and whether the Prime Minister was advised by Tim Allan in this regard when Mr Allan was Executive Director of Communications. 112168
Answer: There are no plans to discontinue the use of “HM Government”.
Please refer to https://www.communications.gov.uk/guidance/marketing/branding-guidelines/ for guidance on logo use. There are no plans to publish the revised guidance held by the Government Digital Service and the Government Communication Service.
Communications teams are advised to use "UK Government" rather than departmental names and logos for announcements, to provide clarity to the public. This does not affect the use of "His Majesty's Government", which continues on relevant official communications and records.
"UK Government" has long been the term used for the government in public-facing communications. All governments have regularly reviewed and updated government branding guidance to ensure that communications with the public are clear.
This guidance was developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders and in accordance with standard protocols in Summer 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they have altered their communications guidance to use "UK Government" rather than "His Majesty's Government".
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lady to Parliamentary Question HC112174:
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what policy reason the Government has decided not to use the HM Government identity; and if he will publish the revised guidance held by the Government Digital Service and Government Communications Service. 112174
Answer: There are no plans to discontinue the use of “HM Government”.
Please refer to https://www.communications.gov.uk/guidance/marketing/branding-guidelines/ for guidance on logo use. There are no plans to publish the revised guidance held by the Government Digital Service and the Government Communication Service.
Communications teams are advised to use "UK Government" rather than departmental names and logos for announcements, to provide clarity to the public. This does not affect the use of "His Majesty's Government", which continues on relevant official communications and records.
"UK Government" has long been the term used for the government in public-facing communications. All governments have regularly reviewed and updated government branding guidance to ensure that communications with the public are clear.
This guidance was developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders and in accordance with standard protocols in Summer 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which Government departments, Executive Agencies and Arm’s-Length Bodies operate optional remuneration arrangements; and what categories of benefit are provided under those arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As individual employers, decisions on remuneration are delegated to individual departments for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS). This information is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Ministerial Pension Scheme or the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund benefit from any optional remuneration arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Ministerial Pension Scheme does not utilise salary sacrifice arrangements.
An active member is required to pay a member contribution rate of 11.2% of pensionable salary to participate in the scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Ministerial Pension Scheme or the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund benefit from any salary sacrifice arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Ministerial Pension Scheme does not utilise salary sacrifice arrangements.
An active member is required to pay a member contribution rate of 11.2% of pensionable salary to participate in the scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have declined to lay before Parliament a draft statutory code submitted by an arm's-length body between January 2015 and December 2025, where that code has not been subject to litigation.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which Government departments, Executive Agencies and Arm’s-Length Bodies operate salary sacrifice arrangements; and what categories of benefit are provided under those arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office does not hold information about what salary sacrifice schemes government departments offer.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to increase the number of bomb shelters in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government continues to develop a wide range of plans designed to deter potential hostile actors and mitigate the impacts of risks facing the UK.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has had recent discussions with the European Union on payments to the EU for participation in Security Action for Europe.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
UK negotiations with the EU on a bilateral agreement to facilitate UK participation in the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument concluded last year. The UK entered negotiations in good faith, recognising our mutual strategic interest and commitment to work with the EU on defence. However, this Government has always been clear that we will only sign agreements that are in the national interest - in this case we were unable to reach an agreement that passed that test. While it is disappointing that we were not able to positively conclude discussions, the UK’s defence industry continues to have access to SAFE under standard third country terms.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 3 February 2026 to Question HL13976 on Civil Servants: Media and Public Speaking, on what dates the guidance has been revised since July 2024; and what his planned timetable is for further revision and policy development.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Guidance is regularly reviewed and updated, in accordance with best practices, to maintain its relevance, appropriateness, and effectiveness in addressing its intended topics. The timeline for this is dependent upon the area of policy development in question.