Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many jobs have been lost in the last year in the oil, gas, petrochemicals, refining and general chemical sectors.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Rt Hon. the Lord Redwood
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
28 April 2026
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many jobs have been lost in the last year in the oil, gas, petrochemicals, refining and general chemical sectors (HL16637).
In December 2025, in the UK, there were an estimated 10,000 workforce jobs1 in the mining of coal and lignite; extraction of crude petrol/gas sector (standard industrial classification (SIC) divisions 05-06), a decrease of 2,000 compared with December 2024.
In December 2025, in the UK, there were an estimated 8,000 workforce jobs1 in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products sector (standard industrial classification (SIC) division 19), a decrease of 2,000 compared with December 2024.
In December 2025, in the UK, there were 99,000 workforce jobs2 in the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products sector (standard industrial classification (SIC) division 20), an increase of 2,000 compared with December 2024.
A full time series of data can be found in Table 1. Please note that these data are not
seasonally adjusted.
Table 1: Number of workforce jobs3 in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and
semi-trailers sector, UK, not seasonally adjusted.
| Mining of coal and lignite; Extraction of crude petrol/gas | Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products | Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products |
December 2024 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 97,000 |
March 2025 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 95,000 |
June 2025 | 11,000 | 9,000 | 93,000 |
September 2025 | 11,000 | 8,000 | 93,000 |
December 2025 | 10,000 | 8,000 | 99,000 |
Source: Office for National Statistics
These data are published quarterly in tables JOBS03: Employee jobs by industry4 and JOBS04: Self-employment jobs by industry5. The most recent data, up to December 2025, were published as part of our Vacancies and jobs in the UK: March 20266 bulletin, which was published on 19 March 2026.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
1Estimates of workforce jobs include employee jobs and self-employment jobs only, these estimates
exclude any government supported trainees in these sectors.
2 Estimates are presented to the nearest 1,000 and changes have been calculated on rounded
estimates.
3 Estimates of workforce jobs include employee jobs and self-employment jobs only, these estimates
exclude any government supported trainees in these sectors.
4https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/d
atasets/employeejobsbyindustryjobs03
5https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/d
atasets/selfemploymentjobsbyindustryjobs04
6https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/b
ulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/march2026
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many industrial plants employing over 200 people have closed in the last year.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics.
Lord Redwood
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
26 March 2026
Dear Lord Redwood,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many industrial plants employing over 200 people have closed in the last year (HL15771).
It is not possible to answer the question as asked because these data are not available by the number of employees. However, by using the quarterly business demography dataset[1], it is possible to make an estimate of the number of businesses within the production industries which have closed in the last year.
The number of businesses within the production industries which have closed in the year 2025 is estimated to be 12,510.
The quarterly business demography statistical release is regarded as ‘official statistics in development’.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/businessdemographyquarterlyexperimentalstatisticsuk/latest
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what limit they intend to place on the number of individuals entering the UK under the proposed UK-EU youth mobility scheme.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have agreed that we will work towards the establishment of a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU. This will provide a valuable form of cultural exchange for young Brits and EU citizens with the opportunity to travel, work, study and experience other cultures. The UK and EU agreed ahead of the Summit that any scheme will be subject to a cap. This is what the Common Understanding language means by ‘ensure that the overall number of participants is acceptable to both sides’. Any scheme would create new opportunities for young Brits, while being in line with the Government’s plans to restore control over the immigration system and reduce net migration. The exact details are subject to ongoing negotiations, but any scheme will need to be in the UK’s national interests.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what upper age limit they intend to impose on the proposed UK-EU youth mobility scheme.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have agreed that we will work towards the establishment of a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU. This will provide a valuable form of cultural exchange for young Brits and EU citizens with the opportunity to travel, work, study and experience other cultures. We have agreed that any scheme will be capped, subject to a visa requirement as well as time-limited. We have also been clear that it should be in line with the UK’s existing schemes with countries like Australia and New Zealand. The exact parameters are subject to ongoing negotiation, but any scheme will need to be in the UK’s national interests.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants on full-time contracts there were in each year since 2019.
Answered by John Glen
National Statistics on the number of full-time and part-time civil servants are published each quarter by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of their Public Sector Employment statistical release. The latest available statistics were published in December 2023 and at Table 8 show the number of full-time civil servants as at 30 September 2023. The next ONS publication is scheduled for release on 12 March 2024 and will show the number of civil servants as at 31 December. Statistics for 2019 and all previous and upcoming releases can be found on the ONS website at https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymentreferencetable
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there are controls on external recruitment of (a) new and (b) replacement (i) civil servants and (ii) other public sector administrators.
Answered by John Glen
There are specific statutory provisions in place that control all appointments to new and replacement Civil Service roles arising from external recruitment.
The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 requires that selection to the Civil Service must be on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition. The Civil Service Commission has a statutory duty to ensure that the merit requirement is upheld and is not being undermined. The Commission’s interpretation of this statutory requirement is outlined to Civil Service departments in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles 2018.
The Aliens’ Employment Act 1955 outlines the eligibility for employment in the Civil Service on the grounds of nationality. The Cabinet Office has published the Civil Service Nationality Rules on Gov.uk to support departments in the interpretation of this statutory requirement.
The Civil Service Management Code delegates authority to individual departments to determine their recruitment approach within the scope of these statutory requirements. Additional policy provisions can be applied such as the Civil Service Recruitment Framework. Since January 2016, the Framework has been committed to opening up all Senior Civil Service (SCS) vacancies by advertising them externally to the public by default. In May 2022, this commitment was strengthened, requiring departments to obtain approval from the responsible minister when seeking to limit an SCS vacancy to existing civil servants only.
For other public administrators outside of the Civil Service, it would be down to their respective organisations to comment on whether they have such controls in place.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many full time equivalent civil service personnel there were in (a) 2019 and (b) 2024.
Answered by John Glen
National Statistics on the number of civil servants are published each quarter by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of their Public Sector Employment statistical release. The latest available statistics were published 12 December 2023 and showed the number of civil servants as at 30 September 2023. The next ONS publication is scheduled for release on 12 March and will show the number of civil servants as at 31 December. Statistics for 2019 and all previous and upcoming releases can be found on the ONS website at https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymentreferencetable
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many full time equivalent non-civil service public sector administrators there were in (a) 2019 and (b) 2024.
Answered by John Glen
Information on the number of non-civil service public sector administrators is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to reduce energy bills across government.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Cabinet Office supports departments and coordinates across government to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs. The 2022-2030 Government Property Strategy sets out how the estate will be transformed to become more efficient and sustainable.
The Government Buying Standard for Construction requires new build developments to meet BRE’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) ‘Excellent’ or equivalent standards, while refurbishment projects have a target of ‘Very Good’, ensuring new and upgraded properties meet high standards of energy efficiency.
In addition, Crown Commercial Services has developed an energy procurement strategy that has delivered significant commercial benefits from aggregation of government buying power and hedging future demand on commodity markets.
Asked by: Lord Redwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much was spent on consultants across Government in the financial year 2022-3.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Government Departments draw on the advice of external specialists for a range of services. Consultancy includes staff who provide objective advice relating to strategy, structure, management or operations of an organisation and may include the identification of options with recommendations.
Departments' total spend on consultancy in 2022/23 can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-reports-and-accounts-for-central-government-departments