Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraph 1.24 of the Review Body on Senior Salaries publication Forty-seventh annual report on senior salaries published in May 2025, what steps the Government is taking to reduce excessive (a) bureaucracy and (b) process in the Civil Service.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This Government is committed to creating a productive and agile state. This includes reducing bureaucracy and simplifying processes through adoption of digital technology and AI tools, improving Ministerial oversight and accountability in arms-length bodies, streamlining approval processes, creating a cost-conscious culture that relentlessly roots out waste, drives efficiency, and protects taxpayers’ money, and establishing a more productive, higher-skilled civil service with stronger accountability for performance.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62087 on Lobbying, whether his Department plans to formally respond to the report.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government continues to keep transparency around lobbying under review, and we will factor into consideration the recommendations from PACAC's report as any policy reforms are considered. However, the report was conducted and published under the previous administration, and framed in the context of policy restraints imposed by that administration, therefore the Government will not be providing a full report response.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 19 June 2025, on House of Lords Appointments, HCWS718, whether the Prime Minister has a target size for the number of sitting peers in the House of Lords.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As appointments are for life, the second chamber has become too big. The Government’s manifesto therefore included a commitment to introduce a retirement age for members of the House of Lords.
The Government intends to propose the establishment of a dedicated select committee in the House of Lords to look at how best to implement the manifesto commitments on a retirement age and participation requirement, following the passage of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of the attendees at the Plan for Change launch event on 5 December 2024 were invited by the Government.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
All invitations were sent by the Government.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 62990 on House of Lords Appointments Commission, what the Government’s policy is on the number of Non-Party Political Life Peers proposed by HOLAC who will be created each individual year of this Parliament.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Prime Minister will continue to invite nominations from HOLAC, and future appointments will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Number 10 has an operational Bloomberg terminal.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
HMT has Bloomberg terminals and subscriptions to support the provision of economic advice to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the timeliness of payments of compensation to the victims of infected blood.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is committed to ensuring that all those eligible to receive compensation receive an award as quickly as possible. As of 15 July, the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) has contacted 2,215 people to begin their claim for compensation, with 1,934 having started the claim process. 808 offers of compensation have been made, with a total value of over £602 million. 587 people have accepted their offer and received payment, with over £411 million paid in compensation. This means approximately 60% of infected people registered with a support scheme have been contacted to begin their claim.
For other groups, IBCA will continue their test and learn approach, bringing different people in at different stages to start their compensation claim. They set out further details of this in their community update on 21st July.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the (a) UK Statistics Authority and (b) Office for National Statistics plan to respond to the second part of the Professor Sullivan report entitled Barriers to research on sex and gender, published on 2 July 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - 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 9th July is attached.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 186 of the Census 2021: General report for England and Wales, published on 21 June 2025, which local authorities had a response rate below 95%.
Answered by Georgia Gould - 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 9th July is attached.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the document entitled Committee on Standards in Public Life 334th Meeting, Thursday 15 May 2025: Minutes, published on 30 June 2025, if he will place in the Library a copy of the research paper by José Pedro Lopes of the University of Manchester.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Committee on Standards in Public Life is an independent advisory body. It is a matter for the Committee to determine the information it publishes.