Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the UKSA letter entitled Letter to leaders of political parties in advance of the May 2026 elections, what is the statutory basis for OSR and UKSA monitoring and commenting on statements made by opposition political parties in an election period.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Parliamentary Question of 6th July is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2026 to Question 4139 on Government Departments: Cost Effectiveness, if he will publish the most recent quarterly efficiency report for the UK Statistics Authority.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Parliamentary Question of 6th July is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 30 June 2026 to Question 12159 on Cabinet Office: Marketing, whether (a) ONS and (b) UKSA has undertaken any expenditure on branded goods since the Government Chief Commercial Officer letter.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Parliamentary Question of 6th July is attached.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Treasury's policy paper entitled Joint statement following the twelfth meeting of the Specialised Committee on Financial Provisions, published on 4 June 2026, if she will place in the Library (a) a copy of the 11th invoice submitted by the European Commission and (b) any associated documentation.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

HM Treasury discloses the invoices under the UK-EU Financial Settlement under the Withdrawal Agreement in the EU Finances Statement (EUFS). This includes the UK payments to and from the EU, as well as the line-by-line breakdown of the payments under each Article of the Withdrawal Agreement.

The EUFS is published annually and forms part of HMT’s disclosure and transparency obligations as agreed with the Public Accounts Committee in 1980 when the UK was a Member State. The next edition of the EUFS will cover UK payments to and from the EU in 2026, and is expected to be published in Spring 2027.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the answer of 2 June 2026 to question HL105 on Lord Mandelson, for what reason Lord Mandelson’s visit to 11 Downing Street on 8 January 2025 was not recorded in transparency returns; and whether a civil servant was present at the meeting.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

At the time of the meeting Peter Mandelson was a Parliamentarian and it was therefore not included in the return in line with the guidance on publishing Ministers’ meetings.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the press release entitled PM meeting with Prime Minister Mottley of Barbados: 25 June 2026, of 25 June 2026, whether the UK Prime Minister discussed the issue of reparations with the Prime Minister of Barbados.

Answered by Chris Ward

There is nothing further to add to the referenced readout on gov.uk.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Whether UK Statistics Authority and Office for Statistical Regulation staff are civil servants and bound by the Civil Service Code.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Parliamentary Question of 7th July is attached.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, Pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2026, to Question 4139, on Government Departments: Cost Effectiveness, if she will publish the most recent quarterly efficiency report submitted to HM Treasury by HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate as a non-ministerial department.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Attorney General

HMT’s publication of the 2026-27 financial reporting manual makes clear that a select group of smaller departments and independent bodies – which includes the Law Officers Departments - are exempt from the requirement to report efficiencies to HM Treasury in line with the Government Efficiency Framework. There are therefore no efficiency reports from the HMCPSI to HM Treasury, but the Law Officer Departments are all working towards their commitment at Spending Review 2025 to deliver at least 5% savings and efficiencies over Phase 2 of the SR period.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 1 July 2026 to Question 13158 on Darlington Economic Campus: Remote Working, which departments are based in the Darlington Economic Campus; and what the headcount of each department is.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Departments based at DEC are as follows:

• Bishopsgate House

• Department for Education (DfE)

• Darlington Feethams House

• HM Treasury (HMT)

• Office for National Statistics (ONS)

• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)

• Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

• Department for Business and Trade (DBT)

• Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)

• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)

• Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) are also a part of the wider DEC Campus, but is housed in a separate facility

Central data on Civil Service occupancy is collected and published quarterly on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-hq-occupancy-data) for all HQ buildings of Whitehall Departments. As was the case under the previous administration, no other information on workforce attendance is gathered centrally. Heads of departments have agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Review into the Organisation, Performance and Transformation of the Permanent Civil Service, published on 1 July 2026, whether he will consult His Majesty’s Official Opposition on the proposals once that review has reported.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Review into the Organisation, Performance and Transformation of the Permanent Civil Service (“the Review”) will draw on a wide range of expert advisers from academia, private, public, civil society, and international spheres. It will welcome views and input from across Parliament, including through engagement with the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and the Lords Constitutional Committee.

As the Terms of Reference set out, the Review will consider the wide range of activities undertaken by the Civil Service and will culminate in a report setting out a vision for the future Civil Service as a world class institution, to deliver for Ministers and the public. The Review will report before summer 2027, and it will be made available to the public.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2026 to Question 428 on Members: Correspondence, and with reference to the Civil Service Complaints Procedures, for what reason consideration of a Stage 2 complaint cannot be taken forward by a department if the Stage 1 complaint was considered by a Permanent Secretary; whether there are any provisions to transfer a Stage 2 complaint to a different individual in such circumstances; and who considers complaints about a Permanent Secretary.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds

Individual departments are responsible for setting their own complaints procedures. In reference to Question 428, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not operate a two-stage complaints procedure, as set out on their website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-development-office/about/complaints-procedure

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a committee to consult on a mandatory retirement age for the House of Commons.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds

The House of Lords has established a dedicated select committee to look at how best to implement the manifesto commitments on a retirement age and participation requirement.

The Government looks forward to responding to the Committee’s report in due course.

The Government has no plans to establish a committee to consult on a mandatory retirement age for the House of Commons.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans for the proposed mandatory retirement age for peers to be introduced through primary legislation.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds

The House of Lords has established a dedicated select committee to look at how best to implement the manifesto commitments on a retirement age and participation requirement.

The Government looks forward to responding to the Committee’s report in due course.

The Government has no plans to establish a committee to consult on a mandatory retirement age for the House of Commons.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Pursuant to the answer of 29 June 2026, to Question 10654, on Defence: Finance, what is the definition of critical infrastructure used as part of the 1.5% NATO target that the Government uses; and whether there is a longer guidance note on what spending is and is not included.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

As confirmed in the answer to Question 10654, NATO provided a breakdown of the types of spend that could be included within the 1.5% commitment. This included Critical Infrastructure.

In 2023, NATO published a report on the EU/NATO taskforce on the resilience of Critical Infrastructure. Within that report, it noted that Critical Infrastructure enables the fulfilment of the organisation's core tasks of deterrence and defence, crisis prevention and management, and cooperative security.

It is for each NATO ally to determine whether they have eligible Critical Infrastructure spend to include as part of their 1.5% commitment.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2026 to Question 14405 on Bank Notes: Design, if she will place in the Library a copy of the substantive reply from the Office for Equality and Opportunity to the Bank of England on the bank note imagery and design, redacting the personal names of staff members.

Answered by Seema Malhotra

The design of bank notes is a matter for the Bank of England, which is independent of the Government. There has been no engagement between Cabinet Office or Equalities Ministers and the Bank of England on banknote design and imagery. Officials in the Office for Equality and Opportunity responded to an email from a Bank of England counterpart in August 2025 in relation to their consultation on this topic as part of normal due process – as they did in 2013 under the previous government during a previous review – in line with their responsibilities under the Guide to Handling Correspondence.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the answer of 7 July 2026, to Question 14405, on Bank Notes: Design, in what regard is responding to the Bank of England bank notes consultation within the departmental remit of the Office for Equality and Opportunity.

Answered by Seema Malhotra

The design of bank notes is a matter for the Bank of England, which is independent of the Government. There has been no engagement between Cabinet Office or Equalities Ministers and the Bank of England on banknote design and imagery. Officials in the Office for Equality and Opportunity responded to an email from a Bank of England counterpart in August 2025 in relation to their consultation on this topic as part of normal due process – as they did in 2013 under the previous government during a previous review – in line with their responsibilities under the Guide to Handling Correspondence.

Found: from Victoria Cleland, Chief Cashier and Senior Advisor to the Governors, Bank of England to Alex Burghart