Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) non-disclosure and (b) other confidentiality agreements relating to (i) employment, (ii) bullying, (iii) misconduct and (iii) harassment cases have been agreed by their Department in each year since 1 January 2010; and how much money from the public purse has been spent on (A) legal costs and (B) financial settlements for such agreements in each year since 1 January 2010.

Agreement for non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements are devolved to business units; the Cabinet Office does not hold this information centrally. The Cabinet Office is, therefore, not able to respond due to the disproportionate cost of gathering this data.

The Cabinet Office follows the principles laid out in the Cabinet Office Guidance on Settlement Agreements, Special Severance Payments on Termination of Employment and Confidentiality Clauses which is published on the internet, when considering any settlement agreements.

The Government is clear that confidentiality clauses should not be used to prevent staff from raising or discussing allegations of bullying, harassment or discrimination