Asked by: Kit Malthouse (Conservative - North West Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) meetings and (b) communications via electronic messaging (i) he and (ii) his special advisers have had with representatives of Arden Strategies.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Special Advisers are required to comply with the Special Adviser Code of Conduct at all times and are required to make declarations on meetings with senior media figures in line with published transparency guidance.
Where a Special Adviser accompanies their Minister to an official meeting with a senior media figure, the Special Adviser’s attendance does not need to be separately recorded as the Minister will be the main attendee.
Where an ‘informal’ lobbying approach is granted time or resource by Government, it should result in a diarised engagement and therefore be recorded.
Asked by: Kit Malthouse (Conservative - North West Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory direct ministerial appointments excluding special advisers she has made; and (i) who the appointee was and (ii) what the (A) remuneration, (B) title and (C) terms of reference was for each appointment.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has established a non-statutory Labour Market Advisory Board which will consist of a small group of leading labour market experts to provide insight, ideas, and challenge to tackle key labour market issues. The Board will be chaired by Paul Gregg, Professor of Economic and Social Policy in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath with further members being announced shortly. Roles on the Board are unpaid. We will set out further details of the Labour Market Advisory Board, including the Terms of Reference, shortly.