Ben Wallace

Please see the Government Annual Civil Service Statistics published online to show how many FTE civil servants have been employed by the Cabinet Office.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics

From 2015 to present day the Cabinet Office has grown to absorb a number of other functions. For example, the whole of the Civil Service Fast Stream headcount now sits in the Cabinet Office although the large majority do not work in the Cabinet Office. The establishment of a Government Digital Service, Government Recruitment Service and functional specialities like the Government Commercial Function have all resulted in an increase to the number of FTE employed by Cabinet Office although value and efficiencies are delivered across the Civil Service.

The Cabinet Office is committed to driving efficiencies as directed by the Chancellor.

20 civil servants are working in the Department at the level of director general who are employed by the Cabinet Office as of 30 September 2023.

As of the same date the number of civil servants at the director general level from other Departments working in the Cabinet Office is less than 5 so we are unable to answer this as it would disclose personal data of the civil servants involved.

321 civil servants from other Departments are working in the Cabinet Office and on Cabinet Office payroll, on a Loan or Secondment as of 30 September 2023.

20 civil servants are working in the Department at the level of director general who are employed by the Cabinet Office as of 30 September 2023.

As of the same date the number of civil servants at the director general level from other Departments working in the Cabinet Office is less than 5 so we are unable to answer this as it would disclose personal data of the civil servants involved.

321 civil servants from other Departments are working in the Cabinet Office and on Cabinet Office payroll, on a Loan or Secondment as of 30 September 2023.

20 civil servants are working in the Department at the level of director general who are employed by the Cabinet Office as of 30 September 2023.

As of the same date the number of civil servants at the director general level from other Departments working in the Cabinet Office is less than 5 so we are unable to answer this as it would disclose personal data of the civil servants involved.

321 civil servants from other Departments are working in the Cabinet Office and on Cabinet Office payroll, on a Loan or Secondment as of 30 September 2023.

UCAS have recently expanded their service so students can easily see the different options open to them, including apprenticeships. Having apprenticeships showcased in this way boosts the profile of apprenticeships to school leavers and is a huge step forward in putting apprenticeships on an equal footing with traditional university degrees. Over 200 degree-level apprenticeship vacancies are currently being advertised on the UCAS website for people to consider.

This month the Department, in partnership with UCAS, will launch a pilot that aims to test different ways to connect even more students to apprenticeship opportunities. The pilot will run in 3 regions throughout the 2023/24 academic year – Lancashire, the North East and Greater London – engaging employers and providing students with access to additional support designed specifically for those interested in exploring and applying for apprenticeships alongside their other options (including undergraduate courses). The pilot will be followed by an evaluation in October 2024, including an assessment of the impact of having apprenticeship vacancies listed on the UCAS student hub. In 2024, students will be able to apply for apprenticeships through UCAS alongside an undergraduate degree application. The assessment of the impact of this will then follow at a later date.

We have seen year-on-year growth of degree-level apprenticeships with over 195,550 starts since their introduction in the 2014/15 academic year. To ensure that the supply of degree apprenticeship opportunities available meets demand, we are allocating an additional £40 million over the next two years, supporting degree apprenticeship providers to expand, on top of the £8 million investment in 2022/23.

There are 174 open free schools in England. Published location information for all these schools is available on the Department for Education's website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/309965/List_of_open_free_schools_and_free_schools_opening_in_2014_and_beyond_up....xlsx

37 of those schools have a faith designation, of which 20 are in areas other than London and can be found in the table below, along with their religious designation.

26% of mainstream free schools have a faith designation, as opposed to 34% of all state-funded mainstream schools.

The Government is giving more schools greater flexibility to adapt the shape of the school year in the interests of their pupils' education.

Whilst this will extend an existing flexibility to a greater number of schools, our advice will continue to include a clear expectation of schools working with each other and the local authority to coordinate dates to avoid unnecessary disruption to parents and their employers.

The Department has consulted with representatives of the tourist industry. Where schools choose to change their holiday dates, following discussion locally with parents and local businesses, there may well be a positive impact on seaside economies. In areas of high-seasonal employment, for example, small variations to term-dates agreed locally may help parents to holiday outside of peak periods.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 set out the standards and duties to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises including schools. This includes the need to assess and manage the risks through the formulation of a site-specific asbestos management plan.

On 24 January I announced the 2014-15 maintenance allocations, which are released as a non-ringfenced capital grant. The priorities for its use are decided locally and this can include supporting schools with asbestos issues.

The two main grants to schools to fund their day-to-day activities are the Dedicated Schools Grant and the Education Services Grant. The Education Services Grant is given to local authorities to provide education services for pupils in maintained schools, and is given directly to academies. When a school receives either of these grants, the funding is not ring-fenced: the school can spend it as it chooses. Schools are therefore free to decide how much of this funding they want to spend on extra-curricular activities and projects.

The Department for Education also provides specific ring-fenced funding, through the primary PE and sport premium, for the improvement of PE and sport in primary schools. Headteachers are free to use this funding, an investment of over £150 million a year to 2015/16, to provide extra-curricular clubs for activity and sport, and for sport-related projects.

The New Hospital Programme (NHP) scheme for Royal Preston Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary is at the early stages of development and the trusts are currently exploring options for sites, including investment at Furness General Hospital. This will include a public consultation, expected in 2024. The trusts have received an overall indicative funding allocation for their scheme to support planning, and up to the end of the 2022/23 financial year, the trusts have received £11.36 million in fees and funding for the development of their scheme.

We are working closely with Preston and Lancaster on how our national standardised approach, Hospital 2.0, can support their plans using standardised designs to streamline approvals and speed up construction. This will deliver improvements for patients and staff whilst driving cost reduction and decreasing overall development timescales.

The UK, as part of the E3+3, has fully met its obligations under the Joint Plan of Action agreed with Iran in Geneva, including in the area of sanctions relief. The supply of civil aerospace parts to Iran was permitted under EU sanctions prior to the Joint Plan of Action and remains so (subject to the usual export control procedures).

We welcome the US presence on Diego Garcia, and we have said we want to see it continue. The current agreement does not conclude until December 2016, and we have not yet held substantive discussions with the US about this subject. I expect my officials to begin doing so later this year.

The government has committed to re-invest every penny that is saved from the cancelled phases of HS2 into alternative transport projects through Network North.

This means that every penny of the £19.8 billion committed to the Northern leg of HS2 will be reinvested in the North; every penny of the £9.6 billion committed to the Midlands leg will be reinvested in the Midlands; and the full £6.5 billion saved through our rescoped approach at Euston will be spread across every other region in the country.

Departmental Expenditure Limits in 2024-25 are published at the relevant Estimates in the usual way. Departmental budgets beyond 2024-25 will be set as part of the next Spending Review.

The department runs an Annual Budget Cycle (ABC) every year.

The Department runs an Annual Budget Cycle (ABC) every year. However, this is not solely for in year spending adjustments, it is a financial planning exercise to review the Department's ten-year forecast.

The most recent ABC conducted in 2023 reviewed the ten-year forecast from 2023-24 to 2032-33 and the current ABC process underway is reviewing the ten-year forecast from 2024-25 to 2033-34. This will reflect the recent announcement of our planned trajectory to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence.

The Future Cruise / Anti-Ship weapon programme is in the third year of the assessment phase and joint Anglo-France work is designing novel technological advances in missile capability. Significant progress has been made on suitable candidate weapon systems to fulfil the Naval and Air requirements. At this stage of the programme, work is focused on reducing technical and schedule risk, prior to the potential Demonstration and Manufacturing phases, and preparations are underway to prepare towards Full Business Case. Additionally, progress is also being made to explore bringing Italy on board as a partner nation, with a Letter of Intent signed in June 2023.

The Department is reviewing its forward spending plans following the Government's announcement that defence spending will reach 2.5% of GDP in 2030.

The £500 million additional funding for Ukraine, announced on 23 April 2024 will be used to rapidly deliver urgently-needed ammunition, air defence, drones and engineering support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The drones will be procured in the UK and the funds will support a scale-up in domestic defence supply chains.

Inappropriately sited wind turbines can cause significant harm to the local environment. Hence, last year, we changed planning guidance to strengthen the protection of landscape and heritage in relation to onshore wind.

Looking forward, we are keeping planning policy on renewable energy under review and will consider whether any further steps are appropriate in the light of this monitoring. We are open to representations.

It is not possible to make changes to county areas other than as a consequence of local government structural or boundary changes recommended by the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England. We have no intention of seeking such change. We are however keen to recognise and acknowledge the continuing role of England's traditional counties in the public and cultural life of the nation and the Government has sought to encourage the marking and continued use of traditional county names and areas irrespective of current tiers of local administration.