Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the former cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of his settlement agreement with the Cabinet Office.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Sir Chris Wormald has entered a settlement agreement with the Cabinet Office, and this does not include a non-disclosure agreement.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Government Secure Zone Security Monitoring and Control Centre is still operational; and if so, what is its annual cost.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government Security Zone Monitoring and Control Centre (known as the Government Security Zone Information Room) is operational. In line with the policy followed by successive administrations, the Government does not comment in detail on security arrangements within the Zone.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (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 5 February (HL13975), and in light of the statutory prohibitions under section 8(5)(b) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 on exercising any power in relation to the management of any part of the civil service, why Jonathan Powell is listed as management on the Cabinet Office website.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Security Adviser sets direction on behalf of the Prime Minister for national security and foreign policy in the National Security Secretariat. Some leadership and corporate responsibilities, such as the line management of civil servants, accounting or matters affecting a civil servant’s career (including recruitment, promotion, reward and discipline), are not carried out by the National Security Adviser.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office on 11 November 2025 (HC87333), whether there is a government policy on which colours are (1) politically neutral, and (2) politically affiliated.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given on 19 February 2025, Official Report, PQ30826.
PQ30826 - To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 25454 on 9 Downing Street: Media, what advice the (a) Cabinet Secretary and (b) Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics Team provided on whether the colours (i) red and (ii) blue are party political.
Answer - As has been the case under successive administrations, it is a long-standing principle that Civil Service advice is given and treated in confidence. This includes detailing whether or not advice has been given and by whom.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office on 24 February (HC113702), and with reference to paragraph 223 of the Guide to Parliamentary Work, updated on 19 November 2024, what is the public interest rationale for not publishing the guidance on the rebranding of HM Government to the UK Government in public communications.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This guidance is currently under development in a live policy area. Premature release of this information would inhibit the free and frank provision of advice for policy development.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in light of the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, whether the Cabinet Office propriety and ethics team approved the references to the Labour government in that strategy.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
It is longstanding practice not to comment on the provision of internal advice, including whether or not particular advice has been provided.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the information on the staff breakdown by public body under the Government Communication Service audit was disclosed in the FOI Internal Review response IR2025/05101 of 29 May 2025 and the Written Answer by the former Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office on 4 September 2025 (HC70468), but was not published by the Cabinet Office in Written Answer by the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office on 24 February (HC113610).
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There had been no plans to routinely publish this information as this information is collected for operational purposes.
The data provided for HC70468 had already been published in the public domain via the referenced Internal Review.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office on 11 December 2025 (HC96206), whether the Prime Minister approved the inclusion of Lord Alli on the list of individuals to be given security passes to 10 Downing Street.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK’s long-standing constitutional arrangements require an immediate transition of power. A list of staff is provided to the Cabinet Secretary’s Office by political parties, so that the incoming Prime Minister has the ability to begin work immediately.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Twycross on (1) 3 December (HL2738), and (2) 17 December (HL3301), why the Written Answer of 3 December stated that no guidance on translation had been issued by the Cabinet Office but the Written Answer of 17 December stated the Guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality for Civil Servants, published on 14 May, remains in force; and whether they will now correct the official record.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
No specific guidance has been directly issued by the Cabinet Office on the topic of reducing spending by the civil service on translation into foreign languages. The Guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality Requirements for Civil Servants signposts to another department's guidance that was issued in 2013.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Twycross on 17 December (HL3302), what records the Crown Commercial Service holds on which public bodies have taken out contracts for translation services using the framework agreement on translation into foreign languages.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) collects information from suppliers for public bodies that have taken out contracts for translation services under its Language Services agreement (RM6141) only. These records contain the names of the public sector bodies (contracting authority) and their spend through the framework, an aggregate of £5,402,890 from 10 May 2021 to 10 December 2024.
Public bodies that have used the CCS commercial agreement RM6141 Language Services include: Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Bridgend County Borough Council, British Library, British Transport Police, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Department for Transport, Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, Environment Agency, Equality and Human Rights Commission, High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd, HM Revenue & Customs, Intellectual Property Office, London Borough of Brent Council, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, London Borough of Lambeth Council, London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, National Crime Agency, NHS England, NHS England - East of England, NHS England Sustainable Improvement Team, NHS Improvement, NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Unit, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Office for National Statistics, Office for Nuclear Regulation, Oxfordshire County Council, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Serious Fraud Office, Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, The Pensions Regulator, Transport for London, UK Health Security Agency, Westminster City Council and Wokingham Borough Council.
Information on individual contracts should be publicly available on Contracts Finder at the following link: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk