Asked by: Kit Malthouse (Conservative - North West Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, 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 Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
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 Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) meetings and (b) communications via electronic messaging (i) the Prime Minister and (ii) his special advisers have had with representatives of Arden Strategies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
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 ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether (a) she has and (b) her special advisers have had (i) meetings and (ii) other communications via electronic messaging with representatives of Arden Strategies.
Answered by Bridget Phillipson - Minister for Women and Equalities
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 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 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 Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
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) 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 Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what meetings the Prime Minister has had with (a) individuals, (b) trade unions and (c) organisations who have previously made political donations to (i) him and (ii) his constituency association.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As was the practice under the previous Administration, details of the Prime Minister’s official engagements with external individuals and organisations will be published in the quarterly transparency returns on gov.uk.
Asked by: Kit Malthouse (Conservative - North West Hampshire)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, 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 Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
Neither I nor my Special Advisers have had any meetings or communications via electronic messaging with representatives of Arden Strategies.
Asked by: Kit Malthouse (Conservative - North West Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory direct ministerial appointments excluding special advisers he 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 Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has not made any Direct Ministerial Appointments.
Asked by: Kit Malthouse (Conservative - North West Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory direct ministerial appointments excluding special advisers he 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 Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology has made two statutory and one non-statutory direct ministerial appointments.
Matt Clifford was appointed through a direct ministerial appointment in July 2024. Matt is the Lead Reviewer of the Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan and is not remunerated for his role. The terms of reference for the action plan are available on GOV.UK.
Hazel Hobbs was appointed as interim Chair of Building Digital UK (BDUK) in August, starting on 1 September 2024 for a period of 6 months and remuneration of £80,000 p.a. pro rata. An announcement containing further details is published here. Hazel will serve as interim Chair whilst an exercise is launched to recruit a permanent Chair. Hazel has also been reappointed in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments as a non-executive director of BDUK, having been a member of the Board since the organisation became an executive agency in March 2022.
Stella Peace was appointed as interim Executive Chair at Innovate UK (IUK) in August, starting on 30 September 2024 for an initial period of six months with remuneration of £149,000 p.a. pro rata. An announcement containing further details is published here. Stella will serve as interim Executive Chair whilst an exercise is completed to recruit a permanent Executive Chair.
As regulated Public Appointments, the interim Chair of BDUK and interim Executive Chair of IUK were both appointed in accordance with paragraph 3.3 of the Governance Code on Public Appointments, which states that: "In exceptional cases, Ministers may decide to appoint a candidate without a competition. They must make this decision public alongside their reasons for doing so. They must consult the Commissioner for Public Appointments in good time before the appointment is publicly announced”.
Asked by: Kit Malthouse (Conservative - North West Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, 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 Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
A ‘direct appointment’ is a Ministerial appointment to a non-statutory office. It does not include appointments to Civil Service roles. Since 5 July 2024, the Cabinet Office has made no statutory or non-statutory direct ministerial appointments.