Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54812 on Government Departments: media, what guidance is issued by the Government Communication Service on the procurement of external public relations companies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) provides a framework agreement that enables contracting authorities to access suppliers who provide services in this area. As with any procurement through established framework agreements, CCS provides guidance to ensure any procurement is conducted in compliance with UK procurement regulations. Guidance can be found on the CCS webpage: https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/RM6125.
Individual contracting authorities are responsible for their own procurement processes under this framework agreement. Any campaign spending of £100,000 or more must go through the Government Communication Service’s advertising, marketing and communications (AMC) spend control process. Guidance is available at the following link: https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/marketing/delivering-government-campaigns/professional-assurance/
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that suppliers (a) linked to forced labour in Xinjiang and (b) named in allied sanctions lists are excluded from public procurement frameworks.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government is committed to tackling human rights abuses including modern slavery and human trafficking in public supply chains.
On 24 February 2025 the Procurement Act came into force, providing contracting authorities with stronger powers to exclude suppliers from public procurements where there is compelling evidence of modern slavery within their supply chains. Contracting authorities are encouraged to review a wide range of information on suppliers when seeking to determine whether an exclusion ground applies, including sanction lists.
The Act’s new debarment powers also enable us to take stronger and broader action in relation to supplier misconduct which we will use, where appropriate, to effectively hold organisations to account.
The Cabinet Office has, in addition, published extensive risk-based policy and guidance for commercial teams to tackle labour rights abuses in UK and global supply chains.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent evaluation his Department has made of the adequacy of the Disability Confident scheme’s conversion rate from interview to appointment for disabled applicants across government departments.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The purpose of the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) is to ensure that disabled candidates are given a fair opportunity to demonstrate their skills at interview. Of those who applied for a vacancy using the Civil Service Jobs website in the approximately five year period 2019-2024:
c.13% of applicants applied under the DCS
c.12% of candidates who were invited to interview had applied under DCS
c.9% of applicants who were successful at interview had applied under DCS
The Department for Work and Pensions is continuing to explore whether any reforms to the criteria for DCS are needed.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that resilience (a) standards and (b) benchmarks are applied consistently across government departments.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government Resilience Action Plan is underpinned by well-established Cabinet Office governance structures, including the National Security Council (Resilience), which oversee the implementation and delivery of resilience matters across UK government.
The action plan announced new assurance measures to raise resilience standards across government, refreshed expectations for Lead Government Departments will clarify roles and responsibilities, and the UK Resilience Academy will convene expert panels to scrutinise government plans and preparedness for whole-system civil emergencies.
The Cabinet Office will continue to report on resilience progress with an annual statement to Parliament on resilience.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what governance structures he has put in place to oversee the cross-government implementation of the UK Government Resilience Action Plan.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government Resilience Action Plan is underpinned by well-established Cabinet Office governance structures, including the National Security Council (Resilience), which oversee the implementation and delivery of resilience matters across UK government.
The action plan announced new assurance measures to raise resilience standards across government, refreshed expectations for Lead Government Departments will clarify roles and responsibilities, and the UK Resilience Academy will convene expert panels to scrutinise government plans and preparedness for whole-system civil emergencies.
The Cabinet Office will continue to report on resilience progress with an annual statement to Parliament on resilience.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he will report departmental progress against the commitments in the UK Government Resilience Action Plan.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government Resilience Action Plan is underpinned by well-established Cabinet Office governance structures, including the National Security Council (Resilience), which oversee the implementation and delivery of resilience matters across UK government.
The action plan announced new assurance measures to raise resilience standards across government, refreshed expectations for Lead Government Departments will clarify roles and responsibilities, and the UK Resilience Academy will convene expert panels to scrutinise government plans and preparedness for whole-system civil emergencies.
The Cabinet Office will continue to report on resilience progress with an annual statement to Parliament on resilience.
Asked by: Tracy Gilbert (Labour - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is planning to take to (a) consult further with the infected blood community and (b) involve that community in the development of the Government's response to the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This Government is committed to engaging openly and transparently, and taking on board feedback from the infected blood community. The Cabinet Office regularly engages with over 30 key representatives and organisations in the community. I have met with a number of these representatives several times and will continue to do so.
The Government will consider the Infected Blood Inquiry’s Additional Report carefully, and respond in due course.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the beer and pub sector’s contribution to employment for 16- to 24-year-olds.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 7th July is attached.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the UK Statistics Authority and Cabinet Office response to the Devereux Review, published on 26 June 2025, what plans he has to publish a response to each recommendation of the Devereux Review.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK Statistics Authority and Cabinet Office response to the Devereux Review was published on 26 June. A further announcement was made on 7 July regarding the timeline for appointing new leadership to both the UK Statistics Authority and the Office for National Statistics.
While there are no plans to publish further responses, additional updates may be announced as and when deemed appropriate.
The Government welcomes the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee's inquiry into the UK Statistics Authority, launched earlier this year, and looks forward to engaging with the Committee.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding was allocated for preparations for the 2031 census in each of the past three financial years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 3rd July is attached.