Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department’s (a) Permanent Secretary and (b) Ministers have had correspondence with Flint Global since July 2024.
Answered by Uma Kumaran - Assistant Whip
I can confirm that the Permanent Under-Secretary and the Minister of State, Stephen Doughty, have had correspondence with Flint Global in the course of routine engagement.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what specific diversity and inclusion (a) days, (b) weeks and (c) months, were recognised and marked by (i) the department and (ii) each of its agencies, in the calendar year 2025.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
a) DCMS recognised the following diversity and inclusion days in
2025:
Holocaust Memorial Day, January 2025
Time to Talk Day, February 2025
International Women's Day, March 2025
World Day for Cultural Diversity, May 2025
World Suicide Prevention Day, September 2025
International Men's Day, November 2025
b) DCMS recognised the following diversity and inclusion weeks in
2025:
Mental Health Awareness Week, May 2025.
Social Mobility Week, September 2025
National Inclusion Week, September 2025
Invisible Disabilities Week, October 2025
Interfaith Week, December 2025
c) DCMS recognised the following diversity and inclusion months in
2025:
Women's history month, March 2025
Neurodiversity Awareness Month, April 2025
Black History Month, October 2025
South Asian Heritage Month, July 2025
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October 2025
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, November 2025
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will list each industrial dispute live within (1) NHS England and (2) her Department, including the nature of the dispute and level of industrial action.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently no ongoing disputes between (1) the Department and (2) NHS England, and any of their respective recognised trade unions. Details of disputes within other NHS organisations are not centrally held.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what is the percentage office workplace attendance requirement in each of the department’s offices, broken down by location; and whether attendance statistics are collated for each of those individual offices.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has an attendance requirement of 60%. This is applied across all of the Department’s offices regardless of location.
The Department monitored aggregated and anonymised office attendance data across its two HQs in London (100 Parliament Street) and Manchester (17 Marble Street).
London HQ occupancy figures are published quarterly on GOV.UK as part of the Civil Service HQ occupancy transparency data.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, further to the answer of 8 July 2026, to Question 14349, on Civil Service: Temporary Employment, if they will list each of the internship schemes have been made available in the last 12 months through the department, other than the Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS runs an internship scheme with one of our partners, Upreach, which is restricted to applicants of a low-socio economic background. In addition, internships were provided via a contract held with Change 100 - these were for students and recent graduates who identify as disabled and/or having a long-term health condition.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what was the outturn spending by the department on communications, marketing and advertising in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
In 2024-25, the department spent £6,599,338 and in 2025-26 the department spent £4,219,047 on communications, marketing and advertising.
A significant proportion of the expenditure in 2024-25 was for marketing the offer of retail shares in NatWest and was recovered accordingly from NatWest.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2026 to Question 4161, on Government departments: marketing, how much has been spent on branded goods and merchandise by (a) the department and (b) each of its Arm’s Length Bodies since the Government Chief Commercial Officer letter was sent; on what items, and at what cost.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP Policy states that money shouldn’t be spent on non-essential branded merchandise. The distribution of branded merchandise is to be restricted to instances where it is truly necessary; for example, where expenditure on merchandise is necessary for operational purposes.
No expenditure occurs in our central records for the core department.
This table outlines responses for DWP’s Arm’s Length Bodies:
Arm’s Length Body | How much has been spent on branded goods and merchandise by the Arm’s Length Body? (b) | What items and what cost? (b) |
Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) | CITB have spent £88,336.56 (inclusive of VAT) on promotional merchandise since joining DWP on 1st April 2026. CITB has advised that some expenditure relates to branded event assets, such as roller banners and table cloths, rather than merchandise. | The largest areas of spend were exhibition bags (£8,748), branded ballpens (£8,904), metal bottles (£7,272), travel tumblers (£5,808) and other promotional materials used to support engagement activities and events. The expenditure reported by CITB formed part of the delivery of their core statutory functions as industry training bodies, including engagement with employers, learners and training providers, and support for industry events, exhibitions and skills promotion activities. The items purchased were used in connection with those activities. |
Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) | ECITB have spent £8,153.15 (inclusive of VAT) since joining DWP on 1st April. | The largest items of spend were products and services catalogues (£1,917), strategy booklets (£755), awards trophies (£525.48), strategy and promotional roller banners (£643.80 combined), and branded clothing for the Learning & Assurance team (£361.09). Expenditure also included business cards, flyers and other printed materials used to support engagement activities and events. The expenditure reported by ECITB formed part of the delivery of their core statutory functions as industry training bodies, including engagement with employers, learners and training providers, and support for industry events, exhibitions and skills promotion activities. The items purchased were used in connection with those activities. While DWP policy does not permit expenditure on promotional merchandise because it is not considered an appropriate use of public money, the Industrial Training Boards operate under different funding arrangements. Their activities are funded predominantly through employer levies raised from their respective industries rather than through general taxation. As industry training bodies, they undertake significant engagement with employers, learners and training providers, including participation in sector events, exhibitions and skills promotion activities, where branded materials and promotional collateral are used to support the delivery of their statutory functions. |
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) | £14,885. HSE does not have promotional merchandise per- se. The items in column 3 are branded stationery items that are provided on HSE’s externally facing training courses and events, to contain delegate packs, handouts etc. The cost of these items is built into the price paid by their customers/delegates, so is fully recovered via commercial revenue. | 1000 Training delegate ring binders: £3,210 (Jul 25, Dec 25) 2000 Training delegate tote bags: £1,805 (Oct 25, Feb 26, Aug 26) 2500 Training and events pens: £1,525 (Dec 25, Aug 26) |
Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) | £740.40 in the 2026/27 financial year to date. | Two pull-up banners: £356.42 Exhibition materials: £383.98 |
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) | Zero. | Zero |
The Pension Ombudsman (TPO) | Zero | Zero |
Skills England | Zero | |
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will list each industrial dispute live within his Department, including the nature of the dispute and level of industrial action.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions has no live formal trade disputes at present.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether any internship schemes managed by (a) her Department and (b) each of its Arm’s Length Bodies are restricted to applicants on the basis of (i) ethnicity, (ii) social class and (iii) both.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS runs an internship scheme with one of our partners, Upreach, which is restricted to applicants of a low-socio economic background. In addition, DCMS takes part in the Cabinet Office run Summer Internship Scheme which provides placements to individuals from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. No schemes are run which are restricted to applicants on the basis of ethnicity.
DCMS does not collect this information for its Arms Length Bodies.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many departmental Senior Civil Service away days have taken place in calendar year 2026 to date; in what specific venues; at what cost; and if there was any associated social or team-building activity at public expense.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In the calendar year 2026, the Cabinet Office has not held any departmental Senior Civil Service away days.