Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings Alan Milburn attended with (a) ministers and (b) officials in his Department between 5 July 2024 and 9 November 2024; and how his Department communicated with Mr Milburn in that period.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said in Parliament on 9 September 2024, “The right honourable Alan Milburn is a former Member of this House, a member of the Privy Council and a former Health Secretary. There is a clear distinction between inviting people with a wide range of experience and perspectives into the Department to have policy debates and to generate ideas, and having meetings that are about transacting Government business. I can assure the House that nothing commercially sensitive has been shared with Alan Milburn.”

He also said that “transparency matters. That is why meetings in the Department, and their attendees, will be published in the right and proper way on a quarterly basis.” As part of this quarterly return, and in line with guidance, we will be listing the purpose of the meetings.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether criminal charges (a) have been made and (b) convictions have been secured against Sri Lankan nationals on Diego Garcia by BIOT authorities.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Where allegations of criminality are made on BIOT, they are investigated by the authorities there and criminal charges brought and prosecuted where appropriate.  

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the terms of reference for her Department’s quality assurance framework; and what steps she is taking to ensure that framework is adhered to when responding to correspondence from hon. Members.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department for Work and Pensions follows the Cabinet Office Guide to Handling Correspondence. This guidance is published on Gov.uk and sets out how all departments should respond to correspondence from hon members.

Drafters receive ongoing training, and each response is quality assured by a correspondence manager before being sent to Minister. The department aims to respond to correspondence within 20 working days.

The Cabinet Office publishes statistics on Departmental performance which can be found on the gov.uk website and can be viewed here.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what industrial disputes are ongoing within (a) his Department and (b) each of the arm’s length bodies connected to his Department; how many (i) staff and (ii) contractors are involved in each dispute; what the form of industrial action is in each dispute; which recognised trade union is involved in each dispute; what the substantive matter is that is being disputed in each case; and what steps he plans to take to end each dispute.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

There are currently no ongoing industrial disputes with Cabinet Office employees within the Cabinet Office or any of its arms length bodies. There are, however, ongoing disputes between PCS and G4S Security Company (G4S) and International Services System - Facilities Management Services (ISS) who provide facilities management services to the Cabinet Office.

The hard work of security guards and other staff keeps the government running. As is longstanding practice under successive administrations, the Government does not provide a running commentary on ongoing disputes.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to decolonise the (a) artwork and (b) heritage assets in (i) his Department and (ii) each of it's Arm's Length Bodies; and what the policy of the Government Property Agency is on this.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

There has been no change in the Cabinet Office’s management of artwork or heritage assets since the previous administration.

As separate entities, the responsibility for creating policy and guidance for artwork sits with each individual Arm’s Length Body, rather than with the Department.

The Government Property Agency does not have a national policy on this topic and will follow any policy and/or guidance provided by relevant client departments.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2024 to Question 12772 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: HOPE not hate, if she will list the issues on which officials have engaged with Hope not Hate since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon member to the answer to Question UIN 12772 on 15 November 2024.

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