Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many policy reviews and consultations the Cabinet Office has launched since the General Election on 4 July 2024; what the subject of each review is; and what the anticipated timescales are for their completion.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Following the election, this Government has outlined its ambitions through the Plan for Change, which sets out an ambitious set of milestones - across the missions - for this Parliament.
As the House would expect, Government continually reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer.
Public reviews will be available on gov.uk as they are published.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 6 March (HL4299), whether the Government Art Collection has a different public interest threshold for disclosure depending on which department administers the premises in which works are displayed; and if so, why.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lady to my answer of 6 March 2025 (UIN HL4299). Information requests are considered on their individual merits on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Framework Agreement between the Cabinet Office and the Civil Service Commission, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and the Commissioner for Public Appointments, published on 21 February, was signed off by a Minister, and if so, which Minister approved it.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In line with Managing Public Money, The Framework Document for the Independent Offices (Civil Service Commission, Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and the Commissioner for Public Appointments) was cleared by the Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office and was reviewed by Cabinet Office ministers and by the Treasury Officer of Accounts (TOA) and the Spending Team prior to publication.
The Framework Document for the Independent Offices (Civil Service Commission, Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and the Commissioner for Public Appointments) followed the clearance process set out in Managing Public Money and was reviewed by Cabinet Office ministers prior to publication in the usual way
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the House of Lords Appointments Commission guidance on political donations, dated December 2019, was signed off by a Minister; and if so, which Minister approved it.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The House of Lords Appointments Commission is an independent, advisory non-departmental body of the Cabinet Office. The guidance on political donations was approved by the Commission in December 2019 as an internal document for members. It was subsequently published in January 2022 as a result of a Decision Notice by the Information Commissioner following a previous Freedom of Information request.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Armstrong Memorandum remains extant.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Civil Service ‘About us’ page on Gov.uk was inaccurate and has been updated.
The Armstrong memorandum of 1985 set out that “it is the duty of civil servants to serve their Ministers with integrity and to the best of their ability”, and that “the British civil service is a non-political and disciplined career service”. This was codified in 1996 with the creation of the Civil Service Code, a document that governs the conduct of civil servants to this day.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, for each of the last five years, how many individuals have been appointed to the Senior Civil Service in the Propriety and Constitution Group; and of these (1) what was their grade on appointment, (2) how many were appointed through external competition, cross-government competition, intra-departmental competition, or managed moves, (3) how many were recruited from outside the Civil Service, and (4) how many were made on a temporary basis.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office’s Propriety and Constitution Group was created in 2022/23 from parts of three separate business units; the Cabinet Secretary’s Group, Union and Constitution Group, and the Inquiries BU. We have therefore included data from 2022 to present.
Our central data does not record managed moves so we are unable to include information on these.
There were no intra-departmental competitions.
Year appointed | Grade | Approach | Successful candidate | Contract | Roles appointed |
2022 | SCS Pay Band 1 SCS2 | Across government | Internal Internal | Permanent Permanent | 1 1 |
2023 | SCS Pay Band 1 | External | Internal | Permanent | 1 |
2024 | SCS Pay Band 1 | Across government EOI | Internal | Temporary | 1 |
| SCS Pay Band 1 | External | External | Temporary | 1 |
2025 | None To Date | ||||
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Civil Service is independent of His Majesty's Government; and whether the statement that civil servants are independent of Government on the Civil Service ‘About us’ page on Gov.uk is compatible with (1) the Carltona principle, (2) the Civil Service Code, (3) the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, and (4) the Prime minister’s role as Minister for the Civil Service.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Civil Service ‘About us’ page on Gov.uk was inaccurate and has been updated.
The Armstrong memorandum of 1985 set out that “it is the duty of civil servants to serve their Ministers with integrity and to the best of their ability”, and that “the British civil service is a non-political and disciplined career service”. This was codified in 1996 with the creation of the Civil Service Code, a document that governs the conduct of civil servants to this day.
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 19 February (HL4743), whether they continue to adhere to the guidance set out in Chapter 1 of the Public Inquiries Handbook (Guidance for Sponsor Departments), as published on the House of Lords Select Committee on the Inquiries Act 2005 website as it was on 8 August 2012, which advises that Permanent Secretaries should, under certain circumstances, issue written assurances that no information officials provide to an inquiry will be used against them in later disciplinary proceedings; and, whether they will lay a copy of the current version in the Library of the House.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The position on written assurances is as set out in the previous answer (HL4743).
In our response to the recommendations of the House of Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee, published on 10 February, the Government has committed to publish guidance on inquiries.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many members of the Senior Civil Service in the Propriety and Constitution Group are based outside of London.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As of February 2025 Propriety and Constitution Group has fewer than 10 SCS based outside of London.
Asked by: Baroness Finn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Twycross on 6 January (HL3604) and the Minister of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on 4 December 2024 (16604), what is the public interest justification for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport releasing details of the Government Art Collection works in 11 Downing Street to a question in the other House, but not those in 10 and 12 Downing Street in answer to a pursuant question in this House.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government Art Collection is a working collection, used across government buildings in the UK and the global estate, which means that artworks may change their display location from time to time in response to new display steers and requests.
Numbers 10 and 12 Downing Street are administered separately from Number 11 Downing Street. The former are administered by the Cabinet Office, while the latter is administered by His Majesty’s Treasury.