Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of severance payments to special advisers resulting from the cabinet reshuffle in July.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The cost of severance payments will be published in the Annual Report on Special Advisers.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of ministerial severance payments resulting from the cabinet reshuffle in July.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Full details of severance payments received by ministers are routinely published in the relevant department’s Annual Report and Accounts. Any severance payments associated with the July reshuffle will now be published in the 2026-27 Annual Reports and Accounts.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the projected cost of ministerial severance payments in the financial year 2026–27.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Full details of severance payments received by ministers are routinely published in the relevant department’s Annual Report and Accounts. Any severance payments associated with the July reshuffle will now be published in the 2026-27 Annual Reports and Accounts.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether voluntary exit or redundancy packages offered to civil servants are subject to a maximum cap; if so, whether that cap includes pension elements or pension-related costs; and what the current limits, eligibility criteria and conditions are for those packages across departments, including the Treasury.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The maximum cap for a Voluntary Exit (VE) or Voluntary Redundancy (VR) scheme relates to a salary cap of £149,820, mandatory for calculating higher value exit payments. There is no overall maximum cap, although exit offers should provide value for money. Pension top-ups are only mandatory for a VR scheme.
For both VE and VR, the minimum qualifying service is two years, although departments may exercise discretion.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which Government departments, Executive Agencies and Arm’s-Length Bodies operate salary sacrifice arrangements; and what categories of benefit are provided under those arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Cabinet Office does not hold information about what salary sacrifice schemes government departments offer.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which Government departments, Executive Agencies and Arm’s-Length Bodies operate optional remuneration arrangements; and what categories of benefit are provided under those arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
As individual employers, decisions on remuneration are delegated to individual departments for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS). This information is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Ministerial Pension Scheme or the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund benefit from any optional remuneration arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Ministerial Pension Scheme does not utilise salary sacrifice arrangements.
An active member is required to pay a member contribution rate of 11.2% of pensionable salary to participate in the scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Ministerial Pension Scheme or the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund benefit from any salary sacrifice arrangements.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Ministerial Pension Scheme does not utilise salary sacrifice arrangements.
An active member is required to pay a member contribution rate of 11.2% of pensionable salary to participate in the scheme.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Ministers occupying official residences pay the second homes premium on council tax, where that residence is not their primary residence and where the local authority levies such a premium on dwellings; and whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of the current guidance given to Ministers on paying council tax on official residences, other than the Ministerial Code.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Ministers who are allocated an official residence are reminded of their responsibility for all personal tax liabilities, including council tax, in line with the principles of the Ministerial Code.
As has been the case for successive administrations, where a minister occupies an official residence as a second home, the responsibility for payment of council tax falls to the responsible Department.
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 Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 27 November 2024 (HC14946), which specific department and programme reductions to Government Communication Service spending expect to save £85 million.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
I refer the noble Lady to the answer provided to Question HC25685 on 30 January 2025:
PQ25685: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2025, to Question 20957 on Government departments: communication and public consultation, if she will list the (a) Department, (b) theme and (c) estimated saving of each of the campaigns (i) that were cancelled, (ii) continuing with reduced budgets and (iii) aiming to reduce their expenditure by 25%.
Minister Gould’s answer: There are currently no plans to publish this list in detail. The comprehensive communications Spending Review identified 39 campaigns that were cancelled, 46 campaigns continuing with reduced budgets and 46 campaigns aiming to reduce their expenditure by 25%. The combined savings from these measures total £85 million in 2024-25 and up to £96 million in 2025-26.