Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place the desk note on Direct Ministerial Appointments in the House of Commons Library.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
On 30 October the government published for the first time guidance for departments on the process for ministers making Direct Ministerial Appointments. This replaced earlier internal desk note guidance for departments, which had been rewritten to provide greater clarity for a wider audience, including setting out publicly where Direct Ministerial Appointments sit within the various routes into government.
On 3 November the Cabinet Secretary, during his evidence session before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, agreed to send - and subsequently sent - a copy of the previous internal departmental desk note to the Committee. A copy of this now superseded desk note guidance will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 60 of the Decision Note from the Commissioner for Public Appointments on the Appointment of the Chair of the Independent Football Regulator, published on 6 November 2025, what is the timetable for his Department to (a) consult on and (b) implement the recommendations.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Commissioner for Public Appointments provides independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with the Principles of Public Appointments and the Governance Code on Public Appointments.
Following the Commissioner’s investigation into the appointment of the Chair of the Independent Football Regulator, the Government welcomes his findings against which we are reviewing the robustness of the current guidance with a view to learning the lessons from the report.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure the 2025 Government Communications Service (GCS) audit includes all GCS staff; and how many GCS staff there are in (a) Downing Street and (b) his Department.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government Communication Service (GCS) conducts an annual data collection, requiring government organisations to submit accurate and timely returns through departmental single points of contact. It should be noted that some organisations may have undergone significant changes since the data was collected in July 2025.
At the time of the collection:
(a) Downing Street: The Number 10 Civil Service Communications team consisted of 44.8 FTE.
(b) Cabinet Office: Core Cabinet Office comms roles consisted of 40.43 FTE (of which 22 are roles within Press Office and Cabinet Office Digital Communications) with 141.52 FTE in the Central GCS team (also based within the Cabinet Office).
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the guidance issued to departments referenced in the letter from the Paymaster General to the Institute for Government of 14 October 2025.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are no plans to publish this guidance.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2025 to Question 71232 on 10 Downing Street: Renewable Energy, who the energy provider is; and what the tariff is.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The electricity supply at Number 10 is on zero carbon tariff supplied under the Crown Commercial Services. The gas is under a standard tariff supplied under the Crown Commercial Services. The heat is supplied under the Whitehall District Heat System.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Question 85495 on Deputy Prime Minister: Admiralty House, on what date was Westminster City Council informed by his Department that the official residence was liable for the second homes council tax premium due to its occupation by the then Deputy Prime Minister as a second home.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Before the Second Home premium was introduced in Westminster, the Cabinet Office were aware that the former Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) was occupying Admiralty House (AH) as a second home and that council tax would therefore be payable by Government. In line with long standing precedent under successive administrations, as the property was a second residence, the Government was responsible for paying the Council Tax on Admiralty House, not the former DPM. Similarly, the Cabinet Office is responsible for liaising with Westminster City Council (WCC) for matters concerning residency at Admiralty House.
WCC were notified at the beginning of May that the former DPM was occupying AH as a second home for council tax purposes, and details were provided for WCC to issue a bill accordingly.
GPA wrote to WCC in June to confirm that the second homes premium applied. WCC issued an invoice in July which was paid the same day.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2025 to Question 75990 on Deputy Prime Minister: Admiralty House, on what date the first communication between the Government Property Agency and Westminster City Council was on the second homes council tax premium for the former Deputy Prime Minister’s official residence in Admiralty House.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Before the Second Home premium was introduced in Westminster, the Cabinet Office were aware that the former Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) was occupying Admiralty House (AH) as a second home and that council tax would therefore be payable by Government. In line with long standing precedent under successive administrations, as the property was a second residence the Government was responsible for paying the Council Tax on Admiralty House, not the former DPM. Similarly, the Cabinet Office is responsible for liaising with Westminster City Council (WCC) for matters concerning residency at Admiralty House.
WCC were notified at the beginning of May that the former DPM was occupying AH as a second home for council tax purposes, and details were provided for WCC to issue a bill accordingly.
GPA wrote to WCC in June to confirm that the second homes premium applied. WCC issued an invoice in July which was paid the same day.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Cabinet Office still operates a Hybrid Development Working Group.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Civil Service has a number of cross-government groups to address common issues, find solutions to complex policy challenges and support the sharing of best practice.
The Cross-Government Group on Working Flexibly meets on an adhoc basis and focuses on effective and positive ways of working in a hybrid world, as well as supporting the implementation of related legislation changes across departments.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for Cabinet Office, how is the ethnicity definition of White Irish defined and what distinguishes it from White British (a) in relation to those who live or lived in Northern Ireland and (b) in general.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. gentlemen’s Parliamentary Question of 14th November is attached.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the UK Statistics Authority will make it their policy to undertake an assessment whether HM Government's use of the Social Time Preference Rate to discount the total cost of the Chagos Islands Treaty is in line with the best practice in their Code of Practice for Statistics.
Answered by Josh Simons - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon. gentlemen’s Parliamentary Question of 14th November is attached.