Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Proprietary and Constitution Group is involved in ensuring compliance with the Humble Address motion of 4 February 2026.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Staff from across the Cabinet Office including but not limited to the Public Inquiry Response Unit and the Propriety and Constitution Group are involved in compliance with the Humble Address motion as necessary.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what resources he has allocated to the disclosure process on the Peter Mandelson inquiry.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Hon Member to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The Government is working to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Public Inquiry Response Unit is involved in compliance with the Humble Address motion of 4 February 2026.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Staff from across the Cabinet Office including but not limited to the Public Inquiry Response Unit and the Propriety and Constitution Group are involved in compliance with the Humble Address motion as necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support retired civil servants who have not received their pensions from the Civil Service Pension Scheme in January.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions is unacceptable.
Angela MacDonald, Deputy Chief Executive at HMRC, is working with the Cabinet Office and Capita to lead and support delivery of a full recovery plan. This includes commitments, with milestones, to immediately deal with priority cases, restore service levels and improve communication with affected members.
In response, we have set up a dedicated team to work urgently with Capita, with 650 full time staff across Government and Capita and with an aim to restoring normal service as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery.
Capita has prioritised the most urgent cases and by the end of February, all death in service cases were either settled or progressed to the final stage or awaiting a member response. A similar position will be reached for ill health retirement applications by mid-March.
Alongside these arrangements, Capita has prioritised payment of tax-free pension lump sums for members who had received quotations but were not in receipt of their benefits, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.
Since 26 January, the recovery team has received detailed data on all the outstanding cases, allowing us to track progress and actively manage the most urgent situations.
The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time.
No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension and we are supporting government employers to provide direct support to people facing delays in their first payments.
Asked by: Baroness Deech (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Capita about retired civil servants who have not received pensions from the Civil Service Pension Scheme in January.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.
The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions is unacceptable.
Angela MacDonald, Deputy Chief Executive at HMRC, is working with the Cabinet Office and Capita to lead and support delivery of a full recovery plan. This includes commitments, with milestones, to immediately deal with priority cases, restore service levels and improve communication with affected members.
In response, we have set up a dedicated team to work urgently with Capita, with 650 full time staff across Government and Capita and with an aim to restoring normal service as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery.
Capita has prioritised the most urgent cases and by the end of February, all death in service cases were either settled or progressed to the final stage or awaiting a member response. A similar position will be reached for ill health retirement applications by mid-March.
Alongside these arrangements, Capita has prioritised payment of tax-free pension lump sums for members who had received quotations but were not in receipt of their benefits, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.
Since 26 January, the recovery team has received detailed data on all the outstanding cases, allowing us to track progress and actively manage the most urgent situations.
The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time.
No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension and we are supporting government employers to provide direct support to people facing delays in their first payments.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to approach the US Department of Justice to request whether there are additional communications held by the Department, but which have not been publicly disclosed, between Jeffery Epstein or his associates and to/from Peter Mandelson, that are outside the direct scope of the publication requirements of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
A related police investigation is underway. The Government will support the police in whatever way it can.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 22 December 2025 to Question 99535 on List of Ministerial Responsibilities, if he will list the full Ministerial responsibilities of the hon. Member for Makerfield.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Honorable Member for Makerfield is no longer serving as a Minister following his resignation on 28 February 2026.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department conducted a separate investigation into further wrongdoing following Peter Mandelson’s dismissal as Ambassador in September 2025.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer you to the Oral Statement on the 23rd February, in the name of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will ask the US Department of Justice to provide the unredacted email addresses of people included in the emails to Jeffery Epstein that included Government documents.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
A related police investigation is underway. The Government will support the police in whatever way it can.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Humble address of 4 February 2026, what material the ISC will have the authority to determine the publication of; and whether the Government will have a right to veto ISC decisions on the publication of documents.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Hon Member to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The Government is working to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.