Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the No10 private office uses disappearing messages on its corporate (a) WhatsApp and (b) Signal messaging.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
All official business should be conducted using official systems wherever possible. Where official information is created or received on non corporate communication devices, it must be handled in accordance with records management requirements, as set out on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-corporate-communication-channels-for-government-business/using-non-corporate-communication-channels-eg-whatsapp-private-email-sms-for-government-business-html
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 9 April 2025, to Question 43463, on Prime Minister: Email, what steps have been taken to ensure that Downing Street emails in scope of the Humble Address do not automatically delete after 90 days and are retained.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer you to the Government's response to the Urgent Question tabled on 12th February, the Written Ministerial Statement in the name of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister that same day, and the Oral Statement on the 23rd February, in the name of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, which set out an update on the Government's process and that Departments have been instructed to retain material that may be relevant to the motion.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department took between 4 July and August 2024 to promote the take up of the King's portrait programme.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
His Majesty The King’s free Portrait Scheme was a voluntary programme offering a free, framed portrait of The King to any eligible public institution that requested one.
A range of communication activities were undertaken to promote the programme.
The Cabinet Office continued to communicate with eligible authorities until the close of the programme. This included direct communications, press releases, and updates on gov.uk.
Following the conclusion of the scheme, a breakdown of the take up was published on gov.uk.
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 120625 on Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committees: Public Appointments, which two members were appointed by a reserve list; and for what reason a reserve list was used.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Professor Stephanie Rickard and Craig Stephenson OBE were appointed to the Parliamentary and Political Service Committee, from the reserve list, in October 2024. Both had applied during the fair and open March 2024 campaign and were found appointable by the Advisory Assessment panel.
As per the Governance Code on Public Appointments (December 2016 version), where a vacancy occurs within 12 months of the conclusion of a previous appointments process, and the role and person specification for both posts are the same, departments may put forward appointable candidates from the reserve list from the first competition for appointment to the new vacancy.
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 116770 on Public Appointments: Internet, whether departments have a deadline for adding Direct Ministerial Appointments to the portal.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As set out in the preceding question (116770), the responsibility for the publication of information on Direct Ministerial Appointments rests with individual sponsor departments. The Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments states that it is for individual departments to decide the most appropriate processes to strategically manage the DMAs that they make, which will include adding existing DMAs to the portal.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason her Department’s contracts with Inter Mediate are not on Contract Finder.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Contracts Finder is used for the publication of commercial contracts, rather than government grants, such as the Accountable Grant Agreements typically used by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to administer partnerships with NGOs.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Prime Minister’s Office takes to retain information relating to Ministerial submissions; and whether Prime Ministerial feedback on a submission is copied to and recorded on the internal PMPost system.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As has been the case under successive administrations, there are a range of different ways that ministers respond to advice, and long- established processes for those responses to be recorded.
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 16 March 2026 to Question 118530 on Baroness Limb, what discussions (a) 10 Downing Street and (b) the Cabinet Office has had with Baroness Limb on whether she intends to take up her seat and receive the Writ of Summons.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
It would not be appropriate to comment on whether there have been any private discussions.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Ministers are allowed to engage with the Muslim Council of Britain in a (a) Parliamentary or (b) political capacity.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 17 March 2026, Official Report, PQ 118753.
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 9 March 2026 to Question 117761 on Cabinet Office: Public Expenditure, for what reason expenditure by the Prime Minister's Office is not counted as Cabinet Office expenditure.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer to PQ 122164.