Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason it is the Government's to lift the Civil Service headcount cap that had been announced by the previous administration; and if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of this policy.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

This government moved away from capping civil service headcount to an approach that ensures departments consider overall value for money in resourcing decisions.

To this end it has introduced of a 2% target for reduction to administration budgets in financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26 and a stop to all non-essential spending on consultancy, with an aim to halve spending in future years.
This government has also committed to developing a long-term strategic plan for a more efficient and effective civil service, including bold options to improve skills, harness digital technology and drive better outcomes for public services.

Decisions relating to the cost of the civil service workforce will be considered as part of the Spending Review process. HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office will work closely with departments to develop plans that achieve the government’s reform objectives for the civil service.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Covid Corruption Commissioner will be a direct Ministerial appointment.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The government will shortly appoint a Covid Corruption Commissioner - this follows an open competition that closed on 30 September. The details can be found at https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/8362?titleSearch=&bodySearch=&regulated=&bodyJustice=&remunerated=&status=open&sort=openingAt%3Adesc#attachments

The Commissioner will lead work to recover public funds from companies that took unfair advantage of government schemes during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 4258 on Treasury: public appointments, if she will provide this data by the recruitment principles exception used by each grade.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Since 30 May 2024, the following appointments by exception have been made:

Exception 1 (Temporary Appointments) – 22 appointments. The grades of these appointments are Student, Senior Executive Officer, Grade 7, and SCS2.

Exception 3 (Secondments) – 8 appointments. The grades of these appointments are Higher Executive Officer, Senior Executive Officer, Grade 7 and SCS1.

Exception 10 (Conversion to permanency for those appointed under Exception 1 or 2) – Fewer than 5 appointments.

Where the number of individuals covered is fewer than 5, we consider that to provide an exact figure would constitute the disclosure of personal data.

The ‘Student’ grade is used for staff appointed to short term roles via cross Civil Service internship schemes.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether individuals of pension age receiving a pension from the security and intelligence services are able to accrue a civil service pension if employed by the civil service.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The security and intelligence services' pension scheme is separate from the Civil Service Pension Scheme. It is possible for an individual, in receipt of benefits from the pension scheme for the security and intelligence services, to accrue a Civil Service pension if employed in the Civil Service, and then receive a pension from both schemes when they retire.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2024 to Question 2067 on Government Hospitality: Wines, what the (a) full name, (b) vintage and (c) cost was of each (i) wine and (ii) spirit that has been used for hospitality in Downing Street since the general election.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government Wine Cellar has not been used for hospitality at Downing Street since the general election.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in his Department have had discussions with (i) the Green Finance Institute and (ii) Lisbet Rausing since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisations or individuals in attendance.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many faxes his Department has (a) sent and (b) received since the general election.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not have the corporate capability to send or receive faxes.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2024 to Question 5009 on Government Departments: Disclosure of Information, whether he has issued guidance to Departments on the frequency of publishing (a) core and (b) other transparency data.

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

Transparency reporting requirements remain in place, with data regularly being published on GOV.UK. I refer the Right Honourable Member to the debate in the House on Reporting Ministerial Gifts and Hospitality, debated on Monday 14 October 2024. The Government will set out further details in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) substantive information requested and (b) decision was for each (i) Freedom of Information Act and (ii) Environmental Information Regulation request received by his Department since the general election; and what exemption was used to (A) refuse and (B) part-refuse each request.

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

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer I gave on 22 October. (UIN 8811)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 2628 on Government departments: communication and public consultation, what data her Department holds on (a) government and (b) departmental spending on communications and marketing.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

HMT does not hold data on all government spending on communications and marketing. However, communications and marketing spend above £100,000 is subject to central spending control and, as such, is published by each government department alongside other spend control data on a quarterly basis on gov.uk. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/search/all?keywords=spend+control+data&order=relevance.

The Public Spending Audit, announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in July 2024, set a target for finding £50m savings in both 2024-25 and 2025-26 by stopping non-essential spending on communications. The Government will provide an update on the delivery of these commitments at the Budget.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2024 to Question 4649 on Members: Correspondence, and with reference to the letter from the Cabinet Secretary to the Rt hon. Member for Salisbury, dated 12 September 2024, if he will place a copy of the induction training guidance for special advisers referenced in that letter in the House of Commons Library.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

There are no plans to place a copy of induction training guidance into the House of Commons Library.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Special Adviser Remuneration Committee has met since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the RH member to PQ7440. The Special Adviser People Board has met and will continue to meet as required.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department issues to (a) press officers and (b) special advisers on briefing correspondence to the media.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Guidance to civil service press officers on how they should deliver their role can be found here: https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/media/.

The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers includes provisions on contact with the media for Special Advisers and can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d834869e5274a2036a24e0d/201612_Code_of_Conduct_for_Special_Advisers.pdf.

The guidance has remained the same since the Right Honourable Member was a Minister in the department.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2024 to Question 4654 on public sector: trade unions, what is the current practice of government Departments on check-off; and how many Departments (a) charge trade unions for levying check-off and (b) have cancelled check-off arrangements.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office does not collect or hold information on check-off arrangements in place in each Department.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 2 September 2024 to Question 2301 on Cyber-security: EU law, whether the National Cyber Security Centre has made an assessment of the potential risks to (a) public and (b) private sector cyber security of his policy on kernel level software; and whether he plans to amend that policy.

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

Technical experts at the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have reviewed this issue, including in the context of the global IT outage that occurred in July. Allowing third party software into the kernel is still necessary to ensure a vibrant, diverse, effective and adaptive cyber security ecosystem on some platforms. This is because not all operating systems provide non-kernel routes to get the data that third party security tools need for their analyses. Vendors that have a genuine need to run code in the kernel have a responsibility for doing that in the lowest risk way that they can. This includes running thorough tests on new versions of that code, keeping the kernel code simple, and moving code out of the kernel that doesn't need the full power, or justify the associated risk, that such access offers.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Mission Delivery Boards are classified as cabinet sub-committees; and how often they will meet.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees - including mission boards - is not normally shared publicly.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 4258 on Treasury: public appointments, what the recruitment principles exception was for each appointment made by exception to her Department since 30 May 2024.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Since 30 May 2024, the following appointments by exception have been made:

Exception 1 (Temporary Appointments) – 22 appointments. The grades of these appointments are Student, Senior Executive Officer, Grade 7, and SCS2.

Exception 3 (Secondments) – 8 appointments. The grades of these appointments are Higher Executive Officer, Senior Executive Officer, Grade 7 and SCS1.

Exception 10 (Conversion to permanency for those appointed under Exception 1 or 2) – Fewer than 5 appointments.

Where the number of individuals covered is fewer than 5, we consider that to provide an exact figure would constitute the disclosure of personal data.

The ‘Student’ grade is used for staff appointed to short term roles via cross Civil Service internship schemes.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what is the timetable for publication under the Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 of trade union facility time data for 2023-24.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Self-reported public-sector trade union facility time data, collected under the Facility Time Regulations, will be published before the end of the year. This is in line with our standard timelines for this data set and the timelines under the previous administration.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2024 to Question 5052 on Government Departments: Disclosure of Information and with reference to the when he plans to start to publish (a) transparency data for (i) Ministers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) senior officials and (b) the list of Ministerial interests on a monthly schedule.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Transparency reporting requirements remain in place, with data regularly being published on GOV.UK.

I refer the Right Honourable Member to the debate in the House on Reporting Ministerial Gifts and Hospitality, debated on Monday 14 October 2024. The Government will set out further details in due course.

The List of Ministers’ Interests is published twice yearly.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 25 September to Question 5051 on Civil Servants: Trade Union Officials, whether the Government plans to (a) issue new guidance on and (b) renegotiate existing facility time agreements.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government is committed to ensuring there is sufficient facility time for all trade union representatives in the public sector. Existing guidance remains in place.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference Answer of 26 September 2024 to Question HL978 on Ministers: Members' Interests, whether declarations made by Ministers to the House of Commons or House of Lords register of Members’ interests constitute a Ministerial declaration under the Ministerial Code.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The ministers’ interests process, which is set out in the Ministerial Code, is distinct from the parliamentary regimes that exist for Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords to register interests as parliamentarians. All ministers must comply with both the Ministerial Code and the Codes of Conduct of their respective House.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance has been provided by (a) the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff or (b) Cabinet Office special adviser HR to special advisers on the Alpha Civil Service Pension scheme.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

As with other Civil Servants, special advisers are provided with guidance regarding Civil Service Pension schemes and are directed to published Civil Service Pension scheme resources.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the answer of 16 September 2024 to Question HL667 on Government Departments: Remote Working, when he plans to provide an update on future publication plans.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Civil Service Headquarters (HQ) Occupancy Data publication resumed on 24 October 2024, for the period July - September 2024, with further publications to now happen on a quarterly basis. Data can be found on GOV.UK.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which categories of (a) individual and (b) organisation are eligible to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The answers to the questions raised are available in the public domain and can be found on the member and employer sections of the Civil Service Pension website and also the UK Government Legislation website.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1206 on Political Levy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on trade union members that have not previously opted-in to a political levy but that have also not actively opted-out.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Employment Rights Bill substantively restores the position on political fund contributions to before the passage of the Trade Union Act 2016. This will mean trade union members will automatically be opted-in to contribute to a political fund, unless they expressly opt-out. We are proposing existing trade union members who did not opt-in to the political fund post 2016 would remain opted-out, and therefore we do next expect there to be any impact on these members.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2024 to Question 2633 on Admiralty House, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) renting out the empty flats and (b) converting the empty flats to office use.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office currently has no plans to rent out or convert the flats in Admiralty House.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2024 to Question 4682 on Prime Minister's Chief of Staff: Workplace Pensions, whether other public bodies hold information on the Cash Equivalent Transfer Value of civil service pensions of special advisers.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the RH member to PQ9163.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2024 to Question 4703 on Public Sector: Pay, if he will take steps to collate this information.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

This information was not collected centrally by previous administrations, including the administration in which the Right Honourable member served as a minister in this department, and there are no plans to do so in the future.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1206 on Political Levy, whether trade unions will be required to inform members of the right to opt-out (a) on membership forms and (b) in yearly membership renewals.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Employment Rights Bill restores the position on political funds to before the passage of the Trade Union Act 2016. This will mean that where a trade union has a political fund, any membership form must inform members of their right to opt out of contributing to a fund. There will be no requirement on trade unions to notify members annually of their right to opt out of contributing to a political fund.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether direct ministerial appointments are eligible for the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Direct ministerial appointments are not employees of their sponsor department, and therefore not members of the civil service.

It is only civil servants and persons serving in an office or employment listed in Schedule 1 to the Superannuation Act 1972 who are eligible for pension and other benefits which derive from schemes made under section 1 of the Act.

The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme is a scheme made under section 1 of the Act.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether theft of a Minister’s personal possessions while on official business is covered by Departmental insurance.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

Government departments do not generally purchase commercial insurance cover except in the most exceptional circumstances.

Instead, each government department, in accordance with Treasury guidance, carries its own risk and meets any valid liabilities arising.

In the event of loss or theft of personal effects whilst travelling on official duty, claims will be considered on a case-by-case basis having regard to normal terms and conditions of service.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will list his Department's trade envoys.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

We are carefully considering the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy programme in the context of the new Government’s trade objectives. We will update the house in due course on the programme’s future.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the appointment of the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister was by open and fair competition.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Secretary recommended a range of candidates and the Prime Minister interviewed a number of them before selecting his Principle Private Secretary.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's publication entitled National Security and Investment Act 2021: Annual Report 2023-24, published on 10 September 2024, for what reason there was the reduction in the average time taken to issue a final order under the National Security and Investment Act from 81 statutory working days to 34 statutory working days.

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

The time taken to issue a final order for each called in acquisition will depend on the facts of the case. Given the small number of final orders (five) issued in this reporting period (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024), no conclusions should be drawn about any trends in the time taken between calling in an acquisition and issuing a final order.

It is worth noting that with only two years’ worth of data, and each acquisition assessed on its own merits, the Government expects to see some variation in the majority of statistics from year to year.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which special advisers (a) are members of and (b) attend as observers of the National Security Council.

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

Membership of the National Security Council is restricted to Ministers. A list of members can be found on Gov.uk. To protect cabinet collective responsibility, observer attendance is strictly controlled.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the new Special Representative for Climate is a direct ministerial appointment; what the terms of reference were for this appointment; and whether she has made any declaration of interest.

Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Special Representative for Climate is a Direct Ministerial Appointment.

The Special Representative's Terms of Reference are available on gov.uk.

The Special Representative has made a declaration of interest.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to update the guidance entitled (a) Special advisers’ gifts and hospitality received, and meetings with Senior Media Figures, published on 2 April 2024, and (b) Senior Officials’ business expenses, hospitality received and meetings with external organisations and individuals, published on 2 April 2024.

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

This Government has committed to looking at how the range of data published can be improved and made as useful as possible.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to take legislative steps to amend the Pensions Increase (Pension Scheme for Keir Starmer QC) Regulations 2013.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

There are no plans to amend the regulations.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 2 September 2024 to Question 2060 on Ministers: Conduct, what steps the Prime Minister is taking to ensure that paragraph 9.1 is followed by all Departments.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Prime Minister published the new Ministerial Code on 6 November. The Code sets out the standards of conduct that all ministers are expected to uphold.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there is a cost to the public purse of the upkeep of cats at 10 Downing Street.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

There is no cost to the public purse.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what financial interests have been declared by Varun Chandra.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

As was the case under the previous Administration, interests deemed relevant for publication by the appropriate permanent secretary, for special advisers in No10 and the Cabinet Office, are published on an annual basis by the Cabinet Office.

For special advisers in other departments, interests deemed relevant for publication by the appropriate permanent secretary are published by the relevant department on an annual basis in, or alongside, the department’s Annual Report and Accounts.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of special advisers have signed a contract.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

All special advisers are subject to the Model Contract for Special Advisers, which is published online at GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has received representations from the Greek Government on (a) loaning and (b) donating the Elgin Marbles to Greece.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Yes.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff and (b) the Cabinet Office have developed contingency plans for (i) a strike and (ii) a work to rule by special advisers.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Right Honourable Member to the answer given on 25th July 2024.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has held recent discussions with the Premier League on the potential implications for his policies of foreign investment in football.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

This government is pro-business, and wants to see football continue to thrive. We recognise and are proud of the Premier League’s position as the world’s foremost football league. Investment in the Premier League has been one of the key drivers behind this success.

We are establishing a new Independent Football Regulator and have engaged extensively with the Premier League as we have finalised the legislation to deliver this. This Bill will deliver sustainability for clubs which will help support continued long-term investment in the game.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to table 5 of the National Security and Investment Act 2021: Annual Report 2023-24, published on 10 September 2024, for what reason each of the withdrawals from a called in acquisition withdrew; and whether he plans to ask companies to withdraw rather than proceeding with formal intervention.

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

There is no requirement for parties to inform the Government before they withdraw from acquisitions or to tell the Government the reasons behind the withdrawal.

Parties might withdraw from deals for a variety of reasons, including reasons unrelated to the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act.

All acquisitions are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 7805 on Ministers: Members' Interests, what the budget is for the development of the single platform for transparency data; and which organisation has been tasked with developing the platform.

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

This Government is committed to looking at how the range of information published can be improved and made as useful as possible.

This Government will introduce a register for ministers’ gifts and hospitality bringing publication of ministerial transparency data on a broadly equivalent basis to the parliamentary register.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what (a) direct ministerial and (b) other public appointments to his Department and associated bodies have (i) been (A) removed from their posts and (B) asked to resign and (ii) made since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department for Business and Trade has made three direct ministerial appointments since 04 July 2024: 1) Professor Sir Steve Smith, reappointed as International Education Champion, for a period of 12 months and 2) Lord Lancaster, reappointed as Defence and Security Advocate for a period of 3 months and 3) Clare Barclay as Chair of the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council.

Departments do not routinely record and collect the reasons why appointees leave their positions. The reasons why an appointee has left their role is the appointee’s personal information and identifiable and would elicit GDPR considerations.

Found: John Glen: Yes, I remember.

Found: I will pass to John Glen MP to kick off. Q1 John Glen: Thank you, Chair.