Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason he plans to introduce a mandatory retirement age for the House of Lords.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As set out in the Government’s manifesto, the Government recognises the good work of many peers who scrutinise legislation and hold the government of the day to account.
However, reform to the House of Lords is long overdue and essential. The Government’s objective is to bring about a renewed focus on active contribution, within a smaller House of Lords that better reflects the country it serves. The Government is therefore committed to introducing a mandatory retirement age for members of the House of Lords.
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 Propriety and Constitution Group has written guidance on whether an incumbent Prime Minister who loses his House of Commons seat at a general election remains Prime Minister.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister is the head of the Government and holds that position by virtue of his or her ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, which in turn commands the confidence of the electorate, as expressed through a general election.
As set out in the Cabinet Manual, by modern convention, the Prime Minister always sits in the House of Commons. It is not possible, or desirable, to set out how these conventions operate in practice in every scenario.
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 19 March 2026 to Question 121096 on Cabinet Office: Email, whether any of those emails were (a) sent to and (b) sent by Gordon Brown.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
It would not be appropriate to comment on the security operations of a previous administration.
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 the No10 press release entitled Appointment of Victoria Buhler as the Prime Minister’s Deputy Adviser on Business, Investment, and Trade and Hannah Bronwin as the Prime Minister’s Expert Adviser on Energy and Net Zero, of 2 February 2026, whether each of them are (a) Tier 1 or (b) Tier 2 Direct Ministerial Appointments, as set out in the Cabinet Office guidance on direct ministerial appointments.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We do not routinely comment on individual HR matters.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister made consideration of personally interviewing Lord Mandelson for the role of Ambassador, before Lord Mandelson was appointed.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The relevant process in place at the time for a political appointee was followed. There was no requirement for a formal interview with the Prime Minister as part of that process.
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 the No10 press release entitled Appointment of Victoria Buhler as the Prime Minister’s Deputy Adviser on Business, Investment, and Trade and Hannah Bronwin as the Prime Minister’s Expert Adviser on Energy and Net Zero, of 2 February 2026, and and with reference to the Announcements: Direct Ministerial Appointments portal on gov.uk, what is the renumeration of Hannah Bronwin, and whether she has been seconded from a third party organisation.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Details of Direct Ministerial Appointments are made available on gov.uk, alongside press releases announcing their appointments.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2026 to Question 109541 on Jean Monnet Action: Finance, whether UK educational institutions will participate in the Jean Monnet Actions in relation to (a) supporting European Union studies, (b) the Jean Monnet Network on internal policy and (c) teacher training.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire to the answer of 26 March 2026 to Question 114071.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether advice on the (a) strengths and (b) weaknesses of individual appointable candidates were given to the Prime Minister by the Civil Service on the appointment of the (i) previous and (ii) current Cabinet Secretary.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer to my answer 115556, the Cabinet Manual sets out that the Cabinet Secretary is appointed directly by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister receives advice from the First Civil Service Commissioner, but is the final decision maker.
The announcement of the previous Cabinet Secretary (here) explained that “this appointment was made following a full fair and open external competition, chaired by the First Civil Service Commissioner.”
The announcement of the current Cabinet Secretary (here) explained that “the Prime Minister and the First Civil Service Commissioner agreed a process to appoint a new Cabinet Secretary. Once this process was complete, the First Civil Service Commissioner confirmed that Dame Antonia Romeo is an exceptional candidate of the highest calibre, having run two of the largest operational departments in Government, and confirmed her track record makes her the right candidate for the role.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to review recruitment practices in the public sector.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The public sector - healthcare, education, emergency services, and infrastructure - has delegated authority to determine their own recruitment needs, job roles and hires in line with organisational and industry guidelines.
With regard to the Civil Service, the Government is committed to ensuring it attracts, develops, and retains talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds. To support this, we are currently reviewing and implementing several measures.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of procurement rules on bank lending to SME companies involved in defence.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government is committed to making SMEs a national priority, ensuring they have a fair opportunity to win public contracts and setting ambitious SME spend targets.
As set out in the Defence Industrial Strategy, the MOD is backing British Jobs, British Industry and British innovators. Since July 2024, we have signed 1,100 major contracts, with 84% of our annual spend going to British companies.
In January we launched a dedicated Defence Office for Small business Growth to boost opportunities and access to defence contracts and the supply chain, on top of our commitment to double direct spend with SMEs by £2.5 billion by May 2028.
Delivering on the commitments made in the Strategic Defence Review and the Defence Industrial Strategy, we are developing a dedicated Defence Finance and Investment Strategy (DFIS). This is supported by a new Defence Investors’ Advisory Group, bringing together senior expertise from venture, growth, private capital, and banking to address barriers to financing and investment in the sector.