John Hayes

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) receive HR services from the Government Legal Department (GLD). This includes equality, diversity, and inclusivity roles and therefore the AGO does not hold this information.

The CPS is determined to drive up the number of rape and serious sexual offence (‘RASSO’) cases going to court. Too few victims are seeing justice and reversing that is an absolute priority. The reasons for the decline in prosecutions are complex, with the Government rape review finding no single factor is to blame.

The CPS is working tirelessly in making improvements to the handling of these sensitive cases through its RASSO 2025 Strategy and the Joint National RASSO Action Plan with the police. This includes targeted work supporting victims in order to increase confidence in reporting. Following the impact of Covid-19 on prosecution volumes, it is encouraging to see increased volumes quarter on quarter – however, it is recognised that there is still work to be done.

The unduly lenient sentence scheme allows for sentences passed for the most serious criminal offences to be reviewed by the Court of Appeal, if referred by the Law Officers. The extension of the scheme added further serious offences to the list of those which can be referred.

In the course of this year, under the extended scheme, I have successfully referred sentences for offences of controlling and coercive behaviour, distributing indecent images of children and, most recently, stalking involving serious alarm or distress, one in which the sentence of the offender was more than doubled.

The Court of Appeal has recently increased the sentences upon a reference by the Law Officers in the following cases. In the first, the offender Habte stabbed a lone female who was a stranger to him: his sentence was increased to reflect a finding of dangerousness, to one of five years’ detention with a three year licence extension. In a case of manslaughter, the offender Taiwo’s sentence was increased to seven years’ two months imprisonment, building on another case the Law Officers referred which emphasises the seriousness of “one-punch” attacks, Coyle. Most recently, the sentence of a Manchester man who raped his 15 year old girlfriend when he was 19 was referred to the Court and increased to three years’ imprisonment.

There was a specific course on Microaggressions which was withdrawn from the prospectus in November 2022.

There are not any other courses that include microaggressions as part of the course outline available as part of the cross Civil Service training catalogue. We do not hold details of any local procurement or bespoke commissions of courses, the relevant department would need to be contacted to confirm.

The Cabinet Office does not collect or hold data centrally on asbestos in public buildings. Individual building owners and managers are responsible for maintaining asbestos registers in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. These regulations also require duty holders to share information regarding the location, condition, and type of asbestos in buildings, in digital or paper form, with anyone liable to disturb it (e.g. workers, contractors and the emergency services).

The Cabinet Office does not hold the cost and spend for using translators across the Civil Service centrally. Such professional services are procured by individual departments.

The Cabinet Office does use translation services on occasion where necessary but we do not record the cost of these services separately from the provision of other professional services. Therefore, a detailed review of invoices from the Cabinet Office would be required to estimate the amount spent since 2013 which would incur a disproportionate cost to the department.

Ministers from the following departments have attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting with officials since 2018: Her Majesty’s Treasury (2020, 2019 and 2018); Cabinet Office (2022); and the Departments for International Trade (2023, 2022, 2019 and 2018); Health and Social Care (2019); Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2023, 2019 and 2018); Culture, Media and Sport (2019 and 2018); and International Development (2019). The then Prime Minister also attended in 2018.

The Cabinet Office does not hold centralised records of ministerial attendance at the WEF Annual Meeting prior to 2018.

The Civil Service has limited diversity and inclusion specific training. The current list of courses available through the cross Civil Service learning offer is listed below. This does not include training designed for departments and professions to meet specific needs or that which is purchased outside of the centrally managed contracts.

• Civil Service Expectations

• Collaborating effectively in cross-cultural teams

• Creating an Inclusive Culture

• Creating Inclusive Virtual Teams

• Creating Team Inclusivity

• Cultivating your Cultural Intelligence

• Dealing with Everyday Racism

• Disability inclusive management

• Ignite inclusion

• Inclusive leadership

• Leading inclusive teams

• Managing Inclusion

• Modern Leadership – skills for managing a diverse workforce

• Neurodiversity in the workplace

• POC Managers Session 1: Leading inclusively

• Power of choice

• Respect Training

• Sexual Harassment

• Understanding multiple perspectives

• Working with different cultures – a Managers Toolkit

In May 2023, the Chancellor of the Exchequer commissioned a review of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion expenditure in the Civil Service. The review which included capturing spend on equality, diversity and inclusion training is now concluded and I am now engaging with the Cabinet Office who led the review, to determine next steps.

Since March 2020, over 16,000 roles have been relocated from London through the Places for Growth programme and 31% of UK-based SCS roles are now based outside London. Places for Growth aims to relocate 22,000 roles outside of London by 2027.

On 2 October, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a value for money audit of all EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) spending in the Civil Service.

The audit will dovetail with the public sector productivity review, aiming at delivering a leaner, more efficient government. The audit forms part of our drive to improve productivity across the public sector by driving down waste and improving performance.

The findings and actions of the audit will be announced in due course.

Civil servants must honour their contractual obligations. A number will be posted overseas in permanent roles at any time but the total number of civil servants logging in from overseas is not held centrally.

The effectiveness and potential of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 was reviewed by Lord Young in his 2015 report and the Act was further considered as part of the research and public consultation conducted for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Civil Society Strategy in 2018. The Government continues to monitor the progress of its social value policy with departments.

This information is not centrally held in the form requested.

We have not conducted a specific central assessment as outlined by my Honourable friend, though the proper utilisation of flextime arrangements can deliver clear benefits to the taxpayer. The ability of civil servants to work flexibly, whether early in the morning, late at night or over the weekend, is a powerful tool to deliver the reliable and accessible public services we all depend on.

The Cabinet Office does not hold searchable IT archives and searchable documentation relating to Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates for EU sourced regulation. Regulatory Impact Assessments are the responsibility of the Better Regulation Executive in the Department for Business and Trade.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given to him by my Hon. Friend for Thirsk and Malton, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business on 22 May, UIN: 183010 and 183009.

The Cabinet Office classifies a group of central government public bodies as arms-length bodies (ALBs), sometimes referred to as 'quangos'. These include Non-Ministerial Departments, Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies.

As of 2023, there are 308 classified ALBs, compared to 832 in 2009. This decrease is due to successive government efforts resulting in the closures of bodies, mergers of two or more bodies together, and classification changes that removed bodies from having ALB status (whilst still remaining operational).

The 2010-15 Public Bodies Reform Programme drove the most significant change in this period, reducing the number of public bodies by over 290 through abolishing more than 190 and merging over 165 into fewer than 70.

A list of all the bodies reformed (including those which were abolished and wound down) as a result of the Public Bodies Reform Programme 2010-15 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-bodies-2015.

The Cabinet Office does not specifically record the data that is requested.

The Cabinet Office do not hold a central departmental record of all training and associated spend, including that relating to diversity and inclusion (D&I) training in 2022.

In January 2020, following an internal review that showed unconscious bias training does not achieve its intended aims, it has been phased out in the Civil Service. We encourage other public sector employers to do likewise.

The Government does not hold this information centrally and on a fully comparable basis.

Each Government Department is responsible for its own Retained EU Laws (REUL).

I refer my Right Honorable friend to PQ12079. As my Right Honorable friend the Minister for Women and Equalities set out, the Government believes that "critical race theory" is a controversial political ideology. The Government believes that the application of critical race theory to public services threatens to undermine integration and community cohesion, by exaggerating differences within communities; instead, we should be seeking to build and strengthen a shared local and national identity across class, colour and creed.

Cabinet Office D&I learning does not include Critical Race Theory and speakers must go through due diligence and be signed off by the Head of Business Unit before any talks are scheduled. “Critical Race Theory” should not form part of our training and the Department is reviewing its intranet to ensure it is consistent with this approach.

Government officials have worked with the World Economic Forum on a range of policy areas including trade facilitation, ocean plastics, and digital issues. Two UK Ministers, Lord Grimstone and the COP26 President, also attended the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in May 2022. The Cabinet Office does not hold a centralised database of all formal contact with the World Economic Forum.

Government officials have worked with the World Economic Forum on a range of policy areas including trade facilitation, ocean plastics, and digital issues. Two UK Ministers, Lord Grimstone and the COP26 President, also attended the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos in May 2022. The Cabinet Office does not hold a centralised database of all formal contact with the World Economic Forum.

On 12 May, the Prime Minister confirmed to this House that a public inquiry into COVID-19 would be established on a statutory basis, with full formal powers, and that it will begin its work in spring 2022. Further details - including in respect of the inquiry’s terms of reference - will be set out in due course.

On 12 May, the Prime Minister confirmed to this House that a public inquiry into COVID-19 would be established on a statutory basis, with full formal powers, and that it will begin its work in spring 2022. Further details - including in respect of the inquiry’s terms of reference - will be set out in due course.

On 12 May, the Prime Minister confirmed to this House that a public inquiry into COVID-19 would be established on a statutory basis, with full formal powers, and that it will begin its work in spring 2022. Further details - including in respect of the inquiry’s terms of reference - will be set out in due course.

On 12 May, the Prime Minister confirmed to this House that a public inquiry into COVID-19 would be established on a statutory basis, with full formal powers, and that it will begin its work in spring 2022.

Further details, including terms of reference, will be set out in due course.

The pan-UK and cross-departmental C19 Death Management programme provides strategic and operational support to those looking after the deceased and supporting the bereaved. This programme is led by the Cabinet Office working closely with the relevant sector, local responders and government departments to ensure the deceased are treated with dignity and respect.

The Government is considering, as part of its response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s ‘Funeral Markets Investigation’ into the operation of the funeral sector, the enduring requirement for such structures once the immediate pressures from the pandemic have eased. The Government response is being led by the Ministry of Justice.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

The Government has committed to ensuring that the administration of Government is less London-centric. Further announcements will be made in due course.

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. These are based on the core values which are set out in legislation.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.