Question to the Wales Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to give power to the Welsh Government to restructure the civil service in Wales to create an integrated public service.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government’s commitments on further devolution were outlined in our manifesto. We have no plans to devolve powers over the civil service to Wales.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many (a) internal policy reviews, (b) independent reviews, (c) external reviews, (d) taskforces, (e) public consultations, (f) investigations and (g) other reviews their Department launched between 5 July 2024 and 5 January 2025; what the titles were of those reviews; and how many of those reviews have been (i) completed and (ii) published.

Answered by Nia Griffith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office)

None. The Wales Office has not launched any reviews between 5 July 2024 and 5 January 2025.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, for what purposes (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have used AI in the last 12 months.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

I am keen to adopt AI across the Department and my officials are in the process of exploring options. For example, the Wales Office Human Resources and Private Office teams are looking at how ‘Microsoft Copilot’ could be used to streamline processes.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether her Department offers protection to staff from unfair dismissal from their first working day.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

All dismissals are handled in line with current legislation and appropriate Codes of Practice. Where an employee feels they may have been unfairly dismissed, appropriate internal appeal routes may be instigated.

Where an employee is unable to solve a problem internally, they may be able to go to an employment tribunal to claim unfair dismissal, as set out in legislation.

This position will be reviewed when unfair dismissal rights are updated in line with proposals in the Employment Rights Bill.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether her Department offers paternity leave to its staff from their first working day.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

My Department is not an employer in its own right and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provides the Wales Office with employment services and HR policies, such as Paternity Leave.

Some staff could qualify for statutory paternity leave on their first day of service because they already have qualifying service with another Civil Service organisation.

As with any changes to employment legislation, internal policies and processes will be updated as appropriate in preparation for when the Employment Rights Bill 2024 comes into effect.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether their Department offers its staff shared parental leave from their first working day.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

My Department is not an employer in its own right and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provides the Wales Office with employment services and HR policies, such as Shared Parental Leave.

The Civil Service Management Code states that, ‘Departments and agencies may only grant shared parental leave in accordance with the statutory requirements governing eligibility for this category of leave.’ Some staff could qualify for statutory shared parental leave on their first day of service because they already have service with another department.

As with any changes to employment legislation, internal policies and processes will be updated as appropriate in preparation for when the Employment Rights Bill 2024 comes into effect.

I urge the Government and Parliament to recognize Wales's integral role within the UK by updating the Union Jack to include Wales. I am calling for an official review and redesign process that engages experts, stakeholders, and the public to ensure Wales's rightful place on our national flag.

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