Mike Wood

Where a public body decides to undertake an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) to fulfill its Public Sector Equality Duty obligations, this would be funded as part of the organisation’s administrative budget. EIAs are well embedded in Government policy making and are not considered an additional cost but part of mainstream administrative functions.

In fact, EIAs are likely overall to reduce costs for public bodies, because the entailed analysis and discussion, by highlighting any equality issues greatly reduces the risk of subsequent litigation for alleged law breaches resulting from the particular policy.

There is no definition of gender, sexual orientation or gender identity formally recognised and used by the diversity networks in the Cabinet Office.

The National Audit Office does not pay subscriptions to Stonewall.

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 Equality Act defines the protected characteristic of gender reassignment as a person that is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of gender reassignment.

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.

Data contained in the current National Audit Office’s (NAO’s) Good Practice Guide was provided to the NAO to help explain the context of the guidance that the NAO has issued.

There are no plans to publish further data as this information is held by individual departments, and will be reported in their Annual Report and Accounts.

The Cabinet Office does not have responsibility for public sector organisations outside of the Civil Service.

The pay freeze for ministers remains in place.

A one-off refresh of the facility was undertaken in December 2024. This has restored the room back to its original politically neutral state. The indicative cost of these works was up to £80,000, as was reported at the time of undertaking the work. The final cost of these works will be published in due course in Cabinet Office transparency returns, when the invoice is submitted and paid.

The next MSF is being organised to take place before the end of 2025. There have been no meetings of the MSF thus far in 2025 due to a Machinery of Government change which moved the former Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) from Cabinet Office to the Department for Science Innovation and Technology. CDDO was the business unit previously responsible for open government policy, but this responsibility has now transferred to the Civil Service Strategy Unit within Cabinet Office.

Clause 1 of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill sets out that the purpose of the Bill is to ensure that public authorities and public officials at all times perform their functions (a) with candour, transparency and frankness, and (b) in the public interest. Clause 1 then sets out how the remainder of the Bill achieves that purpose.

Clause 1 does not in itself establish new obligations subject to judicial review.

All Fast Stream Summer Interns will complete the Baseline Personal Security Standard (BPSS) checks as part of their onboarding. Candidates will be put forward for higher levels of clearance if their placement requires it. It is a condition of employment that candidates are required to successfully obtain all necessary levels of clearance prior to taking up their placement.

The Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee (PPS Committee) is one of ten specialist honours committees, made up of individuals with considerable experience of the area the committee covers.

The current membership of the PPS Committee comprises an independent chair and four independent members each appointed through a public appointments process, and three official members who are the incumbent chief whips from the three largest political parties in the House of Commons.

The current independent committee memberships appointment terms are as follows:

• Chair: Dame Rosie Winterton DBE. Appointed August 2025 for a 5 year term.

• Member: Lord Johnny Oates. Appointed July 2024 for a 5 year term.

• Member:Lord Iain McNicol. Appointed July 2024 for a 5 year term.

• Member: Professor Stephanie Rickard. Appointed November 2024 for a 5 year term.

• Member: Craig Stephenson OBE. Appointed November 2024 for a 5 year term.

Expenditure details for the period requested are not yet available. Invoicing for Ministerial car usage covering the specified dates has not yet been raised or processed.

HMG does not routinely comment on the details of operational matters or specific threats.

However, we take all threats to national security, including those from Iran, incredibly seriously. Whilst the security of Parliament is a matter for the Parliament, HMG will do whatever is needed to help keep our democratic institutions safe from foreign interference and espionage threats.

This includes protecting them from malign Iranian influence activity in the UK, including placing the whole of the Iranian State- including Iran’s intelligence services- on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. This means that those who are directed by Iran to conduct activities in the UK must register that activity, whatever it is, or face 5 years in prison.

On 13 October, MI5’s National Protective Security Authority published new guidance to better protect the UK’s democratic institutions from all foreign interference and espionage threats.The guidance is designed to help MPs, peers, councillors, Parliamentary staff and candidates understand the threat and take simple, effective steps to protect themselves, their teams, and the integrity of the UK’s democracy.

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) does not hold information that would show whether suppliers have increased prices in response to the April 2025 National Insurance rise, so cannot make an estimate. Pricing under CCS arrangements is determined at contract level by contracting authorities.

Civil Service staff networks are separate to trade union activities and duties carried out by trade union representatives in the Civil Service. As such the Civil Service Staff Network Policy does not apply to its trade union representatives.

Ministers are advised on allocation of an official residence that the responsibility for payment of council tax depends on whether the property is their primary or secondary residence. This is a long-standing policy position in place for successive administrations, reflected in a parliamentary question to the then Prime Minister the Rt Hon Sir Tony Blair as follows:

“The level and responsibility for payment of council tax is determined on whether the property is the Minister's main or secondary residence. If a main residence, the responsibility for payment of the tax falls to the Minister. If the property is a secondary residence, responsibility for payment falls to the responsible Department.”

This question is available at the following link: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo000605/text/00605w14.htm#00605w14.html_spmin0.

The figures cited in the parliamentary question and the FOI Internal Review of Government Communications remain the most up to date information available as the 2025 Data Collection is still undergoing validation.

SAFE framework assessments have been conducted on The Sun, The Daily Star, and Ladbible, and they have been assessed as appropriate for government advertising. No SAFE framework assessment has been conducted on Spiked.

Heads of Mission are civil servants and as such are subject to different recruitment and appointment rules and processes to public appointees. The Cabinet Office has no plans to make such roles subject to the regulated public appointment process.

Since July 2024, thirteen Permanent Secretaries have left their posts. Any exit package costs are published in Departmental Annual Reports and Accounts for the financial years in which they were made.

I refer the Hon Member to the response given to Question HL10390 of 26 September.

It would not be appropriate to comment on individuals. The level of remuneration and the management of relevant outside interests for this role have been agreed in line with relevant guidance and processes.

There is a rigorous process to ensure any potential conflicts of interest are captured, and have appropriate mitigations in place to reflect specific circumstances. Ahead of his appointment, the new Executive Director of Communications in 10 Downing Street fully complied with this process.

This is set out in the Special Adviser Code of Conduct and lists of Special Adviser interests are published annually.

For section (a) please see the below table, noting that some figures may differ slightly from those previously stated in the referenced parliamentary question. This is due to different accounting practices related to departmental reporting categorisations versus billing categorisations.

The information is being provided in this format to protect potential sensitivities.

For section (b), the information requested is not held in a format suitable for publication.

Information on the number of civil servants that have left under employee exit schemes is not held centrally.

The Cabinet Office Facility Time Framework states that the default position within the Civil Service is that paid time off will not be given for trade union activities. In exceptional circumstances, should a department wish to provide paid time off for activities, it will need to be agreed by their Secretary of State or Chief Executive.