Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any guidance has been issued to (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers on (i) ministerial and (ii) special adviser conduct during the Labour Party deputy leadership contest in addition to existing (A) ministerial and (B) special adviser codes.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Ministers, special advisers and civil servants are expected to adhere to their respective codes of conduct at all times and a reminder of these obligations in the context of the deputy leadership elections was provided.
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 Answers of 26 September 2025, to Questions 75632, 74515, 74202, on Civil Service: Unpaid Work, whether the Office for National Statistics classifies the occupations of (a) tool-makers, (b) factory owners, (c) Members of Parliament, (d) Ministers of the Crown and (e) civil servants as working class under the NS-SEC framework.
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 gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd October is attached.
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 3 September 2025 to Question 70517 on Government Departments: Directors, which departments did the five leave from; and what was the cost to the public purse of exit packages.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Although the directors may have left their post, they have not necessarily left their organisation, or the Civil Service.
The Government Departments were:
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Department for Education
Department for Business and Trade
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Any cost to the public purse would not be centrally held as directors are directly employed by their department.
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 21 July 2025 to Question 67904 on Universities: Fees and Charges, whether the European Commission has requested that EU students be given home fee status under the proposed UK-EU youth mobility scheme.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We have agreed, under the UK-EU Common Understanding, that we will work towards the establishment of a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU. We have agreed that any scheme will be capped and participants’ visas time-limited. We have not agreed to offer home fee status to EU students. We have also been clear that it should be in line with the UK’s existing schemes with countries like Australia and New Zealand. The exact parameters are subject to discussion and we cannot give a running commentary of ongoing negotiations.
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 his Department's press release entitled Civil Service staff networks to only meet outside working hours and have all events signed off by senior managers, published on 23 September 2025, what approvals have been given in (a) his Department and (b) the Office for Equality and Opportunity since 23 September 2025.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The cross Civil Service Network Policy applies as published to all cross-Civil Service Staff Networks only.
However it also acts as a model policy for Departments to adopt or adapt depending on business needs for their departmental networks. The Cabinet Office is now working to be able to adopt this policy for internal departmental networks and will carry out their own engagement with internal stakeholders to be able to adopt the policy.
The sign off and approval process for events will be part of this policy development for the Cabinet Office.The guidance will apply to all networks in Cabinet Office.
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 September 2025 to Question 75447on Trade Union Officials: Facility Agreements, whether the Cabinet Office guidance on facility time has changed since July 2024; what is the maximum permitted amount of facility time as percentage of the overall paybill.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office guidance on facility time has not changed since July 2024. The guidance states that facility time costs in the Civil Service should not represent more than 0.1% of a department’s paybill.
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 7 July 2025 to Question 63340 on Civil Servants: Location, if he will publish the Civil Service relocation policy released by Cabinet Office under the Freedom of Information Act, ref: FOI2025/12570 of 28 August 2025.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We will place a copy of the Cabinet Office's relocation policy, as released in FOI2025/12570, in the Library of the House. The policy in question applies only to Cabinet Office staff rather than the wider Civil Service.
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, if she will publish the letter of 16 May 2025 from FCDO staff to the former Foreign Secretary on HM Government's Middle East policy.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is a long-standing principle that Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office staff should be free to express their views internally without concern that their views will be made public.
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 14 October 2025 to Question HL10630, on Lord Mandelson, what role her Department played in the due diligence undertaken prior to the appointment of the former Ambassador to the United States.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 22nd September to question 74188.
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, whether Inter-Mediate has received funding from the Government for work on (a) China and (b) North Korea.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer he was provided on 25 September to Question 70454.