Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average processing time is for the allocation of a civil servant’s death‑in‑service widow and widower's pension after the submission of a valid claim form; and what steps are being taken to improve timescales for finalising payments.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
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 receiving their pension quotes are unacceptable. I want to reassure you that this Government has taken firm action to help put things right as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery.
For priority cases, we have deployed additional resources and improved communication to ensure members receive the support they deserve. While the immediate focus remains on stabilising the service through this intensive recovery plan, we are committed to ensuring all staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.
Existing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver improved performance and higher penalties for failure, including financial penalties. These have already applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
We recognise the significant pressure on surviving spouses. Upon receipt of a valid, fully completed claim form from the spouse, the Service Level Agreement (SLA) for paying the lump sum is five working days, which is concurrent with the five-day SLA for setting up the spouse’s pension; however, the physical receipt of this first payment will be determined by the timing of the payroll cycle, and as of March 2026, this SLA is being met for new cases.
Possible exceptions to these timelines include circumstances where the spouse is not the named beneficiary, necessitating a wait for the Grant of Probate before a lump sum payment can be made, or where data issues requiring employer input prevent benefits from being accurately calculated, thereby extending the settlement period. Furthermore, where benefits include a Defined Contribution (DCU) option, the spouse will be issued the various options within the five-day period and must make a formal decision before any benefits can be paid.
The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update (2 March 2026) is available at this weblink: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-update-2-march-2026
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any Department covered by the Pay Remit Guidance had its 2022/23 budget increased or altered to enable the £1,500 Pay Remit Guidance payment to be made.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Decisions on pay below Senior Civil Service are delegated to Departments. Cabinet Office does not have sight of Departments’ budgetary decisions.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the Cabinet Office consultation paper on Digital ID, 10 March 2026, CP1498, what the estimated gross cost is of the Digital ID programme.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The design and delivery of the national digital identity credential are subject to a public consultation, which launched Tuesday 10th March.
The design and delivery of digital ID are subject to the consultation outcomes. The feedback from the consultation will inform our final approach and enable a more accurate assessment of costs.
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 page 35 of the Cabinet Office consultation paper on Digital ID, 10 March 2026, CP1498, whether his Department considered collecting data on sex for digital ID.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As set out in the Digital ID consultation paper, the national digital ID will only collect the minimum amount of data required to issue and manage securely. We are asking questions in the consultation about the type of data that should be included.
Asked by: Baroness Berger (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in regard to the Freedom from violence and abuse volume 2: action plan, published on 18 December 2025, which minister has responsibility for the cross-departmental team on pornography policy.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Baroness Bertin’s independent report made 32 recommendations, including on governance and oversight of pornography policy. The ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, published on 18 December 2025 commits to creating a joint team to address the issues detailed in the report.
The team is formed by the Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Ministry of Justice and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It will examine the evidence to inform the government’s approach to pornography policy, including the question of departmental responsibility.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the direct ministerial appointments portal will be updated to include (1) all appointments to date, and (2) the full terms of reference of appointments, including any allowances paid.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As set out in the published Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments, the Cabinet Office has recently made changes to its public appointments digital platform to allow departments to record and track their data on Direct Ministerial Appointments. The Direct Ministerial Appointments announcement portal, which draws data from the digital platform and went live in December 2025, brings together public announcements for these appointments from across government. Departments should also add all existing DMAs to the portal.
Appointing ministers are responsible and accountable to Parliament for the appointments they make and the responsibility for the publication of information about Direct Ministerial Appointments rests with individual departments. As such, all appointing ministers are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the information published on the appointments that they make.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which minister is responsible for overseeing the accuracy of the portal for direct minister appointments.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As set out in the published Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments, the Cabinet Office has recently made changes to its public appointments digital platform to allow departments to record and track their data on Direct Ministerial Appointments. The Direct Ministerial Appointments announcement portal, which draws data from the digital platform and went live in December 2025, brings together public announcements for these appointments from across government. Departments should also add all existing DMAs to the portal.
Appointing ministers are responsible and accountable to Parliament for the appointments they make and the responsibility for the publication of information about Direct Ministerial Appointments rests with individual departments. As such, all appointing ministers are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the information published on the appointments that they make.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on whether Government Departments have sought advice from Labour Together on policy development.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Consultation principles: guidance, last updated March 2018, what supplementary advice or guidance has been given by the Cabinet Office to departments on whether consultations should give any material weight to responses from organisations or individuals which are deemed extremist or otherwise, or which are subject to a policy of non-engagement under the Government’s engagement principles; and what is the Cabinet Office’s departmental policy on this.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Responsibility for decisions and due diligence around who departments engage with sits with those departments and the appropriate policy areas. It is for individual government departments to decide to use these principles, or their own due diligence processes around engagement.
I refer the Noble Lady to PQ HC105789:
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he will take steps to prevent organisations with which the Government has a policy of non-engagement from submitting written evidence to (a) ministers, (b) officials and (c) public consultations.
Answer: The government does not and will not engage with organisations with whom they have a policy of non-engagement.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government for what reason the Prime Minister has an active TikTok account in the light of the TikTok ban on government electronic devices.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
All Government departments must follow the Mobile Device Management policy. This directs that no third-party mobile application can be downloaded onto Government devices, unless security requirements can be met and there is a business case for doing so.