Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has taken steps to mitigate the risk of legal challenge to the assistance agreements between the Director of Investigations and Chief Constable of PSNI proposed in his amendments to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill on the basis of the independent investigation requirements of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answered by Sarah Owen - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)
This amendment gives the Directors of Investigations the ability to formally seek assistance from a police force on specific investigative tasks - for example, where it lacks certain specialist, technical equipment or skills. It is important to note that overall responsibility and operational control over each criminal investigation will remain with that Director of Investigations.
It is therefore a matter for the relevant Director of Investigations to determine the suitability of a police force or of specific assistance on a case-by-case basis. That is why subsection 4 of the amendment requires the relevant Director to be satisfied that any assistance agreement ensures consistency with the Commission’s statutory principles including, ECHR compliance. Any assistance that is provided will be in accordance with the law governing criminal investigations, including the duty to act compatibly with any relevant ECHR rights.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Minister for the Civil Service plans to take to engage with HM Opposition on changes to legislation affecting the Civil Service.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This government welcomes views and input on the Civil Service from across Parliament, including through engagement with the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the Public Accounts Committee, and the Lords Constitutional Committee.
All legislation introduced by HM Government is subject to full parliamentary debate and scrutiny.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Whether socio-economic background is a consideration in the NHS England Core20PLUS5 when deciding whether to provide health care under the programme.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Hon. Member can find full details on the NHS England website at the link below:
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
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.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
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.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
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.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
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:
Gross Operating Costs | £ |
Government Recruitment Service | 24.504m |
Shared Services | 3.660m |
Government Car Service | 7.016m |
UK Security Vetting | 77.258m |
As of 31st March 2025 (end of year 24/25) full-time equivalent headcount is as follows:
Full Time Equivalent Headcount | FTE |
Government Recruitment Service | 217.9 |
Shared Services | 29.2 |
Government Car Service | 80.9 |
UK Security Vetting | 853.4 |
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
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.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
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.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
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.