Baroness Finn

Since the general election on 4 July 2024 three Permanent Secretaries have announced they will stand down: Sir Jim Harra (HMRC), Sir Philip Barton (FCDO) and Sir Crawford Falconer (DBT).

The Cross Government Gender Network is a Civil Service wide forum made up of gender related staff networks, including women’s networks, working towards advancing gender equality and parity in the Civil Service and across arms-length bodies. Other networks are available which also represent the broader interests of women.

As has been the case under successive administrations, the Prime Minister allocates official residences to ministers, either on the grounds of security or to allow them to better perform their official duties. The following official residences are formally allocated to ministers:

The flats above 10 and 11 Downing Street, are allocated to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Prime Minister respectively.

1 Carlton Gardens is allocated to the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs.

The Chequers and Dorneywood estates are owned by trusts and managed by trustees; these are allocated to the Prime Minister and Chancellor respectively.

The Chevening estate is also owned by a trust and managed by trustees. The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs is the nominated person for the use of the estate.

Hillsborough Castle is available for Ministers in the Northern Ireland Office while on duty in Northern Ireland.

One of the flats in Admiralty House is allocated to the Deputy Prime Minister. The previous time limited allocation, referred to in Answer of 23 October 2024 to Question 10698 has come to an end.

Any hospitality received by Ministers is declared in accordance with the Ministerial Code. The Cabinet Office publishes details of ministers’ hospitality on a quarterly basis, and this will move to a monthly basis in future. Hospitality received by ministers in a non-ministerial capacity is published on the parliamentary registers in line with the parliamentary codes of conduct.

The Football Governance Bill, and policy decision making in this area, is led by the Ministers in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Cross Government Gender Network is a Civil Service wide forum made up of staff networks working towards advancing gender equality and parity in the Civil Service and across arms-length bodies. The change in name from the Cross-Government Women’s Network took place in 2020, under the previous administration. It does not represent any change in Government policy or activity and a public sector equality duty (PSED) assessment was not undertaken by the previous administration.

There are currently no centrally set time allocation limits for cross Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion networks.

The conventions of the House are unaffected by the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill. The Bill fulfills a manifesto commitment to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. As such, the Bill clearly engages the Salisbury-Addison convention.

Appointments to the ten independent honours committees are not ministerial or regulated public appointments and are not on the Public Appointments Order in Council. Honours committee appointments have always been made through fair and open competition with appointments made on merit, in line with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments's (OCPA) best practice. However, they are not bound by OCPA codes as they are not regulated public appointments.

Under the previous administration, between August 2022 and September 2024, the Prime Minister was responsible for making committee appointments, with advice from the Head of the Civil Service. This was a novel and significant introduction of ministerial involvement in honours.

In September 2024, the HD Committee made a recommendation to His Majesty the King to return control over the appointment of independent honours committee members to the Head of the Civil Service to insure political independence of process. This process was approved by His Majesty the King in September 2024. This means that under the current administration, the Head of the Civil Service is responsible for oversight of the honours system and is the appointing authority for all independent honours committee appointments. The Prime Minister is informed of all honours committee appointments once approved by the Head of the Civil Service.

Appointments to the ten independent honours committees are not ministerial or regulated public appointments and are not on the Public Appointments Order in Council. Honours committee appointments have always been made through fair and open competition with appointments made on merit, in line with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments's (OCPA) best practice. However, they are not bound by OCPA codes as they are not regulated public appointments.

Under the previous administration, between August 2022 and September 2024, the Prime Minister was responsible for making committee appointments, with advice from the Head of the Civil Service. This was a novel and significant introduction of ministerial involvement in honours.

In September 2024, the HD Committee made a recommendation to His Majesty the King to return control over the appointment of independent honours committee members to the Head of the Civil Service to insure political independence of process. This process was approved by His Majesty the King in September 2024. This means that under the current administration, the Head of the Civil Service is responsible for oversight of the honours system and is the appointing authority for all independent honours committee appointments. The Prime Minister is informed of all honours committee appointments once approved by the Head of the Civil Service.

Appointments to the ten independent honours committees are not ministerial or regulated public appointments and are not on the Public Appointments Order in Council. Honours committee appointments have always been made through fair and open competition with appointments made on merit, in line with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments's (OCPA) best practice. However, they are not bound by OCPA codes as they are not regulated public appointments.

Under the previous administration, between August 2022 and September 2024, the Prime Minister was responsible for making committee appointments, with advice from the Head of the Civil Service. This was a novel and significant introduction of ministerial involvement in honours.

In September 2024, the HD Committee made a recommendation to His Majesty the King to return control over the appointment of independent honours committee members to the Head of the Civil Service to insure political independence of process. This process was approved by His Majesty the King in September 2024. This means that under the current administration, the Head of the Civil Service is responsible for oversight of the honours system and is the appointing authority for all independent honours committee appointments. The Prime Minister is informed of all honours committee appointments once approved by the Head of the Civil Service.