Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, if he will have discussions with his Cabinet colleagues on the response times to written questions from the hon. Member for Newton Abbot.
Answered by Alan Campbell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account. I have written to all members of Cabinet to remind Ministers of their responsibilities to provide full and timely responses to Members' PQs.
I encourage hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself and my office.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to Questions 75061 and 75064 on National Armaments Director: Recruitment.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
A response for both questions has been issued here and here.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Government press release entitled Internship Scheme To Get More Working Class Students Into Civil Service, published on 1 August 2025, whether children of police officers will be eligible to apply for the Summer Internship Programme in her Department in 2026.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
I refer to the answer given to PQs UIN 74202 and 74515.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-09-02/74202
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-09-02/74515
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 July 2025 on Government of service, HCWS870, what the line management structure of the (a) Ethics and Integrity Commission secretariat and (b) secretariat supporting the Independent Advisor on Ministers Interests will be; and whether those staff will report to a named senior civil servant in his Department.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the member to the answer provided by Baroness Anderson on 6 August 2025 (HL9881).
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 30 January 2025 to Question 25855 on Business Interests, what progress his Department has made on reviewing and updating the post-government employment rules.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the member to the written statement that was provided to the House by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 21 July 2025 (HCWS870).
Further information on the new Business Appointment Rules process will be published when it becomes operational on 13 October 2025.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to respond to Question 43120, tabled on 1 April 2025, on Honours: Forfeiture.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The answer to question 43120 was published on 1 September 2025.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference his Department's transparency data entitled Government Procurement Card spend over £500 - April 2025 (Cabinet Office Core), updated on 26 June 2025, what the purpose was of the £979.20 spending with Manchester Pride.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As explained in the answer to PQ65788 on 15th July 2025 a maximum budget of £8,500 was approved for spend to support the Civil Service presence at a number of Pride events across the UK of which £7,395 has been spent. The £979.20 spend listed in the data published on 26 June 2025 related to fees for corporate participation in Manchester Pride and was part of the £7,395 spend referenced in that response to PQ65788.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Answering the question raised by the Rt. Hon. Member would unfortunately require the Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency’s staff to go through a large volume of data manually, thereby exceeding the disproportionate cost threshold. This is because the information is not held in such a way to be able to filter by the requested category.
The Guide to Parliamentary Work sets here out that there is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold, which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The current disproportionate cost threshold is £850, although the limit does not apply to oral questions. The Guide to Parliamentary Work is published online and is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-parliamentary-work
The threshold is pegged at 140% of the Freedom of Information Act cost limit, currently £600, to the nearest £50. Where a change in the Freedom of Information cost limit occurs, the Cabinet Office will make a written statement to advise Parliament of the new disproportionate cost threshold.
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 13 June 2025 to Question 57252 on Arms Length Bodies: Parliamentary Scrutiny, whether written Parliamentary Questions on the work of (a) public corporations and (b) private companies owned by the Government are expected to be answered by (i) the sponsoring minister or (ii) through correspondence from the Chief Executive of that body.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Written Parliamentary Questions about specific arm’s-length entities, including public corporations or government-owned companies, should be directed to the relevant sponsoring department. The arrangements for answering such questions are a matter for sponsoring departments to agree in consultation with individual arm’s length entities.
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 54808 on Civil Service: Photographs and Video Recordings, whether unpublished content can be used by Ministers for party political purposes.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the Hon Member for Basildon and Billericay to the answer on 9 June 2025 (PQ54808).