Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding (a) his Department and (b) the Crown Commercial Service has provided to the DigiGov Expo 2025.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
No funding has been provided to DigiGov Expo 2025 by either the Crown Commercial Service or the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been spent on alcohol for the 10 Downing Street business unit via (a) the Government Wine Cellar, (b) Berry Bros and (c) other suppliers since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Official receptions in 10 Downing Street are hosted by Ministers across Government, with details published each quarter as part of the Government's transparency returns. The cost of hospitality in 10 Downing Street is published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
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 Extension of Generalist Member to the Senior Salaries Review Body, published on 5 August 2025, whether the Public Appointments Commissioner was consulted on the decision to reappoint the Generalist Member for 12 months.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Under the Governance Code on Public Appointments, departments must notify the Commissioner for Public Appointments of “exceptional reappointments or extensions”. An exceptional reappointment or extension is one that requires a postholder to serve for more than two terms or ten years.
On 10 July 2025, Pippa Greenslade’s appointment to the Senior Salaries Review Body was extended for 12 months. This is not considered an “exceptional extension” and therefore the Commissioner for Public Appointments was not notified.
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 the written ministerial statement of 21 July 2025, HCWS870, on Government of service, what criteria will be used to distinguish a breach from a serious breach for the purposes of severance payment recovery.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Issues that arise under the Ministerial Code are handled on a case by case basis. From 13 October 2025, if a minister leaves office having been found to have seriously breached the Ministerial Code, they will be expected to forgo a ministerial severance payment.
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 12 March 2025 to Question 32929 on Cabinet Office: Palantir, which non-civil service organisations have seconded staff to the Downing Street business unit since July 2024.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There have been no secondments from non-Civil Service organisations to Downing Street since July 2024.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the style guide entitled Writing about ethnicity, updated in October 2024, for what reason the reference to communities was removed.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The ‘Writing about ethnicity’ style guide is kept under review, in order to ensure it aligns with government communication preferences.
The guide was updated by the Office for Equality and Opportunity in October 2024.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his policy is on the (a) re-use and (b) disposal of branded (i) goods and (ii) signage out of date following machinery of Government changes.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office does not issue guidance on the re-use and/or disposal of branded goods and signage made obsolete as a result of Machinery of Government changes. It is the responsibility of individual departments to ensure their branded assets are managed appropriately following changes in government structures.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2025 to Question 54390 on Data Statistics Research on Sex and Gender Independent Review, if he will make a statement to Parliament with a formal government response to that report.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As outlined in previous Answers of 3 June to Question 54390 and 2 May 2025 to Question 47834, relevant departments and policy teams will consider the findings in light of their ongoing policy work.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what funding (a) the Government Digital Service and (b) his Department has provided to DigiGov Expo 2025.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
No funding has been provided to DigiGov Expo 2025 by either the Government Digital Service or the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what guidance the National Protective Security Authority has provided on using Virtual Private Networks.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As part of our ongoing monitoring of the potential impact of circumvention techniques on the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act, Government is engaging with relevant bodies. However, the National Protective Security Authority has not provided the department with guidance on the use of VPNs.
The child safety duties are newly implemented and represent a major milestone in the protection of children online. It is now much harder for children to accidentally or intentionally access harmful content. Services that deliberately target UK children and promote VPNs to circumvent online safety measures could face enforcement action under the Act.