First elected: 7th May 2015
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Don't change inheritance tax relief for working farms
Sign this petition Gov Responded - 5 Dec 2024 Debated on - 10 Feb 2025 View Mike Wood's petition debate contributionsWe think that changing inheritance tax relief for agricultural land will devastate farms nationwide, forcing families to sell land and assets just to stay on their property. We urge the government to keep the current exemptions for working farms.
Call a General Election
Sign this petition Gov Responded - 6 Dec 2024 Debated on - 6 Jan 2025 View Mike Wood's petition debate contributionsI would like there to be another General Election.
I believe the current Labour Government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead up to the last election.
These initiatives were driven by Mike Wood, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Mike Wood has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Mike Wood has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
This Bill received Royal Assent on 23rd March 2016 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to require local authorities to maintain a register of heritage public houses in their area and to make provision in connection with the compilation and maintenance of such registers; to make provision relating to planning applications in respect of public houses on such a register; to place restrictions on the sale of heritage public houses; to make provision relating to the nomination of heritage public houses as assets of community value; to make provision about the listing of heritage public houses; and for connected purposes.
Mike Wood has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The Call for Evidence on Equality Law, published on 7 April 2025, seeks evidence on how we can better remove barriers to ambition and success for everyone, to improve the lives of working people and strengthen our country as part of our Plan for Change.
The purpose of the Call for Evidence is not to put forward detailed policy proposals and it would therefore not be possible or appropriate to produce an impact assessment at this stage. All evidence submitted to the Call for Evidence will be taken into account when developing policy. We will assess the impact of any proposed policy in the normal way, working in partnership with business, trade unions and civil society, to ensure any potential impacts are fully considered.
The Government is sharing with the EHRC all the submissions that met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance.
It is vitally important that service providers understand the single-sex service exceptions in the Equality Act 2010 and feel confident using them. The Government has committed to ensuring that there is guidance in place which gives service providers assurance about the rights afforded by the Act and how to lawfully apply its single-sex exceptions. We will set out our next steps on this soon.
The Government is sharing with the EHRC all the submissions that met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance.
It is vitally important that service providers understand the single-sex service exceptions in the Equality Act 2010 and feel confident using them. The Government has committed to ensuring that there is guidance in place which gives service providers assurance about the rights afforded by the Act and how to lawfully apply its single-sex exceptions. We will set out our next steps on this soon.
The public consultation seeks views on the proposed approach to mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting in order to inform the drafting of the legislation.
We are separately engaging with a wide range of organisations, including employers, and gathering evidence in a more systematic manner on the likely costs and benefits of the proposed reporting requirements. This work will inform the impact assessment that will be published alongside the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.
The scope of the Public Sector Equality Duty (the PSED) is set out in the Equality Act 2010 (the Act). It extends to all public authorities listed in Schedule 19 of the Act and all parties carrying out public functions. This came into force in April 2011 and includes private sector and voluntary organisations.
The PSED requires organisations in scope to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different people.
The government remains committed to upholding the PSED and ensuring that all parties exercising public functions comply with its provisions.
Whoever you are, wherever you come from, Britain should be a country where hard work means you can get on in life. Our work in the Opportunity Mission aims to break the link between background and success to ensure all children, including those from white working-class backgrounds, are able to achieve and thrive today so they can succeed and flourish tomorrow.
We are currently considering our position on caste discrimination. We will announce our plans in due course.
All vetting applicants for Counter-Terrorist Check and Security Check clearances are asked to declare spent and unspent convictions.
I refer the honourable member to the Answer of 4 April 2025 to Question 42043.
The Government has taken the decision to close the consultation to reform the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, which began in 2017. The scheme terms as set out in 2010 will remain in place but the Government remains open to reviewing the terms of the scheme in the future.
The Cabinet Office published guidance on conduct for civil servants during the pre-election period on 20 March. The guidance includes advice on government announcements during the pre-election period
The guidance can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/election-guidance-for-civil-servants
The Skills Match Hub operates with a dynamic staffing model that adapts to the evolving needs of various business units. Consequently, the number of individuals associated with the Hub at any given moment can fluctuate. These variations typically arise from internal reorganisations or the return of staff from temporary assignments where their previous roles have since changed. This inherent fluidity means the precise staffing level is subject to continuous adjustments.
The Cabinet Office has not issued specific guidance on transparency around remuneration offered when making direct ministerial appointments.
The Public Sector Equality Duty (the PSED) requires organisations in scope to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different people.
The scope of the PSED is set out in the Equality Act 2010 (the Act). It extends to all public authorities listed in Schedule 19 of the Act and all parties carrying out public functions. This includes private sector and voluntary organisations when carrying out public functions.
The Government expects regulating public authorities to ensure organisations comply with their legal requirements. It is not the role of regulators to intervene where legal requirements do not apply.
We are discussing a range of issues with the EU and I met my counterpart Maroš Šefčovič in London last week (29 April). We will not give a running commentary on those discussions. We remain committed to protecting the interests of our fishers and meeting our commitments on marine protection.
AI technology is not currently used in the public appointments process. AI technology may be used in the future to support certain elements of the process.
There are no plans to publish a frequently asked questions section for this guidance.
The government has powers under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 to review and, where required, intervene in investments that may pose a risk to national security. The NSI Act both facilitates investment into sensitive sectors - such as artificial intelligence - with appropriate safeguards where needed and provides powers to act where necessary and proportionate.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the Civil Service Commission and the Cabinet Office has been replaced by a consolidated Framework Agreement for the Independent Offices (covering the Civil Service Commission, Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and the Commissioner for Public Appointments). This was published on 18 February 2025.
The government publishes information on the operation of the National Security and Investment Act (NSIA) in the NSIA Annual Report. The most recent report, covering the 2023/24 reporting period, can be found on GOV.UK. The government received 753 mandatory notifications in that period.
Data on the number of mandatory notifications received between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, broken down by month, will be published in the next Annual Report later this year.
The Prime Minister announced on 25 February in the House that a single national security strategy would be published before the NATO summit in June 2025. A full terms of reference for the National Security Strategy will not be published, however the Strategy’s core aims are to:
Cohere national security related reviews into a single narrative.
Articulate the Government’s priorities in the national security space with the aim of making sure the country is safer, growing securely, and increasingly resilient against interconnected threats.
I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 17 December 2024, Official Report, PQ 19408.
Salary data for the Civil Service is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics, an Accredited Official Statistics release, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2024. The most recent estimated salary cost figures as at 31st March 2024 were provided in response to Peter Bedford MP’s question on 16th October 2024. Civil Service Statistics 2025 is due to be published on 30 July 2025.
The Cabinet Office does not hold information on the wage bill for the wider public sector.
We are reorganising the Cabinet Office into a more strategic, specialist, and smaller department as part of our plan to deliver £110 million in annual departmental expenditure savings by the 2028/29 financial year.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd April is attached.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd April is attached.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd April is attached.
The Cabinet Office will not be publishing 2024 People Survey data for staff in 10 Downing Street. This data has been withheld in previous years and this has been approved by successive Ministers responsible for transparency since 2013. |
The Child Poverty Taskforce is a ministerial taskforce and members' interests are published regularly, in line with the Ministerial Code.
As the ruling has no direct impact on the Cabinet Office, no considerations have been made as yet. The Cabinet Office will consider the impact, on the department and its Arms Length Bodies, in due course.
The Cabinet Office is actively working to finalise a Framework Agreement for the Senior Salaries Review Body. This will be agreed in due course.
Since 4 July 2024, the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals has met on two occasions - 1st August and 19th November.
In the last 12 months, no Cabinet Office employees have been made permanent using Exception 10 (conversion to permanency of suitable candidates appointed under Exception 1 and 2) of the Civil Service Recruitment Principles.
The Cabinet Office regularly holds discussions with trade unions including the Public and Commercial Services Union. These discussions relate to Civil Service workforce matters. Information about Cabinet Office ministers' meetings are released quarterly on .gov.uk as part of the department’s transparency publications and can be found here.
The Cabinet Office has published guidance on ‘Freedom of Information and the Role of Special Advisers’ and on ‘Communication by Spreadsheet’ on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-and-freedom-of-information.
United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) is funded by its customers (government departments, the police, industry) through a burden-sharing model. Funding is agreed with customers on an annual basis, and in parallel with Cabinet Office business planning.
In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
In line with the Ministerial Code, Cabinet Ministers and, with the authorisation of the Prime Minister, Ministers who regularly attend Cabinet, may appoint special advisers. All special adviser appointments require approval of the Prime Minister.
Please see below Cabinet Office spend by social platform from 5 July 2024 to 8 April 2025:
Platform | Total Spend |
Meta | £533,432.96 |
£59,908.73 | |
Snapchat | £62,535.42 |
£840.75 |
Parties with an interest in acquisitions being reviewed under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021 can submit representations via the Investment Security Unit in the Cabinet Office.
Given potential commercial and security sensitivities, the Government will not generally comment on review of specific acquisitions under the NSI Act, including what, if any, representations have been received.
As has been the policy of successive governments, the government does not comment on matters relating to the intelligence agencies. The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament scrutinises the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of the intelligence agencies on behalf of Parliament.
The Ministerial Code refers to a range of duties, obligations and guidance. The Code is the Prime Minister’s document and he is responsible for deciding which duties, obligations and guidance it refers to.
Salary data for the Civil Service is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics, an Accredited Official Statistics release. The most recent salary cost figures as at 31st March 2024 were provided in response to Peter Bedford MP’s question on 16th October 2024.
The latest estimates of the total paybill with and without estimated employer National Insurance contributions were provided in response to Richard Holden MP’s question on 8th April 2025.
Both Employer Pension contributions and severance costs are not published by the Cabinet Office.
For 2024/25, departmental pay awards have been made within the controls of the 2024/25 Pay Remit Guidance. Information on total paybill costs may be published by individual departments, but there is no routine publication of the overall Civil Service paybill figure.
The UK civil service is made up of civil servants employed at over 100 Ministerial and Non-Ministerial Departments, Executive Agencies and Crown NDPBs. These are listed and published each quarter by Office for National Statistics at Table 9 of their quarterly public sector employment statistics available at the following web address:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymentreferencetable
I refer the Hon. member to the answer to PQ 5306.
In line with the approach under previous administrations, the Government does not publish specific responsibilities of individual special advisers in the Annual Report on Special Advisers.
Special adviser pay bands are published in the Annual Report on Special Advisers.
The most recent publication which includes the payband for the previous administration is availbale at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/674844e62ac8a6da3072393a/Annual_Report_on_Special_Advisers_2024.docx.pdf
The current special adviser paybands will be published as part of the 2025 annual report in the summer.
Between 13 November and 1 December 2024 the candidate pack for the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister was published and available to download via the Civil Service Jobs website.