Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 81875 on Senior Civil Servants: resignations, if he will list the Permanent Secretaries that have received severance payments for which the latest information is available.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

Pursuant to the previous answer, all details of any payments made to Permanent Secretaries are available in the appropriate Departmental Annual Report and Account for the financial year, or will be published in the annual reports for the upcoming financial year.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 86 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, for what reason Simon Case was given a £201,402 severance payment; and whether this payment was approved by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

It is a longstanding policy not to comment on individuals. Details of any payments are published in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts

(https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68fb37aec18f97edd2b63756/36.17_CO_ARA_24-25_00-Book_v16A_WEB.pdf).

Guidance on managing public money effectively is issued by HMT Treasury and it sets out rules and responsibilities, as well as best practice to achieve value for money. This guidance details the circumstances in which severance is payable. All special severance payments are approved by HMT.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 79 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, if he will name the SCS2 civil servant who breeched the business appointment rules.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

In compliance with the Business Appointment Rules (BARs) the Cabinet Office is transparent in the advice given to individual applications from senior staff, including special advisers. Advice given to senior civil servants regarding specific business appointments is published quarterly on GOV.UK as part of our ongoing transparency obligations.

We do not comment on specific individuals or BARs applications.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 110 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, what was the business case for the increase in the number of hours of facility time compared to 2023-24.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

In 2024-25, the Cabinet Office spend fell well below the recommended 0.1% maximum spend laid out in the facility time framework guidance.

Trade Union representatives have a statutory right to be granted reasonable paid time off to undertake trade union duties and reasonable unpaid time to undertake trade union activities. The facility time guidance sets out the requirement to monitor and report on facility time spend in the Cabinet Office.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the gender pay gap for special advisers.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The gender pay gap for Special Advisers is published annually on GOV.UK as part of the Cabinet Office Gender Pay Gap Report.

The next annual report, covering the most recent period, will be published in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's contract with Goaco Group Ltd, notice identifier 2025/S 000-063254, published on 8 October 2025, if he will list the countries in which subcontractor resources are now located.

Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This notice relates to the development of the Central Digital Platform for procurement. Goaco Group Ltd sought permission from the Cabinet Office to engage the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) to undertake independent data quality analysis, so that the continuous improvement of the Platform is supported by the highest level of expertise available. OCP is an independent non-profit charity and has a presence in Spain and Canada. All development work related to this contract remains onshore in the UK.

As is the long-standing practice, the Cabinet Office as the contracting authority has given notice of amendment to the Goaco Contract to facilitate this work.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 82673 on Government Departments: Social Media, on which (a) topics and (b) programmes the two agencies have been commissioned to (i) select and (ii) pay appropriate influencers; and whether his Department holds information on which influencers have been hired.

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

Omni and Unlimited are contracted to Cabinet Office Government Communication Service. These agencies have supported GCS in delivering campaigns on the government's priorities and missions.

Influencers have proven to be effective in reaching audiences that traditional marketing channels find hard to reach.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 81876 on Government Departments: Advertising, whether the (a) Guido Fawkes blog, (b) Sunday Sport and (c) Politico have been assessed under the SAFE framework.

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

No SAFE framework assessment has been conducted on Guido Fawkes, Sunday Sport or Politico.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 94 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, for what reason Alex Chisholm was given a £57,521 severance payment.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

It is a longstanding policy not to comment on individuals. Details of any payments are published in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68fb37aec18f97edd2b63756/36.17_CO_ARA_24-25_00-Book_v16A_WEB.pdf

Guidance on managing public money effectively is issued by HMT Treasury and it sets out rules and responsibilities, as well as best practice to achieve value for money. This guidance details the circumstances in which severance is payable. All special severance payments are approved by HMT.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Public Sector Fraud Authority has issued recent guidance to local billing authorities on council tax (a) avoidance and (b) evasion in relation to the second homes council tax premium.

Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Guidance in relation to the payment and billing of council tax is developed and issued by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to local authorities.

However, the National Fraud Initiative (NFI), as part of the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA), works closely with local authorities to help them identify and prevent fraud.

As part of this, the NFI is currently collaborating with local authorities to understand the fraud risks related to council tax second home premiums. The NFI will use that insight to inform options, such as a data matching pilot, to detect and prevent fraud in this area.

This collaboration is also what has allowed the removal of fraudsters from social housing properties, ensuring they go to those families in genuine need, and cracking down on blue badge fraud - of which 22,000 fraudulent permits were cancelled in the last year alone.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to section 3 of the Government Communication Service document entitled SAFE Framework: the 4 principles for HMG brand safety, updated on 12 May 2025, what methodology the Cabinet Office uses to determine if an (a) opinion or (b) statement could be perceived as offensive to protected groups.

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

Opinions and statements are assessed against relevant legislation and policy to assess suitability.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 139 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, if he will provide a breakdown of the expenditure, including for individual fixtures and fittings, for the (a) refurbishment and (b) furnishing of the empty Downing Street flat; and if he will name which was empty flat.

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

As was the case under successive administrations, an itemised list is not routinely published.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Cabinet Office Lieutenancy Policy team was established; how many staff it employs; and what the remit of that team is.

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

Responsibility for Lord-Lieutenant policy and appointments was incorporated in the Church Appointments Team in 2018. The equivalent of one full-time member of staff is employed on this work. The team is responsible for managing the appointments of Lord-Lieutenants and Vice Lord-Lieutenants for the United Kingdom, and Deputy Lieutenants in England and Wales. It also oversees expenses for Lieutenancies in England, handles complaints from the public, and addresses relevant policy issues.