Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what, if any, is the statutory basis for the operation of the UK Emergency Alert service in (a) England and Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

The Emergency Alert capability was brought into place in 2023 under the previous government. It was signed off by the Cabinet Office, where the honourable Member asking this question was, at the time, a minister.

As he will know, the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) Part 1 places duties on Category 1 and 2 emergency responders to have arrangements in place to warn the public of emergencies and to provide advice and information.

The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR) permits the government to test and operate an emergency alerting system.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet will be a separate accounting entity to her Department; and which Accounting Officer is answerable to Parliament for its expenditure.

Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Accounting officer responsibilities for the Cabinet Office group will be published in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the press release, "Emergency Alert to be sent to England and Wales as Government steps up wildfire response with funding, military support and BBQ ban", 14 August 2026, for what reason the Welsh language version was distributed in Wales before the English language version.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

In Wales, the alert was sent in Welsh followed by English in order to fulfil our legal responsibilities under the Welsh Language Act 1993.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to take steps to align its approach to procurement with the Cabinet Office's Procurement Policy Note 026 published on 5 August 2026, including its approach to carbon reduction requirements in NHS procurement.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

This autumn, the Cabinet Office will publish technical guidance setting out how the revised Social Value Model will be implemented. This will apply to all in-scope organisations, including the Department and NHS England. NHS England will continue to provide guidance to National Health Service trusts on the application of social value in the procurement of NHS goods and services through the NHS Social Value Playbook.

In the meantime, as a leading employer across the country, the NHS continues to play its full part in supporting growth, training, and employment in local communities, in line with the Government's economic goals.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 24 June 2026 to Question HL942 on NHS: Procurement, the Cabinet Office's document entitled Procurement Policy Note 026, published on 5 August 2026, and with reference to the statement on X by the Prime Minister published on 6 August 2026 on the award of public sector contracts, what changes to (a) Departmental and (b) NHS procurement processes will now be applied to reflect that approach; and whether the NHS Social Value Playbook will be revised.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

This autumn, the Cabinet Office will publish technical guidance setting out how the revised Social Value Model will be implemented. This will apply to all in-scope organisations, including the Department and NHS England. NHS England will continue to provide guidance to National Health Service trusts on the application of social value in the procurement of NHS goods and services through the NHS Social Value Playbook.

In the meantime, as a leading employer across the country, the NHS continues to play its full part in supporting growth, training, and employment in local communities, in line with the Government's economic goals.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether staff in (a) her Department and (b) NHS England are on the same or different pension schemes; and whether staff in each organisation have pay progression.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department, as part of the Civil Service, applies pay in line with the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance, which does not permit contractual pay progression, and provides access to the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

NHS England, as an Arm's Length Body, uses National Health Service pay frameworks, which can include contractual pay progression, and provides access to the NHS Pension Scheme.

Any future decisions on pay and terms and conditions following the abolition of NHS England will be subject to formal consultation with recognised Trade Unions, and we will not give a running commentary on those discussions.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to her department's publication entitled Machinery of Government changes: Fact Sheet, what the forecast operating cost of the OneGov Delivery Agency is for 2026-27 and 2027-28, and what set-up costs have been incurred to date.

Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The OneGov Delivery Agency is yet to be formally established. Work is underway to establish the agency for 1 April 2027. Its future budget for 2027-2028 will be determined as design work progresses. Costs incurred during the current year 2026-2027 will be absorbed in existing Cabinet Office budgets.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any assessment has been made of the number of mobile phones where the users have turned off government and emergency alerts in their phone settings.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

Emergency Alerts operate on cell broadcast technology, which does not require or gather any information from individual handsets. Therefore, it is not possible to validate which handsets have opted out in their phone settings.

Emergency alerts contain life-saving information and should be kept switched on for safety. However, individuals can opt out. For example, victims of domestic abuse with concealed phones may find it appropriate to opt out of receiving Emergency Alerts. Information on opting out can be found at https://www.gov.uk/alerts.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2026 to Question HL2133, on International Court of Justice, what non-privileged advice and guidance he has given to the Government on the weight to be given to advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice.

Answered by Andy Slaughter - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

The Law Officers’ Convention applies to advice which may or may not have been given by the Law Officers, or requested of the Law Officers, and the Convention applies to your question.

The Law Officers’ Convention can be found at paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May:

“By long-standing convention, observed by successive Governments, the fact of, and substance of advice from, the law officers of the Crown is not disclosed outside government. This convention is referred to in paragraph [5.14] of the Ministerial Code [updated on 13 October 2025]. The purpose of this convention is to enable the Government to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.”

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2026 to Question 21055 on Lord Mandelson, for what reason no documented material from the review by the General Counsel to the Prime Minister was contained in the humble Address.

Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the Government’s statement and release of information on 1 June 2026 in response to the Humble Address, in particular the section entitled 'Government methodology in complying with the Humble Address' in the document laid before Parliament.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 24 January 2024, to Question 10668, on Emergencies: Mobile Phones, what is the additional or marginal cost to the public purse of issuing a nationwide Emergency Alert.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office is committed to delivering value for money to the public. There is no additional or marginal cost of issuing a nationwide Emergency Alert; the most recent activation of the Emergency Alert capability on 14 August was issued at no cost to the taxpayer.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 27 January 2025, to Question 25755, on Emergencies: Mobile Phones, whether there will be an evaluation report produced for the use of the UK Emergency Alert service on 14 August 2026.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

It is important to note that every Emergency Alert is carefully coordinated with responding public bodies and agencies. Each request is evaluated by the Cabinet Office on a rigorous, case-by-case basis to ensure it is necessary for public safety.

The Cabinet Office carries out an internal review of every activation and test of the system. We are committed to learning from this experience and are currently reviewing the thresholds and operational protocols for future alerts to ensure they remain a proportionate and effective tool for preserving life. The National Fire Chiefs Council observed a decrease in wildfire responses in the 72 hours following the broadcast, suggesting the alert played a vital role in preventing further incidents.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the gross operating cost and full-time equivalent headcount was in 2024-25 for each of (a) the Government Recruitment Service, (b) civil service shared services, (c) the Government Car Service, and (d) UK Security Vetting.

Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The 2024/25 gross operating costs are as follows:

As of 31st March 2025 (end of year 24/25) full-time equivalent headcount is as follows:

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what net saving to the departmental expenditure limit her Department expects from the July 2026 machinery of government changes in each of the next three years, and how much of that saving was already factored in to pre-existing plans.

Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

In line with usual practice, administrative costs to implement Machinery of Government changes will be met within existing departmental settlements, and should not affect the spending power of either the transferring or receiving department.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Pursuant to the answer of 28 July 2026, to Question 16155, on Intelligence Services: Summer Internship Programme, what consideration was given to the the eligibility require for the scheme.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

I refer the Honourable Member to the response to Question 16155 of 28 July 2026.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate her Department has made of the gross annual administrative cost of No10 North; and whether it will be funded from the existing (a) Cabinet Office, (b) HM Treasury or (c) MHCLG budgets.

Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Gross annual administrative costs cannot yet be provided. The costs for running No.10 North will be found from existing departmental budgets. Teams transferring into No.10 North from other Government Departments as part of machinery of Government moves are expected to transfer with the relevant budget currently available to them.

Found: Esther McVey MP 7,920 Alex Burghart MP 5,593 Johnny Mercer MP 7,920 The Rt Hon.