Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment have they made of the merits or otherwise of a cap on political donations from domestically based (1) electors, (2) companies, and (3) trade unions; and what plans they have to introduce such a policy.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government recognises concerns about the role of very large donations in politics and the importance of maintaining public confidence in the democratic process.
The Representation of the People Bill focuses on addressing the most immediate risks to the integrity of UK democracy, including foreign influence, overseas donations and cryptoassets.
Alongside these reforms, we are establishing a cross-government task and finish team to consider the issues threatening UK democracy, including political funding, illegitimate influence, and broader threats to political equality.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 15 April (HC123696), what types of EU cohesion spending will the UK's payments be allocated to; and whether any spending will be allocated to Northern Ireland/Ireland programmes.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As set out in the answer of 15 April, the UK is not currently contributing to EU Cohesion Funds as a consequence of the UK/EU reset. Whilst the EU is seeking to establish a mechanism for a UK financial contribution towards reducing economic and social disparities between the regions of the Union as part of participation in the Internal Electricity Market, any UK financial contribution would be subject to negotiations with the EU, and no contributions have yet been made or agreed upon.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State on 8 July (HC15560), which paragraph of the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies provides the basis upon which Direct Ministerial Appointments do not need to declare political activity.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, which Direct Ministerial Appointments are required by their conditions of engagement to follow, requires appointees to comply with the rules of the appointing body on handling conflicts of interests.
The Code itself does not set specific requirements on the public declaration of political activity, however the standard terms of engagement provided in the published Direct Ministerial Appointment guidance requires appointees to declare interests to the department, and states that the appointing department will then determine whether any interests should be published.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the MHCLG in the Media blog post, Protecting UK democracy from hostile actors and foreign interference, published on 2 September, what is the new team which will be set up to look at other risks to British democracy; who are its members; and what are the full terms of reference of the Defending Democracy Taskforce.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the UK's political finance framework remains robust and commands public confidence.
We are establishing a cross-government task and finish team to consider the issues threatening UK democracy, including political funding, illegitimate influence and broader threats to political equality.
Further details will be available in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 14 July (HL710), whether they will publish a copy of the internal guidance on UK Government branding that was released by the Cabinet Office in the corrected Freedom of Information Act response of 8 July 2026.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In the response to the referenced Freedom of Information response, we confirmed that the formal branding guidance remains publicly available, and confirmed that additional internal guidance exists in the form of an internal email.
We provided the relevant extract below which addresses the brand. The remaining sections of the email discuss internal processes around managing the brand. There are no current plans to publish this information.
UK Government
All central Government communications should now carry the UK Government logo (or its international version), rather than Departmental logos, unless a specific exemption request is submitted in advance.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (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 on 8 June (HC4150), what is the public interest reason for not disclosing the objectives agreed for the last two Cabinet Secretaries; and whether this decision is consistent with the principles contained in paragraph 1.6(d) of the Ministerial Code.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Civil servants’ objectives are drafted as their personal objectives and metrics agreed with their line manager as part of the performance management HR process. There would have been no expectation of them being published in the past unless they agreed to release them.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the ministerial residence in Downing Street is the Prime Minister’s primary or secondary residence; and whether the Cabinet Office will pay the council tax bill for this Downing Street residence.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Prime Minister resides in the flat in 11 Downing Street and pays full council tax on the property as his primary residence.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether newly appointed ministers must declare any previous criminal offences to (1) their Permanent Secretary, (2) the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics Team, or (3) the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Noble Lady to UIN 75369 answered in the House of Commons on 23 September 2025:
There is an established process in place for the appointment of ministers. Any conversations held take place in confidence. All ministers are expected to adhere to the high standards of conduct set out in the Ministerial Code.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Prime Minister uses disappearing messages for government business in relation to his electronic communications on (1) corporate, and (2) non-corporate devices.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
There is established guidance on the management and recording of electronic communications. The Prime Minister follows the Government's advice on non-corporate communications channels. We keep all guidance around the use of non-corporate communications under review to ensure it remains fit for purpose.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 14 July 2026 (HL1591), what is the evidential basis for their belief that the disclosure of the model Policy and Guidance: Supporting Trans and Non-binary Employees would contravene Section 36(2)(b)(i), (ii), and (c) of the Freedom of Information Act; and what assessment they have made of the potential reputational damage of maintaining secrecy over the new guidance.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Section 36(2) of the Freedom of Information Act was applied based on the qualified opinion that disclosure would inhibit free and frank internal advice. We concluded that safeguarding this space for robust policy development outweighs the public interest in disclosure.