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 honours were awarded to people (a) living and (b) working in Lincolnshire in each of the last ten years; and what the level of each award was.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Transparency data is published alongside each New Year Honours List and King’s Birthday Honours List, giving an individual breakdown of recipients' names, level of award, their short citation and the city and country in which their correspondence address was located. Transparency data for each Honours List in each of the past five years can be found on gov.uk using the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/honours-reform-and-operation#honours-lists
The Cabinet Office does not collect home or work addresses for honours recipients; the information published reflects the correspondence address provided by recipients. This data relates only to the main Prime Minister’s List and does not include data from the Defence List or the Overseas and International List, which are not administered by the Cabinet Office.
Honours are awarded on merit basis. A key aim of the honours system is to ensure that it is more representative of the country as a whole and we will continue to encourage more nominations from every corner of the UK in future honours lists.
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 staff within his Department are reliant on a visa for employment.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
39 civil servants are employed through Skilled Worker visas in the Cabinet Office. Before they can be considered for visa sponsorship, all candidates for Cabinet Office posts must meet the Civil Service nationality rules which operate alongside UK immigration rules.
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 people have his Department taken on internship schemes open only to those with certain protected characteristics in each of the last three years.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In each of the last 3 years Cabinet Office has placed less than 5 people on internship schemes open only to those with certain protected characteristics. The exact number has been redacted to avoid identification of individuals.
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 post office branches have (a) opened and (b) closed in Lincolnshire since 2016.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt Hon. gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 23rd March is attached.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on special severance payments in each of the last three years.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The total value of severance payments is set out in the department’s Annual Report and Accounts, which are available online for the last three years.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his department has paid for followers on social media platforms it uses.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The department has not paid for followers on its social media platforms.
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 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, 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.