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Written Question
Retail Trade: Redundancy
Tuesday 22nd July 2025

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many jobs have been lost due to high street shop closures in the last 12 months for which data is available.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 14th July is attached.


Written Question
Cars: Theft
Monday 21st July 2025

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, ow many cars have been reported as stolen in the last 12 months for which data is available.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 14th July is attached.


Written Question
Civil Service: Recruitment
Wednesday 18th June 2025

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of job applications to the civil service in the last 12 months.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The number of vacancies advertised via the Civil Service (CS) Jobs website has decreased over the past full financial year and applications received via CS Jobs have increased.


Written Question
Arms Length Bodies
Thursday 12th June 2025

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the (a) number and (b) cost of arms length bodies; and what discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland on this issue.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The government is conducting a full line-by-line Spending Review which will cover the costs of proposed and existing ALBs to ensure value for money is being delivered for the taxpayer.

On 6 April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a full review of all UK government arm’s length bodies to drive efficiency and reduce bureaucracy and duplication as part of Prime Minister’s Plan for Change.The review is ongoing. I have not held any ministerial discussions with my devolved counterparts about this review.


Written Question
Retail Trade: Vacancies
Wednesday 21st May 2025

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate the number of high street job vacancies filled over the last 12 months.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 13th May is attached.


Written Question
Immigration Controls: Young People
Monday 12th May 2025

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether she plans to implement a youth mobility scheme deal with the EU.

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

I am not going to give a running commentary on our talks with the EU. This Government is taking action to reduce net migration, but supports the 13 existent controlled schemes which create opportunities for young people to experience different cultures, travel, and work.


Written Question
Employment: Sexual Offences
Thursday 8th May 2025

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of sexual assaults that occur in the workplace.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 29th April is attached.


Written Question
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman: Public Appointments
Wednesday 2nd April 2025

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he expects the permanent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to be appointed.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The House of Commons leads on the recruitment of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which is ongoing. We expect that further information will be made available shortly.


Written Question
Drugs: Death
Monday 24th March 2025

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of drug deaths in the last 12 months.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 17th March is attached.


Written Question
Emergencies: Planning
Friday 14th March 2025

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to improve national resilience to global events.

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

The first duty of the Government is to keep the country safe and we are working to strengthen our national resilience, including by working with international partners.

In April the UK Resilience Academy will be launched and will train over 4000 people a year and later this year we will undertake a full national pandemic response exercise.

The review of national resilience continues. Updates will be given in due course.