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 7 July 2025 to Question 63340 on Civil Servants: Location, if he will publish the Civil Service relocation policy released by Cabinet Office under the Freedom of Information Act, ref: FOI2025/12570 of 28 August 2025.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We will place a copy of the Cabinet Office's relocation policy, as released in FOI2025/12570, in the Library of the House. The policy in question applies only to Cabinet Office staff rather than the wider Civil Service.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 4 September 2025 to Question 69673 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Remote Working, if he will list the expected level of attendance expectations at each of his Department's offices by (a) percentage and (b) location.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All Senior Civil Servants in the Department are expected to attend an office for 60% of the time, irrespective of which office they are based in. Staff at delegated grades are currently expected to attend for 50% of the time, with the exception of staff in the following offices who are currently expected to attend for 40% of the time due to capacity constraints; Darlington, Hemel Hempstead, Manchester, Sheffield and Wolverhampton. The ambition of the Department is for all staff to attend an office for 60% of the time in due course.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants in the (a) Cabinet Office and (b) Civil Service claim a London weighting on their salary, in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office does not have a London Weighting Allowance. There are separate London and National pay ranges. An individual’s pay, paid as a salary, is determined by the location of their designated office, as set out in their contract.
Decisions on pay, including London weighting, are delegated to individual departments for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS); data on London weighting is not collected centrally. The SCS pay framework is managed centrally and only operates a national pay range.
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 7 July 2025 to Question 64566 on Arms Length Bodies, whether exempted expenditure will be published in one location; how it will be published; and when it will be published.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Expenditure which is exempted under the requirements of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Expenditure Guidance must be reported to the Cabinet Office by departments and ALBs who employ civil servants. Reported expenditure is published annually.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average annual value of London weighting for civil servants in his Department was in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Cabinet Office does not have a London Weighting Allowance. There are separate London and National pay ranges. An individual’s pay, paid as a salary, is determined by the location of their designated office, as set out in their contract.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what is the estimated average salary of a civil servant in the Government Communications Service, in the most recent period for which data is available; and what is the estimated monetary value of the employer contribution to their Civil Service pension.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Government Communication Service does not set the salaries of Government Communicators. Government Communications salaries are aligned with Civil Service pay bands. Salaries vary according to grade, location, and departmental pay arrangements, and are consistent with the broader Civil Service structures.
All Government Communications civil servants are members of the Civil Service pension schemes and receive employer contributions in line with standard Civil Service pension arrangements. The employer contribution rates are determined by the scheme actuaries and apply uniformly across the Civil Service.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how his Department measures the diversity performance of the College for National Security; and whether there are safeguards to help ensure that oversight mechanisms do not (a) create bias and (b) unlawfully process protected data.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare
The College for National Security provides the national security community and wider civil service access to learning and development.
The College’s offer is open to all civil and crown servants and safeguards are in place to ensure content is only accessed by staff with appropriate clearances.
Diversity data of learners engaging in this initial offer is not currently collected as standard and is not used for performance purposes. In some cases, additional information such as location, disability or nationality information may be collected for operational purposes, for example to ensure we meet accessibility requirements.
Personal data is currently collected and processed in line with the College’s Privacy Notice, which can be accessed on GOV.UK here.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60496 on Civil Servants: London Allowance, what is the policy Cabinet Office policy on whether junior civil servants in his Department receiving London weighting have to attend and work in an office within Greater London.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer on 3 July 2025 (PQ 63008).
Pay arrangements, including those for London, are delegated to each department. The Cabinet Office does not have a London Weighting Allowance. There are separate London and National pay ranges. An individual’s pay, paid as a salary, is determined by the location of their designated office, as set out in their contract.
Asked by: Baroness Alexander of Cleveden (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to relocate Civil Service roles outside London.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
On 14 May, the Government announced it will be:
Strengthening its presence in 13 cross Government locations across the UK.
Ensuring that 50% of UK-based SCS are located outside of London by 2030.
Strengthening the talent pipeline by launching a new apprenticeship programme, setting an ambition for 50% of Fast Stream roles to be based outside London by 2030, and committing to develop and launch a local government interchange programme in partnership with the Local Government Association (LGA).
Reducing the number of Civil Service buildings in London, closing 11 buildings by 2030 to deliver £94m in savings per year.
Launching two new thematic campuses, an Energy Campus in Aberdeen and a Digital & AI Innovation Campus in Manchester.
In June, the Government announced that Places for Growth existing thematic campuses in Darlington, Sheffield and Leeds will be leading a new approach to bring together policy makers with those on the frontline to support mission delivery.
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 9 June 2025 to Question 54760 on Civil Servants: London, whether he plans to require any civil servants based in London to compulsorily relocate as part of the Places for Growth scheme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
London-based civil servants will not be required to compulsorily relocate as part of Places for Growth. Role relocations will occur predominantly through churn and some London-based civil servants may choose to voluntarily relocate.