Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to consult on his Department's proposals to replace the House of Lords with an alternative second chamber.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As a first step in reform of the House of Lords, the Government has introduced legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords.
The Government is committed to delivering further reform. The House of Lords has now agreed to establish a dedicated select committee to look at how best to implement the manifesto commitments on a retirement age and participation requirement.
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 Public Appointments Data Report 2024-25, published on 2 December 2025, whether Ministers requested that the socio-economic background of the applicants for public appointments to be monitored.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The government is committed to ensuring that public appointments are more representative of our nations and regions, including socio-economic background.
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 deposited paper DEP2025-0768, committed on 21 November 2025, further to paragraph 18 of the desk note, how many direct ministerial appointments have been made since July 2024 where the name of the appointment has not been placed in the public domain.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Since July 2024, the Cabinet Office has given advice on the announcement of one Direct Ministerial Appointment being exempt from publication, who was providing short-term advice on security and defence policy.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the correspondence from the Permanent Secretary to his Department to the Hon Member for Thirsk & Malton of 24 November 2025.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
There are no plans to publish this correspondence.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what is his planned timetable for the publication of the triennial report into the operation of the Honours and Memorialisation secretariats.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The next report into the operation of the UK Honours System is expected in due course.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025, to Question 92612, whether Tim Allan is required to recuse himself from government policy or communications on matters relating to the clients of Strand Partners.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Before joining the government, Mr Allan sought and received advice on his interests. He has followed every element of the advice received.
As a result of that advice, he resigned his directorship with Strand and ceased any involvement in its governance or operations. Mr Allan has recused himself from engagement with Strand Partners in relation to the firm’s business, and from involvement in any procurement relating to Strand Partners during his period of employment.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many months each of the Ministerial flats in Admiralty House have been empty for.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Official residences are allocated to Ministers at the Prime Minister's discretion, to support them in their official duties. This has been the case under decades of successive governments, and it is not usual practice to publish specific dates of their occupation.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of cases in which retired civil servants have been ordered to repay pension benefits due to administrative errors made by civil service pension providers; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of those cases on those retired civil servants.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme is the responsibility of the Cabinet Office. However, the government has a duty to recover overpaid public money to ensure the scheme remains fair and sustainable for all taxpayers.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme pays out 732,000 pensions per month, and processes in excess of 1,000,000 member transactions each month. There have been, on average, 40 cases a year where human or administrative error led to a member being overpaid since 2014. While many overpayments in the scheme occur due to the late notification of a member's death, these specific cases do not relate to processing mistakes. Under current contracts, if the scheme cannot recover these funds from the member, it seeks recovery from the pension administrator.
We recognise that being asked to repay funds can be stressful. To manage the impact on retired civil servants, the scheme administrator works individually with those affected to create manageable recovery plans. These plans focus on the member's specific ability to pay, often spreading repayments over a long period to ensure that no undue financial hardship is caused.
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 15 May 2025 to Question 50576, on Cabinet Office: Recruitment, what is a level move.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In the Civil Service a level move is when a civil servant moves from one role to another at the same grade as their current one. This can be from one government department to another or within the same department.
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 15 May 2025, to Question 50576 on Cabinet Office: Recruitment, whether members of the Senior Civil Service can be permanently promoted up a grade without open and fair competition.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Promotion on a permanent basis can only take place after fair and open competition. Senior Civil Service vacancies are advertised externally by default and exceptions must be approved by a Minister or Permanent Secretary equivalent in non-Ministerial departments. Civil Service Commissioners chair all competitions for SCS3 and SCS4 posts to ensure appointments are made on merit.