Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of health inequalities in coastal communities.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Honourable Member for Bridlington and the Wolds is right that coastal communities face unique challenges when it comes to health inequalities. Through our health mission, we are looking to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions.

The NHS also has a programme to reduce health inequalities in the most deprived 20% of the population and improve outcomes for groups that experience the worst access, experience, and outcomes within the NHS. 6 Coastal Integrated Care Boards have been launched in coastal communities and are working to reduce economic inactivity as a mechanism for reducing health inequalities.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farm visits he has made since his appointment; and where those farms were located.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Since the Secretary of State’s appointment, he has visited:

• the Great Yorkshire Agriculture Show on 10 July 2024
• a farm in Essex on 25 September 2024
• a farm in Oxford on 8 January 2025
• a farm in Gloucestershire on 7 March 2025
• a farm in Herefordshire on 7 March 2025.

As well as visiting 3 farms, he has spoken at 3 farming conferences, and has had 5 meetings with the NFU, 3 with the CLA and, 7 with other organisations and farming representatives.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of reinstating awards of honours under the Order of St Patrick.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is in the personal gift of The Sovereign. The UK Government is not considering the restoration of The Order of St Patrick.

Nominations for existing honours are open to all citizens within the four nations of the United Kingdom.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service has a role in approving contracts issued by the Cabinet Office.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service is an approving member of the Cabinet Office Commercial Spend Control Panel, which oversees spend controls for the whole of the HM Government, including non-ministerial departments, executive agencies, and other arms-length, non-commercial bodies that are majority controlled and/or financed by departments (Non-Departmental Public Bodies). This includes the Cabinet Office. Cabinet Office Commercial Spend Controls apply to all commercial activity with a value of £20m or more, excluding VAT. ).

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2025 to Question 30473 on Prime Minister: Press Conferences, for what reason members of the Labour party were invited to the event; and whether the Labour party contributed to the cost of the event.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 20 February 2025, Official Report, PQ 30473. The Labour Party did not contribute to the cost of the event.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2025 to Question 30473 on Prime Minister: Press Conferences, how many people attended the event.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This was an official government event, with attendees and an audience that included members of the public, business people, and public sector workers. 286 people RSVPed to attend.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 26831 on Civil Servants: Recruitment, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the publication of job titles in transparency data with his data protection obligations.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The publication of job titles is compatible with data protection obligations.

It is noted that SCS organograms are published. However, the SCS data is anonymised at Deputy Director level (SCS1). Although the details are published for SCS2 and above, there are provisions within the guidance for redactions or further anonymity for data privacy and security purposes.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the National Security Adviser being appointed as a special adviser on (a) the effectiveness and (b) parliamentary scrutiny of that role.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Special Advisers are accountable to Ministers who in turn are accountable to Parliament.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will update the (a) ministerial, (b) special adviser and (c) senior official transparency guidance on the definition of senior media executives to include large social media organisations.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Details of ministers’ and senior officials’ official meetings with all external individuals and organisations, including with social media organisations, are already published on a quarterly basis. Under long-standing guidance, special advisers are only required to declare meetings with senior media figures. There are no current plans to change the guidance.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 29022 on Ministers: Aviation, what the cost-metric is by which carbon offsetting is calculated; and if he will place a copy of the EDF contract in the House of Commons Library.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Carbon offsetting costs are determined by the tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) that are being offset, multiplied by the cost per tonne of CO2e from the Certified Emissions Reduction offsets provided by EDF under the framework contract. These costs can fluctuate based on the timing of purchase, as market trading demands affect the price.

The calculation metric used indicates that 1 kilogram of aviation fuel burned results in approximately 3.15 kilograms of CO2 emitted.

The Cabinet Office uses the HMG Crown Commercial Services (CCS) RM6251 Energy Supply Framework (Additional Services) with EDF for offsetting these emissions. For more information, please refer to the following link: https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/RM6251.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister held discussions with media organisations during the Labour Party conference relating to government business without officials being present; and how many readouts on meetings with external organisations were provided to his private office.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Any ministerial meetings with external organisations will be published in the usual way on gov.uk. There are processes in place where Ministers are officially supported at political events or engagements, as was the case under the previous administration.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister met organisations at Labour Party Conference 2024 which required him to report back the discussions to his private office.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Any ministerial meetings with external organisations will be published in the usual way on gov.uk. There are processes in place where Ministers are officially supported at political events or engagements, as was the case under the previous administration.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 29022 on Ministers: Aviation, how that carbon offsetting is calculated; and if he will publish the contract with EDF.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Carbon offsetting is calculated by determining the total tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) emissions that need to be offset. This amount is then multiplied by the cost per tonne of CO2e for the specific offsets being purchased, such as Certified Emissions Reduction offsets. The final cost can vary based on market conditions at the time of purchase.

The Cabinet Office utilises the HMG Crown Commercial Services (CCS) RM6251 Energy Supply Framework with EDF to offset these emissions: https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/RM6251

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2025, to Question 34730, on Civil Service: Redundancy, if he will place in the Library a copy of all revised guidance on (a) new and (b) updated protocols on Civil Service performance, management and termination; and whether senior civil servants who do not deliver expected efficiency savings will be made redundant.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Many of the documents pertaining to the management of civil servant performance and termination are already published on gov.uk. This includes the Senior Civil Service Performance Management Policy and accompanying formal poor performance guidance, the Cabinet Office Redundancy Protocol 2016 and the Civil Service Management Code.

In March, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a new exit process termed “Mutually Agreed Exits” to bring the Civil Service more in line with the private sector. The plans will give managers more tools to address substandard performance and introduce a more efficient and flexible system that will save money for the taxpayer. More information will be provided in due course.

Under the Senior Civil Service performance management framework, civil servants who do not meet the expected minimum standards of their role will be placed onto formal poor performance measures.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how long routinely deleted Downing Street emails are held for the purposes of (a) public inquiries, (b) subject access requests and (c) Freedom of Information requests.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

All emails generated, or received, in the Prime Minister’s Office, including any attachments, may be public records and therefore are subject to records management policies and procedures. The fact that they may be public records does not mean that all emails will be kept for ever. Most will be archived in accordance with standard record keeping procedures. If it is decided that an email needs to be kept for more than a very short period it is placed on the official record keeping system.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether emails in Downing Street inboxes are automatically deleted.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

All emails generated, or received, in the Prime Minister’s Office, including any attachments, may be public records and therefore are subject to records management policies and procedures. The fact that they may be public records does not mean that all emails will be kept for ever. Most will be archived in accordance with standard record keeping procedures. If it is decided that an email needs to be kept for more than a very short period it is placed on the official record keeping system.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the speech entitled PM remarks on the fundamental reform of the British state, published on 13 March 2025, on what methodological basis the Prime Minister said that compliance costs for businesses would be cut by a quarter.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

On 13 March, the Prime Minister issued a new target for the government to cut the costs of regulation to business. This target for government departments and regulators will lead to less red tape, more delivery and renew the country with economic growth. Government also successfully delivered a similar 25% reduction target between 2005 and 2010. The government will bring forward its plans to meet the target and its method for assessing progress towards it later this year.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the press release entitled Prime Minister: I will reshape the state to deliver security for working people, published on 12 March 2025, what the Government’s is for the (a) number of civil servants and (b) cost of civil service pay.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Prime Minister has set out his ambition to deliver long-term, impactful changes to reshape the British state and the Government is taking forward a number of measures to deliver greater efficiency and transformation in the Civil Service. Each department will take a decision on its individual size and shape as per the financial settlement it agrees with HMT in the Spending Review, due for conclusion in June 2025.

The Prime Minister has announced that the Government is committed to cutting bureaucracy across the state, in order to focus government on the priorities of working people and shift money to the frontline. As part of this, the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the arms-length body NHS England. The government has also announced the first zero-based review of government spending in 17 years, with departments expected to go line-by-line to find savings and efficiencies, including in bodies and agencies that they sponsor.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2025 to Question 32906, on Government Departments: Telephone Services, whether the Government Communication Service provides a departmental press office telephone number to members of the press.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

It is up to the individual departments to decide their preferred method of communication with members of the press.

Within the Cabinet Office press office, there is not a single telephone number, communication takes place via pressoffice@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, through which mechanisms non-ministerial departments are accountable to Parliament.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

A non-ministerial department (NMD) is a government department, but one that does not have its own minister. An individual NMD is accountable to Parliament through its sponsoring ministers, and the NMD Permanent Secretary, who is the accounting officer. Non-ministerial departments have their own budgets, and are required to produce annual reports and accounts, which can be examined by Parliament.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which divisions in his Department hold information on (a) the number of software licences his Department has paid for and (b) usage of those software licences.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Cabinet Office Digital is responsible for the number of software licenses purchased.

Cabinet Office Digital uses a range of tools to monitor and manage these software licenses.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government advertises on X.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the honourable gentleman to the previous response given to Question 14352.

Between October 2023 and October 2024, the Cabinet Office has spent £0 advertising on X.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2024 to Question 5282, on Senior Civil Servants: Pay, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing performance related incentives in the junior civil service.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Individual Government Departments have delegated authority to determine pay, including performance related incentives, for their workforce, excluding Senior Civil Servants, subject to the parameters of the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance. Currently, non-consolidated performance payments are already in place across many departments. The Government recently announced new measures for performance-related pay for the Senior Civil Service.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 31 July 2024 to Question 1208 on Government Communication Service, if he will publish a breakdown of the staff for each of the non-departmental public bodies that are not included in the Section 14 of the published Annual Civil Service Employment Survey.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to Question 16512, answered on 5 December 2024.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Ministers can consider applications to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments which have not been considered when making Government appointments.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

All government appointees, whether regulated or unregulated, are subject to due processes to manage outside interests, which may include external employment.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Ministers in receipt of a political donation from an (a) unincorporated association and (b) members' association must declare the identity of the ultimate donor behind the donation to their (i) Permanent Secretary and (ii) the Independent Advisor.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

There is an established process in place for the declaration and management of private interests held by ministers. This ensures that steps are taken to avoid or mitigate any actual or perceived conflicts of interest. As part of this process, ministers and their permanent secretaries are asked to consider together whether any recent donations may have a bearing on the minister’s portfolio and duties and to agree appropriate mitigations.

Ministers are also required, as MPs and peers, to adhere to the relevant parliamentary code of conduct with regards to declaring interests. This includes registering donations and other support, details of which are made public on Parliament’s website.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question HL4627, on 9 Downing Street: Media, for what reasons the media room in 9 Downing Street was refurbished.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 21 January 2025, Official Report, PQ 25454.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Departments have an Outcome Delivery Plan for 2024-25.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Honorable Member to the answer given to the Honorable Member for Brentwood and Ongar on 13 January 2025 (PQ UIN 21348).

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether some public sector pension schemes have a retire and return option.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

It is possible for members of the main statutory Public Service Pension Schemes to return to public service employment after retiring and taking pension. The rules on further employment of individuals who are in receipt of relevant pension benefits are set out in scheme regulations for each of the workforces. Some Public Service Pension Schemes also allow for partial retirement, where a member can draw their accrued pension and continue working.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answers of (a) 12 February 2025 to Question 28577 and (b) 16 January 2025 to Question 21390 on Armed Forces: Equality, whether the work on the Armed Forces’ EDI review was led or undertaken by his Department.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office has not carried out a review of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) expenditure for the Armed Forces.

The Civil Service EDI Expenditure Review, which was carried out under the previous administration between June 2023 and May 2024, included EDI expenditure relating solely to civil servants, including those who may have been undertaking work on behalf of the Armed Forces, but not in relation to Armed Forces personnel.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 34456 on Information Rights User Group, whether the decision not to hold a meeting of the Group since April 2024 was made by (a) Ministers and (b) officials.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

As was the case under the previous administration, the timing of meetings of the Group have been organised on an ad hoc basis. The Government will set out its plans for the Information Rights User Group in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons was there no public consultation on the new joint Framework Agreement for Civil Service Commission, Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

There is no requirement to carry out a public consultation on Framework Agreements, as was the case under the previous government. As such, none was undertaken on the new joint Framework Agreement for Civil Service Commission, Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and Commissioner for Public Appointments.

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