Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Interests has finished reviewing Ministers’ declared interests, whether all Ministers have now declared their interests, and when they intend to publish the List of Ministers' Interests.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The next List of Ministers’ Interests will be published in due course in line with the established process in place for the declaration and management of private interests held by ministers, which ensures that steps are taken to avoid or mitigate any potential or perceived conflicts of interest.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to transfer Cabinet Office-sponsored (1) functions, and (2) agencies, to other Government departments.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Following the 4th July 2024 election, there have been two Written Ministerial Statements outlining several Machinery of Government changes, all of which impact the Cabinet Office. The Written Ministerial Statement laid on 24th July 2024 (HCWS19) announced:
The Office for Veterans’ Affairs will move from the Cabinet Office to the Ministry of Defence
Digital functions (i.AI, Government Digital Service, Central Digital and Data Office) will move from the Cabinet Office to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Ministerial oversight of the EU relationship (existing agreements and the future relationship) will move from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to the Cabinet Office
Government Car Service will move from the Department for Transport (DfT) to the Cabinet Office
A later Written Ministerial Statement laid on 5th September set out:
Responsibility for Union and devolution policy across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is moving from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office staff are now working on the implementation of the above Machinery of Government Changes, including scoping and impact assessment.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 7 August (HL345), how many staffing hours are allocated to the Civil Service LGBT+ Network, and across how many staff members.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Allocation of working time spent on cross-government staff networks is an agreement between the staff network volunteers and their departments as employers.
The majority of staff time spent on the Civil Service LGBT+ Network is voluntary and unpaid. There are no central records on how many staff members participate in the network.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 12 August (HL517), what applications for an equality, diversity and inclusion spending control exemption have been (1) applied for, (2) accepted, and (3) rejected, since the general election.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Applications and decisions about applications for external Equality Diversity and Inclusion expenditure lie with individual departments. No exemptions have been centrally reported since the General Election.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many applications for Recruitment Principles exceptions has the Civil Service Commission rejected since 4 July 2024; and how many breaches of the Recruitment Principles have been identified in the same period.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Where the Civil Service Commission does not believe that a proposed appointment by exception is justified either by the needs of the Civil Service or to enable the Civil Service to participate in a government employment initiative, it may reject the proposal or impose additional conditions. As has been long-standing practice under successive administrations, this information is not published.
The Commission also issues breaches where non-compliance with the Recruitment Principles has been identified. This information is published in the Commission’s annual report, which can be found at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/publications/annual-reports/
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 943 on Civil Service: Trade Union Officials, what guidance his Department has issued on the (a) proportion of the total Civil Service paybill that should be allocated to facility time and (b) maximum percentage of time that individual Civil Service staff may spend on facility time.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Under the previous administration, the Cabinet Office provided departments with a facility time framework agreement, and supporting guidance, which departments must use when agreeing their facility time and facilities usage agreements with their recognised trade unions.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 23 July 2024 to Question 1247 on Special Advisers: Pay, whether the salaries of all special advisers have been agreed; and who is responsible for determining those salaries.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Special adviser salaries are set according to the special adviser pay framework. Information on Special Adviser numbers and costs will be published in the Annual Report on Special Advisers as per the requirements of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, as was the case under the previous Administration.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office of 30 July (HC923), whether paragraphs 207–208 of the Cabinet Office's Guide to Parliamentary Work (November 2022) on the relationship between the treatment of requests for information under Parliamentary Questions and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 remain their policy when answering Parliamentary Questions.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Guide to Parliamentary Work is published by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work.
The Government's position regarding the relationship between the treatment of requests for information under Parliamentary Questions and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is unchanged. It is a routine courtesy and a recognised fundamental right of Parliament that Members receive full and timely responses to parliamentary questions.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 26 July 2024 to Question 1260 on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, how many of the appointments for the Director Generals in charge of the five Mission Delivery Boards have been externally advertised; and for what length of time have vacancies been open to apply for those posts.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Five Directors General (DG) have been selected as Senior Responsible Officers (SROs) for each of the five Missions. All five were selected by the Cabinet Secretary and relevant Permanent Secretary, in consultation with their Secretary of State, on the basis of their expertise and experience.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff (a) excluding and (b) including special advisers are employed by 10 Downing Street broken down by (i) headcount and (ii) full-time equivalent, as of 10 September 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
For management and staffing purposes the Prime Minister’s Office is part of the Cabinet Office. As of 31 August 2024 there are 240 (237.4 FTE) permanent civil servants employed by the Cabinet Office and allocated to the Prime Minister’s Office.
As was the case under the previous Administration, information about Special Adviser numbers will be published in the Annual report on Special Advisers.