Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office on 11 November 2025 (HC87333), whether there is a government policy on which colours are (1) politically neutral, and (2) politically affiliated.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given on 19 February 2025, Official Report, PQ30826.
PQ30826 - To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 25454 on 9 Downing Street: Media, what advice the (a) Cabinet Secretary and (b) Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics Team provided on whether the colours (i) red and (ii) blue are party political.
Answer - As has been the case under successive administrations, it is a long-standing principle that Civil Service advice is given and treated in confidence. This includes detailing whether or not advice has been given and by whom.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the consultation paper on Digital ID, published on 10 March 2026, CP1498, which company will be administering the People’s Panel for Digital ID; and what cost the cost will be.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We need to make sure digital ID works for everyone, and that’s why we’re establishing a People’s Panel on digital ID, which brings together a diverse group of people - selected to be broadly representative of the population of the UK - to consider different perspectives and debate trade-offs.
The People’s Panel will cost approximately £630,000 This will be covered under a pre-existing contract with Ipsos, which is the primary vendor, signed in March 2024. The vendor is a significant long-term government contractor, including under the last administration.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
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, whether the People’s Panel for Digital ID participants will be paid; what is the minimum page to participate on the panel; and what is the database that will be used for the civic lottery/sortition process to select the members.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Participants will be recruited through a process called sortition. This is a random postcode lottery. It is a way of selecting individuals to take part in deliberative processes, where everyone is given an equal chance to be invited. No individual can buy their way in or simply turn up at the event. All participants must be 18 or over to join the People’s Panel.
Participants are paid in line with industry standards. Payment recognises the time that people are giving up to take part and ensures that a diverse range of participants (e.g. including those on low-incomes, unemployed, with caring responsibilities, etc.) can participate. Payments are aligned to each workshop they attend, so may vary depending on attendance.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what action he is taking to decrease the time taken to provide information and payments in respect of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
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 with affected colleagues, so that 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.
The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update (2 March 2026) is available at this weblink: (latest update 16 March): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-update-16-march-2026
The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to Question 106941 tabled by the hon. Member for Widnes and Halewood on 20 January 2026.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
A response has been issued here.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse has been for the recruitment and deployment of reconciliation teams from other Departments to assist Capita in managing the backlog of pension queries; and whether this cost will be recovered from Capita through contractual clawback provisions.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) 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.
Furthermore, any service failures attract penalties which reduce the overall cost of the contract. While the specific financial values of commercial transactions remain confidential, the Cabinet Office has already withheld significant transition milestone payments due to missed deliverables and continues to apply the full mechanism of service credits for performance failures. Capita also remains responsible for any additional expenses incited. The Cabinet Office will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver the contractual service levels.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what is the cost of Arm's Length Bodies to the public purse for the latest year for which data is available.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The UK government budgeted £369.78 billion for arms length bodies in the financial year 2023-24. 67% of this went to NHS England and the Education and Skills Funding Agency, which will both be repatriated to their parent departments.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether she has made an assessment of the comparative costs of greenhouse gas emissions reporting across the Government estate relative to the emissions reductions achieved as a result of those activities.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
This information is not available. GPA do not manage the greenhouse gas emissions data and reporting across all of the government estate.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any changes are being made to the requirements of Whitehall departments and their agencies to publish trade union facility time information in their annual report and accounts, and the broader collection of such data by departments.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The current published HMT financial reporting manual (FReM) requires organisations in scope of FReM to report facility time data in their annual accounts. However, the FReM requirement is linked to the Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017. These regulations were repealed on 18 February 2026, when the relevant provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 came into force.
Therefore, Whitehall departments and agencies do not need to report facility time in their accounts published following the repeal.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of UK's protection against simultaneous events such as extreme weather, cyber‑attack and global supply chain disruption.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government assesses the UK’s resilience through the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA). Both the NSRA and the publicly available version, the National Risk Register (NRR), are kept under continual review to reflect the changing risk landscape. During every update, policy makers are encouraged to identify both linked risks and compounding risks to ensure preparedness for simultaneous challenges. Risk owners must also evidence how chronic risks — as set out in the Chronic Risks Analysis, including risks such as climate change and reliance on global supply chains — interact with and exacerbate acute events.
This approach ensures resilience planning moves beyond risks in isolation, allowing the Government to develop flexible, generic capabilities that manage the common consequences of multiple, concurrent events.