Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2026, to Question 110806, on Palantir, whether any other defence or Armed Forces staff accompanied the UK's Defence Attaché to the United States on the visit.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK Defence Attaché to the United States was the only representative from the Ministry of Defence present during the meeting. There were approximately 11 uniformed personnel and civil servants who also attended to observe a technology demonstration at Palantir HQ.
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 January 2026 to Question 104623 on Cabinet Office: Proof of Identity, whether other government departments will be required to make savings to help fund the digital ID scheme.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As per the answer provided by the Hon. Member for Makerfield on 19 January, the policy remains in development, with a dedicated team inside the Cabinet Office working to develop the proposals.
The Government has now launched a public consultation on making public services work for you with your digital identity. We are inviting the public to be part of a national conversation on how we can make it trusted, useful and inclusive.
We will focus on use cases that are most impactful for the public. Cost savings and efficiency will help determine our areas of focus.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether (a) her Department and (b) the Civil Service Commission has received a Business Appointments application from the (1) departing chief executive of the Gambling Commission and (2) interim chief executive.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Employees of the Gambling Commission are not Crown servants and therefore not subject to the Business Appointments Applications process.
As required by the model contract for Public Bodies, the Gambling Commission has robust policies in place to manage business appointments and conflicts of interest, including clear obligations under their Employee Code of Conduct to ensure that the risk of conflicts of interest are considered at the earliest opportunity. The Commission is satisfied that appropriate mitigations are in place to manage and reduce the risk of any actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2026 to Question 113723 on 10 Downing Street: Artworks, what the Government Art Collection reference number was of the portrait of Horatio Nelson previously installed in the state rooms of 10 Downing Street.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The portrait of Horatio Nelson previously on display in 10 Downing Street was a loan from the National Maritime Museum. The work is currently undergoing conservation and will be reinstated at 10 Downing Street when this work is complete.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the Cabinet Office consultation paper on Digital ID, 10 March 2026, CP1498, what the estimated gross cost is of the Digital ID programme.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The design and delivery of the national digital identity credential are subject to a public consultation, which launched Tuesday 10th March.
The design and delivery of digital ID are subject to the consultation outcomes. The feedback from the consultation will inform our final approach and enable a more accurate assessment of costs.
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 page 35 of the Cabinet Office consultation paper on Digital ID, 10 March 2026, CP1498, whether his Department considered collecting data on sex for digital ID.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As set out in the Digital ID consultation paper, the national digital ID will only collect the minimum amount of data required to issue and manage securely. We are asking questions in the consultation about the type of data that should be included.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the risk of Capita holding over £3 billion in Government contracts; and whether he plans to invoke the supplier debarment provisions of the Procurement Act 2023.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Cabinet Office continues to manage the government’s relationship with Capita, including monitoring its performance on a cross-government basis. As a strategic supplier to the government, Capita has a high level of oversight and risk management by the Cabinet Office, which is underpinned by an Memorandum of Understanding. As part of this, Capita provides transparency on their financial health and corporate strategy as well as engage with annual Corporate Resolution Planning.
Under the Procurement Act 2023, suppliers can be excluded from procurements on certain grounds, including serious breaches of contract and unremedied poor performance. The Act also empowers the Government to investigate a supplier for potential debarment, which could affect the supplier's eligibility to bid for future public contracts. There are currently no live debarment investigations relating to Capita.
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, pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2026 to Question 115117 on Jonathan Powell, for what reason the direct ministerial appointment of John Powell as Special Envoy in early August 2024 was not announced until 6 September 2024.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Jonathan Powell was appointed in line with standard procedure, and his appointment announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases of suspected misuse of Flexible Support Fund equipment have been identified in the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Work coaches must ensure all awards made under the Flexible Support Fund (FSF) are reasonable and represent good value for money in terms of improving employment prospects and reducing the time spent on benefits.
Where a work coach identifies concerns that FSF funded equipment may have been misused, this information is recorded on the customer’s Universal Credit account and considered as part of ongoing engagement, including when determining the appropriateness of any future FSF support.
Misuse of FSF support does not always indicate fraud. Where there is evidence that misuse may involve deliberate dishonesty or a criminal offence, work coaches are required to make a formal referral to the Department’s fraud team, who determine whether further investigation or enforcement action is appropriate.
The Department does not hold central records on the number of cases of suspected misuse of FSF funded equipment. Information is captured at individual customer level and is not collated nationally for reporting purposes.
A new digital FSF application system, being rolled out nationally, will strengthen oversight of FSF spend by providing improved data and enabling more detailed scrutiny of awards.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, further to the comments by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office of 4 February 2026, Official Report, Column 372, on Lord Mandelson, if he will make it his policy to ensure that the letter from the Cabinet Secretary to the Intelligence and Security Committee on the process to be followed on the Humble Address is placed in the Library.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary wrote to the Intelligence and Security Committee on 3 March 2026. There are no plans for this letter to be published.