Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has issued guidance to universities on admissions based on the socio-economic background of the applicant.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government encourages higher education (HE) providers to consider all applications on a case-by-case basis and offer equity of opportunity to all students, regardless of background or circumstance. However, it does not issue direct guidance. Universities are autonomous bodies independent from government and are responsible for their own admissions decisions.
The department works with key sector stakeholders, such as Universities UK, The Sutton Trust, UCAS and The Russell Group, who are co-leading work to consider how to improve access and participation.
The department will also develop options to address regional disparities in access and tackle the most systemic barriers across the journey into HE. To deliver this we will bring together a task and finish group of sector experts, charities, the Office for Students and UCAS to focus on how the system can best widen access for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The task and finish group will be chaired by Professor Kathryn Mitchell, vice chancellor of the University of Derby.
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 16 September 2025 to Question 74773 on Civil Servants: Resignations, whether any civil servants have resigned in response to the letter from the Permanent Under-Secretaries.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is the longstanding policy of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office under successive governments not to comment on internal HR matters.
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 3 September 2025 to Questions (a) 70458 on Government Departments: Directors and (b) 71225 on Public Appointments: Political Impartiality, through which process previous political activity of a regulated appointee is publicly declared if that political activity falls under the definition of political activity under the Governance Code on Public Appointments but does not fall under the definition of political activity under the guidance for Non-Executive Board members interests.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Governance Code on Public Appointments requires the public disclosure of political activity within the last five years for successful candidates. The Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies requires appointees to comply with the rules of the appointing body on handling conflicts of interests, which typically require the public declaration of potential conflicts, usually in the body’s register of interests.
The general guidance on the declaration of interests process for Non-Executive Board Members, which would include political activity, is published on Gov.uk, with the intention of standardising the management and publication of such interests across UK Government departments in order to increase consistency and transparency around those interests, as recommended by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62348 on EHRC: Public Appointments, what interests of regulated appointees by the Governance Code on Public Appointments are required to be published.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Section 9.1 of the Governance Code for Public Appointments states “candidates must be asked to declare potential conflicts of interest in their application.”.
The EHRC publishes the declarations of interests of its Chair and Commissioners on their website: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/how-we-operate/our-commissioners/commissioner-declarations-interests
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62348o n EHRC: Public Appointments, whether he will announce to appointment on conclusion of the competition on the Public Appointments website.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson was confirmed as the next Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission on 31 July 2025. This was announced in a press release which you can view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-dr-mary-ann-stephenson-as-the-next-ehrc-chair
On 31 July 2025, the announcement was posted on the Public Appointments website on a separate webpage here:https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/announcements?titleSearch=+Equality+and+Human+Rights+Commission+%28EHRC%29+Chair&body=®ulated=&bodyJustice=&sort=announcementDate%3Adesc#search-results
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to page 91 of his Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25, published on 15 September 2025, HC 1274, for what reason was facility time increased from £49,777 in 2023-24 to £69,892 in 2024-25; what was the increase in facility time as a proportion of the pay bill; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of funding trade union activities from facility time.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The increase results from an increased headcount and pay bill in the department; ongoing transformation work necessitating high levels of Trade Union engagement and increased engagement following the change of Government in July 2024.
The increase in pay bill from 2023/24 to 2024/25, accounted for 0.0058% of the 2024/25 paybill.
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what data sources have been used to train the Parlex AI tool on forecasting parliamentary reactions; and whether a data privacy impact assessment has been produced.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Parlex tool has not been trained as a new AI model, nor does it involve the development of a novel forecasting system. Instead, it is a search and analysis tool that enables users to research existing parliamentary records to support policy development and parliamentary handling.
Parlex uses only publicly available parliamentary data, including Hansard transcripts, Parliamentary Questions, and Select Committee materials. All tools developed by the Incubator for AI, including Parlex, are assured in line with government guidelines, which include data protection assessments.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the use of third-party providers to (a) assess, (b) index and (c) identify disinformation.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT’s National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) leads the operational response to information threats, including disinformation, capable of posing a risk to UK public safety and national security. Information on contracts awarded by the department to third-party contractors to support this activity is available on GOV.UK.
Details about Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department uses third-party providers to (a) assess, (b) index and (c) identify disinformation.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT’s National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) leads the operational response to information threats, including disinformation, capable of posing a risk to UK public safety and national security. Information on contracts awarded by the department to third-party contractors to support this activity is available on GOV.UK.
Details about Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what is the statutory basis of the work of the National Security and Online Information Team.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) leads the department’s operational response to information threats which present a public safety or national security risk to UK audiences, working closely with other departments including the Home Office and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
The team's remit and work is kept under review by DSIT ministers who remain accountable to parliament, including regarding the work of the NSOIT.