Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether all Arm’s Length Bodies, including public corporations and private companies owned by the Government, are required to follow the Cabinet Office local and Parliamentary by-election election purdah guidance.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
It is for individual public bodies to apply pre-election guidance within their own organisations, but in doing so they should not go beyond the principles set out in central guidance. Sponsor departments must ensure that staff and board members of their ALBs are aware of the guidance and are applying the principles appropriately. Sponsor departments should be consulted by the ALB in cases of doubt.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2026, to Question 105789, on Ministers and Public Consultation: Evidence, whether the Government accepts evidence in written consultations from organisations subject to the policy of non-engagement.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Rt. Honourable Member to the answer on 21 January 2026, PQ 105789.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2025, to Question 95394, on Housing: Construction, what estimate has ONS made of per capita housebuilding rate in each constituent nation of the UK over the last 12 months.
Answered by Josh Simons
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt Hon. gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 3rd February is attached.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the head of the Office for Statistics Regulation plans to respond to the letter from the Rt hon. Member for Braintree of 8 January 2026 on business rates.
Answered by Josh Simons
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt Hon. gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 26th January is attached.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what datasets the Office for National Statistics collates and holds of the size of the population, and population growth, by religion, faith or belief, other than from the Census.
Answered by Josh Simons
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt. hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 7th January is attached.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the guidance entitled National Fraud Initiative: public-sector data specifications, updated on 11 November 2025, whether the council tax data matching will include the second homes council tax premium, where single person discount is not being claimed.
Answered by Josh Simons
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.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2025, to Question 84476, on Proof of Identity: Digital Technology, what the wider policy and guidance from the Cabinet Office is on whether departments should consider written consultation responses from individuals or organisations who are subject to a policy of non-engagement.
Answered by Josh Simons
The Cabinet Office has published consultation principles which set out how consultations should be conducted.
They are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consultation-principles-guidance.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2025 to Question 95883, on Visitor Levy, whether the Office for National Statistics intends to classify the overnight visitor levy as a tax for statistical purposes.
Answered by Josh Simons
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt. hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 7th January is attached.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the high value council tax surcharge will be payable by Ministers in official Ministerial residences which are (a) occupied as a primary residence and (b) occupied as a secondary residence.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon Member to PQ 95176.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2025, to Question 89453, on Deputy Prime Minister: Admiralty House, what was the monetary value of the council tax bill issued to the Government by Westminster City Council in March 2025 for payment from 1 April 2025.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Admiralty House sits within Council Tax Band H and details of the bands, current Council Tax charges, additional premiums and published notices about Council Tax can be found at the following page: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/council-tax/council-tax-band-and-charges