Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has issued guidance to special advisers on speaking to the police about stolen Government property.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Cabinet Office's Security Breach Policy requires individuals, including SpAds, to follow directions from Cabinet Office Security when there is a security breach, such as theft of Government property. As part of its standard operating procedures Cabinet Office Security will direct individuals to report any stolen Government property to the police and request a crime reference number.
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 uprate Freedom of Information Act cost thresholds.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The cost thresholds above which public authorities are not obliged to comply with a Freedom of Information request are set out in secondary legislation. Any changes to FOI legislation will be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Freedom of Information policy team has given guidance to departments on the use of the mosaic justification.
Answered by Chris Ward - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office has not issued Freedom of Information guidance to government departments on the ‘mosaic effect’.
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 December 2025 to Question 95641 on Permanent Secretaries: Contracts, if he will publish the model Permanent Secretary contract in operation in 2012.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Individual permanent secretary contracts were based on the SCS model contract up until 2013. In relation to answer 88716, the permanent secretary model contract placed in the House Library has been in force since July 2013.
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 120612, on Government Departments: Vetting, whether individuals joining the Civil Service are advised on giving false or misleading information in any other part of their application and vetting process.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Civil Servants applying for NSV Security Vetting (NSV) are advised of their responsibilities throughout the process and through the guidance published on gov.uk. This includes the need for full and complete disclosure.
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, whether the Insolvency Service and its nominated receiver are taking to ensure the retention of emails held by Global Counsel.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
When a company enters administration, independent Insolvency Practitioners take control of its business and property. Administrators are responsible for securing and reviewing company records to understand the company’s affairs and carry out the administration. Within three months, administrators must submit a directors’ conduct report to the Insolvency Service. If an investigation is warranted, the Insolvency Service will obtain records from the administrators.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data relating to (a) children and (b) schools will be integrated into the Digital ID database.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We will design the digital ID system to be secure, with only the minimum amount of data collected and stored. There will be no new single central database storing all government data on a person in one place. Data will primarily remain securely in the parts of the system where it already exists.
Through the public consultation that is now live, we are asking the public what age they think is appropriate to have the digital ID. Whatever the minimum age for eligibility, the system will be designed to operate to international best practice standards for data security and privacy and in line with UK Data Protection Law, to help ensure data is kept safe.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Whatsapps messages on 10 Downing Street official iPhones are automatically backed up to a cloud or central server.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There is established guidance on the management and recording of electronic communications on non-corporate channels. We keep all guidance around the use of non-corporate communications under review to ensure it remains fit for purpose.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps did Darren Tierney, then the head of the Propriety and Constitution Group, take to ensure that Lord Mandelson was personally interviewed before his appointment as Ambassador.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
No such interview took place. It is not unusual for political appointments to take place without direct conversations with the Cabinet Office. I refer the Hon Member to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March which sets out the process of appointment and the steps the Government is taking to strengthen the process going forwards.
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 20 March 2026, to Question 119894, on Gambling Commission: Managers, which specific public sector regulators (a) are and (b) are not subject to the Business Appointments Applications process.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Business Appointment Rules (BARs) apply to various individuals through specific codes of conduct. For instance, civil servants are subject to them via the Civil Servant Management Code, ministers through the Ministerial Code, and Special Advisers via their Code of Conduct.
Where a public sector organisation, such as an Executive Agency or an Advisory Non-Departmental Public Body, is staffed by civil servants, those individuals will be subject to the BARs.
Even though some individuals operating within the broader government sphere may not fall directly under the BARs, public bodies operating at arm’s length from government are still expected to implement their own equivalent processes to manage potential conflicts of interest, with these being tailored to their specific organisational context.