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 15 January 2026 to Question 101957 on Erasmus+ Programme, whether the National Agency will be an arms’ length body.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has commenced discussions with the British Council with a view to appointing them as the National Agency. The British Council is an arm’s-length body of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2025, to Question 86250, on NHS: Industrial Disputes, whether (a) his Department and (b) the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service has provided guidance to employers on trade union representative access to the building of the employer on strike days.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department has issued a range of guidance, available on Gov.UK, for employers, workers, and trade unions, on handling industrial disputes. Acas provides joint employer-worker guidance on industrial action. Neither the Department, or Acas, have issued specific employer guidance on trade union representatives’ access to the employers’ building on strike days.
Trade union representatives may have a right of access if a recognition agreement provides it, but responsibility for managing access to buildings during industrial action rests with individual employers, who are best placed to assess local circumstances and ensure arrangements align with operational needs, agreements, and legal obligations.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Media Buying contract with MANNING GOTTLIEB OMD, for what reason the requirement to promote diversity, inclusion and social mobility is a key performance indicator.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The KPI is intended to incentivise the supplier to address issues of workforce inequality.
In line with Government procurement policy on social value, and because we are required to include a related KPI, this KPI was selected from an approved list in the Social Value Model linked to the policy.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s annual report 2024-25, published December 2025, Appendix: direct appointments, what the business case was for appointing a non-executive director for three years without open and fair competition; and if he will publish relevant correspondence to and from the Public Appointments Commissioner.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The rationale for appointing without competition was made public at the time of announcement, following consultation with the Commissioner. A fair and open competition was undertaken with a strong applicant field. However, it needed to be strengthened further by the appointment of Nita Clarke, who is bringing vital skills in employee engagement, partnership and employee voices in the workplace drawn from a distinguished career including as Vice President for Employee Relations at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who the members of the pool of Independent Panel Members for public appointments in his Department are.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The members of the Ministry of Justice’s pool of Independent Panel Members for public appointments are:
- Mohamed Ali
- Lambert Allman
- Nicolina Andall
- Delroy Beverley
- Lord Bew
- Charlotte Black
- Baroness Bull
- Jayne Butler
- Cindy Butts
- Jody Chatterjee
- Jacqui Francis
- Keith Fraser
- Graham Gee
- Rory Geoghegan
- Malcolm John
- Carly Jones
- William Kennedy
- Grant Lamond
- Alison Lyon
- Paula McDonald
- Jacob Meagher
- Caterina Milo
- Oliver Mosely
- Camilla Poulton
- Grace Quantock
- Dale Simon
- Rohan Sivanandan
- Graeme Spencer
- John Tasioulas
- Bernadette Thompson
- Rachel Tranter
- Mark Trafford
- Joanne Vance
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2025 to Question 98098 on Ministry of Justice: Public Appointments, what the annual remuneration of those appointments is.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Due to data protection requirements, this information cannot be disclosed. The Ministry of Justice notes the Cabinet Office’s new guidance on Direct Ministerial Appointments (DMAs), including the information to be published when such appointments are announced, and the creation of a new portal for these announcements.
All DMAs enclosed in PQ 98098, with the exception of the English Law Promotion Panel (which is unremunerated), were made before the guidance was published. Going forward, the Ministry of Justice will ensure that announcements of DMAs are made in accordance with this guidance.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2025, to Question 86249, on Department for Business and Trade: Social Media, if he will name the specific social media influencers who were commissioned by the department to undertake paid advertising for the department for the National Minimum and Living Wage campaign.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Influencer marketing is a credible promotional channel, which is considered for government advertising campaigns and can be an effective way to reach audiences that the Government and traditional marketing channels find hard to reach.
The activity aimed to raise awareness of the new National Minimum and Living Wage rates to ensure audiences such as young people, part-time female workers, ethnic minorities and disabled groups are paid correctly.
Six influencers were used as part of the Department for Business and Trade’s 2025 National Minimum and Living Wage campaign. They were:
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Freedom of Information Act disclosure, reference FOI2025/09531, of 16 September 2025.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I’ve given him on 29 January 2026 for question UIN 107051. Given that the information the hon. Member seeks has been published in that answer, I have no plans to place a copy of the Freedom of Information disclosure he mentions in the Library.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the regulated public appointment, Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) - Committee Members - 5 roles, with application deadline of 23 October 2024, who was the Advisory Assessment Independent Panel Member listed on gov.uk as "To be confirmed".
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Independent Panel Member for this public appointment was Dr Alison Walker-Fraser. Alison is a business consultant and Chair of Trustees at Anaphylaxis UK. She is an experienced IPM for non-executive recruitment campaigns.
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 Environment Agency's job vacancy, Strategy and Government Relations Advisor, reference 32597, closing date 4 January 2026, what is his policy on public bodies hiring advisors to engage with the Government.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Environment Agency is a Non-Departmental Public Body, and does not form part of HM Civil Service. Non-Departmental Public Bodies are expected to engage with a range of stakeholders, including relevant Government departments, Parliamentarians across both Houses, Parliamentary Select Committees, and other key stakeholders pertinent to their work.