Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his planned timetable is for responding to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee's report entitled Lobbying and Influence HC 203, published on 2 May 2024.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In addition to steps this Government has already taken to improve transparency, in particular through the introduction of the monthly register of ministers' gifts and hospitality, the Government continues to develop its broader work on ethics and standards and will update the Committee on the outcome of that work in due course.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 May 2025 to Question 53200 on Cabinet Office: Labour Party, what the value of the payments was; and what dates those payments relate to.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The dates and value of payments received are as follows:
Sept 2024 - £4.87
Sept to Nov 2024 - £2,827.94
Dec 2024 - £102.40
Each of these payments was for use of Government Car Service.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there is a successor publication to the Central Office of Information's white book.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The White Book is no longer in publication.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to Box 1.D of the Spending Review 2025, CP1336, published on 11 June 2025, whether she has made an estimate of the number of civil servants funded to exit the civil service in (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The cost of paid exits in the Civil Service varies significantly as the terms of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, which sets the terms for paid exits in the Civil Service, is based on length of service and salary. However, we expect the transformation fund for employee exit schemes, matched by departments themselves, to enable a reformed Civil Service that is focussed on delivery, through an efficient and cost-effective workforce.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there is a Crown Commercial Service communications and marketing framework which covers branded goods.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In April, the government announced that spending taxpayer money on new unnecessary branded merchandise will be banned and will only be permitted when essential for delivering the government’s agenda, for example, in overseas trade and diplomacy, to promote growth. Government departments can continue to use existing branded merchandise.
Branded goods are presently available through the Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) Campaign Solutions 2 Framework (RM6125), which was established under the previous administration in September 2021.
CCS is in the process of establishing a new framework, RM6364 Media and Creative Services, which will replace Campaign Solutions 2. The new framework will not cover branded goods.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Airbus A321-253NX with registration G-OATW is still used for official travel.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Airbus A321-253NX with registration G-OATW is not used by the Cabinet Office for official travel.
Since assuming the registration G-OATW in October 2023, the aircraft has been chartered under various contracts with other government departments, to support their official business.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54764 on Cabinet Office: Pay, what the annual wage costs were for the EU relations secretariat in the most recent year for which figures are centrally held.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Salary data for the Civil Service is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics, an Accredited Official Statistics release. Civil Service Statistics 2025 is due to be published on 30 July 2025.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 53546 on House of Lords Appointments Commission, whether the recruitment campaign to appoint the two independent members was re-opened after it originally closed.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The campaign to appoint new Independent Members to the House of Lords Appointments Commission was launched earlier this year and remains active. It has not been re-opened.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the political balance of the Parliamentary and Political Service honours committee across (a) independent members who hold a party political whip in the House of Lords and (b) official members.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee (PPS Committee) is one of ten specialist honours committees which assess honours nominations put forward by members of the public, government departments and professional bodies.
Honours committees are made up of individuals with considerable experience of the area covered by the committee. The PPS Committee considers candidates for honours from the UK Parliament, the Devolved Legislatures, the staff of Westminster and other Assemblies, the staff of bodies which report to them, Party workers, councillors and others working for local government.
The current membership of the PPS Committee comprises four independent members, appointed through a public appointments process, and three official members who are the incumbent chief whips from the three largest political parties in the House of Commons. The process to appoint the new independent Chair of the PPS Committee is ongoing and an announcement will be made in due course. The full composition of each honours committee can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's press release entitled, Portraits of His Majesty the King for UK public authorities, published on 1 April 2023, how many portraits were provided to public bodies; and what the total cost was of that scheme.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Honourable Member to the information published on GOV.UK on 28 November 2024 which provided a summary of the His Majesty The King Official Portrait Scheme, including the number of portraits provided and the total cost of the scheme: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/conclusion-of-his-majesty-the-kings-free-portrait-scheme
The HMK Portrait scheme was launched on 14th November 2023 and, including two extensions of scope, ran until 15th August 2024. A total of 20,565 orders were received, the cost of which, including delivery, was £2,710,705.50 with an average price of £131.81 per portrait.