Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any civil servants hired by his Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Civil Service recruitment is governed by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which requires that all appointments to the Civil Service are made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.
The Cabinet Office does not recruit candidates on the basis of protected characteristics. All appointments are made on merit, in line with the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. Compliance with these principles is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, on how many days in 2025 did the Pride Flag fly on the main Whitehall building operated by his Department.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Pride Flag was displayed for the following dates across the following building.
70 Whitehall – 30.06.25 – 05.07.25 (6 Days)
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is his Department policy that (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers use the disappearing messages function on Whatsapp on Government devices.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Ministers, Special Advisers and Civil Service staff are required to follow the Non-Corporate Communication Channels (NCCC) guidance on GOV.UK when using WhatsApp or similar communications tools. This guidance explains ministers’ responsibilities for keeping an accurate official record. Paragraph 24 of this guidance states that ‘disappearing message functions have a role in limiting the build up of messages on devices. You must ensure that any such use does not impact on your recordkeeping or transparency responsibilities’.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many freedom of information requests his Department has responded to in each of the last five years.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Freedom of Information statistics for all central government bodies, including the Cabinet Office, are published on a quarterly and annual basis on Gov.UK at www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Ministers and special advisers in his Department have met the Royal Household to discuss the rebranding of UK Government.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
For information relating to stakeholder engagement, I refer the Hon. Member to Question 112168.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether external consultants were hired as part of the process of rebranding from HM Government to UK Government.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
For information relating to the UK Government branding update, I refer the Hon. Member to Questions HL14450, HL14451 and HL14452.
For information relating to stakeholder engagement, I refer the Hon. Member to Question 112168.
Government communications use “UK Government” as the primary identity for public-facing communications. This is not an introduction of a new UK Government brand identity. The Government Communication Service routinely reviews its branding to ensure it remains effective, accessible and fit for purpose across all channels, including digital platforms.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) social media and (b) other media subscriptions his Department has paid for in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Subscriptions are delegated to team level and not managed departmentally.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many full-time equivalent staff in 10 Downing Street have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Communications staff work across social media content as well as broader digital communications. It is therefore not possible to provide exact figures.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many full time equivalent staff in his Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the past three years.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Due to the difficulty of disaggregating the number of staff who are employed to produce social media content from staff who are employed to work on broader digital communications, it is not possible to report exact figures in response to this question.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of civil servants are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants in his Department.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Information on the number of civil servants employed on temporary contracts is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Public Sector Employment statistics. Information can be accessed for September 2025 at the following web address:
Public sector employment, UK: September 2025
Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report for FY 2024/25 can be found at the following web address:
Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK