theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in reducing dog-related injuries and fatalities. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra is continuing to engage closely with the Police, local authorities, and rescue and rehoming organisations to monitor the impacts of the XL Bully dog ban.

We are also working with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to explore measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. We have reconvened the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce and look forward to receiving their findings and recommendations in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-02)

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Anna Gelderd:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of facilities in public disabled toilets to meet the needs of stoma care users. \p Mary Creagh: The Government oversees policy and legislation with respect to the safe management of waste and litter as well as the protection of drains and sewers. This however does not extend to compelling or explicitly encouraging local authorities with regard to types of waste receptacles or their placement. These decisions are for local authorities to make.
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Lewis Cocking:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether swift bricks count towards biodiversity net gain. \p Mary Creagh: No, expenditure on swift bricks cannot be counted towards biodiversity net gain (BNG) units which must be calculated using the main Statutory Biodiversity Net Gain metric or the small sites version of it.
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the long-term resilience of food supply chains. \p Daniel Zeichner: The UK has a resilient food supply chain and is equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Defra and the Food Standards Agency have joint responsibility for food as a Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sector. Defra assesses the potential risks to the food supply chain, as outlined in the National Risk Register (NRR). Defra works with Cabinet Office, as leads for the NRR, and the wider resilience and CNI community across Government to ensure impacts to food supply are considered in risk assessments and contingency planning.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-02)

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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to enforce the ban on glue traps. \p Mary Creagh: The Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022 bans glue trap use in England in all but the most exceptional, licensable circumstances. It came into force in 2024. Nothing in the law prevents sale of glue traps in England. However, only pest controllers with a licence can legally use them for rodent control.

The police enforce against illegal use of glue traps. All wildlife crime police officers in England are able to access the National Wildlife Crime Unit’s (NWCU) DISC Hub which provides updates regarding national wildlife crime issues. Comprehensive briefing on glue traps legislation has been available on this Hub since the Act came into force. If a police officer needs to urgently know the legislation, they have the correct pathway to the information they need and should take the appropriate enforcement action. Natural England meanwhile is the licensing authority for the use of glue traps for rodent control. Its officers will enforce against breaches of licensed use and Natural England is suitably resourced to fulfil this function.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-02)

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Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to add meadows to the list of irreplaceable habitats in England. \p Mary Creagh: Irreplaceable habitat includes some of England’s most ecologically valuable habitats. The list of irreplaceable habitats in the biodiversity net gain regulations reflects the non-exhaustive list of examples of irreplaceable habitat in the National Planning Policy Framework. Given the breadth of habitats which could be considered irreplaceable, the Government plans in due course to review the definition of irreplaceable habitats to ensure it is robust and comprehensive to support decision makers.
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) supermarkets and (b) food producers to mitigate the risk of shortages in key food staples. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise and carries out extensive, regular and ongoing engagement with supermarkets and producers in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.
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Sarah Dyke:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential economic merits of implementing circular economy models. \p Mary Creagh: This Government is committed to moving to a circular economy – a future where we keep our resources are in use for longer, waste is reduced, we accelerate the path to net zero, we stimulate innovation, create thousands of green jobs, and unlock economic opportunities across every region of the country. As part of that, the Government is currently considering the actions that can be taken to move us towards a circular economy, which we plan to publish for consultation in the coming autumn.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of renting the Dover Bastion Point facility in each year since it was first in public use. \p Daniel Zeichner: The information requested is commercially sensitive and therefore cannot be released.
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Andrew Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to provide (a) financial and (b) other support to local authorities to help improve surface water drainage. \p Emma Hardy: We are investing £4.2 billion over three years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29, to construct new flood schemes, including surface water schemes, and maintain and repair existing defences across the country. This builds on the £2.65 billion that we are investing in 2024/25 and 2025/26. The full list of over 700 schemes to benefit from fresh funding this year was announced on 31 March 2025 and can be found here.

The Government launched a consultation on 3 June on proposals to reform the way we fund flood and coastal defences. We will make it simpler for all risk management authorities to calculate their funding. The proposals would see the first £3 million of all projects fully funded. This would speed up delivery of vital schemes and ensure money was distributed more effectively across the country – including for surface water management schemes. The consultation has now closed, and we will publish our response in due course.

The Government is strongly committed to improving the implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), looking at what additional steps might be taken to support this. We have made some immediate changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to support increased delivery of SuDS where they could have drainage impacts and require all development to utilise SuDS where they could have drainage impacts. In June this year, the Government introduced new national standards.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-02)

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Sarah Dyke:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will establish a long-term resource use target through the circular economy strategy. \p Mary Creagh: This Government is committed to moving to a circular economy – a future where we keep our resources in use for longer, waste is reduced, we accelerate the path to net zero. Moving away from the linear make, use and throw model is vital to meeting our Net Zero and Environment Targets. The Government recognises the importance of assessing the impacts of our interventions and will consult on options for this when we publish the proposals for our Circular Economy Strategy for England in the coming autumn.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to increase the level of funding provided to Dover Port Health Authority to carry out pro-active vehicle spot checks. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra is providing £3.1 million to Dover Port Health Authority for the financial year 2025/26, in addition to investing over £9 million since 2022.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of checks for illegally imported meat at the Port of Dover. \p Daniel Zeichner: Defra is working closely with the Home Office and the Food Standards Agency to tackle this issue with the support of Border Force, Port Health Authorities and local authorities, to ensure that operations around illegal meat imports are as efficient as possible.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of maintaining the Dover Bastion Point facility in each year since it was first in public use. \p Daniel Zeichner: The information requested is commercially sensitive and therefore cannot be released.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of vehicles checked for illegally imported meat entering through the Port of Dover. \p Daniel Zeichner: We are working with the Home Office and Border Force to ensure that operations around illegal meat imports are as efficient as possible and have invested significantly in additional operational capacity at the port of Dover (£3.1 million planned this financial year in addition to £9 million since 2022).
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Sarah Dyke:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,  whether farmers in Higher Level Stewardship schemes will be able to apply for the new Sustainable Farming Incentive schemes. \p Daniel Zeichner: Our approach to transitioning farmers from existing agreements into the new schemes is under review and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is currently closed for new applications. We will provide further details about the reformed SFI in summer 2025.

We encourage those with existing Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreements to continue with this scheme. We’re investing £30 million to increase HLS payment rates so farmers in HLS agreements can continue to restore habitats, support rare species, preserve historic features and maintain traditional landscape features in our iconic countryside.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-02)

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Jess Asato:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to give emotional support animals the same legal status as guide dogs. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Standards for assistance dogs are currently and historically maintained on the basis of a voluntary regulatory framework. There is no specific legislation for the regulation of assistance dogs and no legislation is planned.

There are recognised standards for assistance dogs worldwide set by international bodies by which a number of UK charities and organisations are accredited. Assistance dogs are also provided by other charities and private sector organisations, including owner trainers, which are not accredited by international bodies.

Assistance dogs might be regarded as such, if they serve to mitigate disabilities and have sufficient training to warrant public access. The Equality Act 2010 defines a disabled person as someone with a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This definition is central to the Act, which aims to protect people from discrimination based on disability.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has produced guidance for businesses and service providers on assistance dogs. This guidance states that, “dependent on the specific facts and circumstances in each case, it may be a reasonable adjustment to give access to a disabled person’s Emotional Support Animal. Service providers should develop a policy that is inclusive and allows for consideration of individual circumstances”.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees in her Department earn (a) £100,000 and (b) £166,000 or more per year. \p Andrew Western: From HR data for paid staff in June 2025, there are 98 staff in total with annual salary of £100k or more, of which 6 staff have an annual salary of £166k or more.
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Kirsty Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill on levels of child poverty. \p Alison McGovern: The Department has published an updated assessment of the poverty impacts of the benefit changes announced at Spring Statement with revisions to reflect the proposed changes since tabled, which includes changes to Universal Credit. This estimates that there will be 50,000 fewer individuals in relative poverty after housing costs in 2029/30 as a result of the changes. This includes a reduction in poverty for both children and working age individuals.

The assessment is available at Spring statement social security changes – updated impact on poverty levels in Great Britain, July 2025 - GOV.UK.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of Universal Credit payments in June 2029. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department does not publish a specific forecast of expenditure in June 2029, but expenditure for the 2029/30 financial year on Universal Credit is forecast to be £88,919 million.

Benefits’ expenditure and caseloads, in outturn and forecast, are published here: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 63336 on Disaster Relief and Emergencies: Equality, for what reason sex and gender are collated as separate indicators. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Sex and gender reassignment are distinct protected characteristics and, as such, data relating to these characteristics may be collated separately.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 63336 on Disaster Relief and Emergencies: Equality, whether there is any other documentation with the Risk Vulnerability Tool. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Information about the Risk Vulnerability Tool (RVT), its purpose and availability to officials in UK and Devolved Governments was published as part of the Resilience Action Plan.

Further information on the RVT methodology will be published as part of a Quality and Methodology Information report once the methodology has been finalised, as is usual for government statistics.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 27 of the National Security Strategy 2025, published on 24 June 2025, who will be responsible for the creating of a Biothreats Radar. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Cabinet Office’s National Situation Centre is responsible for creating the Biothreats Radar. The Radar brings together information on human, animal, and plant health risks to create a powerful, near real-time view of emerging biological threats and the impact they could have.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 64065 on National Security Adviser, for what reason the role of secretary to the National Security Council is fulfilled by the Deputy National Security Advisers; and what role the National Security Adviser has within the National Security Secretariat. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The NSA attends the National Security Council and provides advice to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on national security matters. The relevant Deputy NSA acts as Secretary to the National Security Council as this is a civil service function. The NSA oversees cross-government delivery of the National Security Strategy 2025.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the performance of the national test of the UK Emergency Alert System conducted on 23 April 2023; and what lessons will be applied to the test on 7 September 2025. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Government is committed to improving the Emergency Alerts system as it serves a crucial purpose helping to save lives in emergency situations by issuing an alert to all compatible mobile phones.

There was an initial 12 month evaluation period (April 2023 - April 2024) during which the government carried out analysis on the effectiveness of the system. This analysis allowed the government to assess the benefit of emergency alerts during life-threatening emergencies. Following this evaluation lessons have been taken after each activation of emergency alerts to ensure any necessary changes or technical improvements are made to improve the system.
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Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to assess the potential merits of flexible visa arrangements with the European Union for British nationals who face challenges with the Schengen rules. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The UK and the EU allow for visa-free short-term travel in line with their respective arrangements for third country nationals. UK nationals can travel visa-free within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period; this is standard for third countries travelling visa-free to the EU. There may be opportunities to apply for visas to stay for longer periods of time, in accordance with the rules of individual Member States. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many businesses have ceased trading since 4 July 2024; and what proportion of these closures were in the (a) hospitality, (b) retail and (c) construction sectors. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd July is attached.

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 99.8KB)
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Johanna Baxter:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will publish (a) a timeline for the completion of the implementation of UK Covid-19 Inquiry Module 1 recommendations and (b) target dates for actions in progress. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Government responded in full to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 1 report on 16 January 2025 and committed to providing regular updates on implementation of the commitments made in the response. The most recent update was published on 8 July, alongside a suite of key publications which demonstrate this government’s determination to build the UK’s resilience and pandemic preparedness for the future.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many employees in his Department earn (a) £100,000 and (b) £166,000 or more per year. \p Georgia Gould: Salary information for Senior Cabinet Office employees can be found at https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/ff76be1f-4f37-4bef-beb7-32b259413be1/organogram-cabinet-office. The next update is due to be published by 6th December 2025.
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Katie Lam:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many open (a) processes and (b) applications there are for the closure of (i) arm’s-length bodies, (ii) Government Departments, (iii) agencies and (iv) public bodies. \p Georgia Gould: On 6 April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a full review of all UK government arm’s length bodies, and proposals for new bodies, in order to return policy decisions to Ministers, reduce duplication and improve efficiency and transparency. The review is ongoing and outcomes will be announced in due course.

Information about the closures of other types of public bodies is not held centrally.

The decision to create or close Government Departments is the responsibility of the Prime Minister. There are no active processes underway to create or close any departments.
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Katie Lam:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the published list of (a) arm’s-length bodies, (b) Government departments, (c) agencies, (d) public bodies, and (e) other related entities for which a Minister or Department is responsible is complete and does not omit any relevant bodies. \p Georgia Gould: Cabinet Office publishes a list of Departments, agencies and public bodies which can be accessed on gov.uk. Individual government departments are responsible for ensuring their portfolio of organisations is accurately listed and kept up-to-date.

The Government also publishes a consolidated dataset on arm’s-length bodies annually. The latest version can be found here and provides landscape data for 2024.
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Ian Byrne:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much from the public purse has been spent on legal representation in public inquests and inquiries in each year between 2020 and July 2025. \p Georgia Gould: For statutory inquiries, section 40 of the Inquiries Act 2005 gives the Chair the power to award funding for legal representation subject to conditions imposed by the Sponsoring Minister. Details of these costs and of the cost of an inquiry’s legal support are available on individual inquiry websites. The Cabinet Office does not keep centralised records of expenditure on legal representation in public inquiries and inquests.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2025 to Question HL8409 on special advisers, whether special advisers who wish to undertake industrial action can only do so as part of industrial action undertaken by their appointing minister’s department. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: As special advisers have the same legal rights as other employees, their right to take industrial action is not limited to their appointing minister’s department.
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Lewis Cocking:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Special adviser data releases: numbers and costs, July 2025, published on 17 July 2025, how much was Sue Gray’s salary. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Annual Report for Special Advisers releases salary information for individuals in post as at 31 March 2025. We do not release salary details outside of this publication.
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Lewis Cocking:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Special adviser data releases: numbers and costs, July 2025, published on 17 July 2025, how much of severance costs in 2024-25 related to the severance payment made to Sue Gray. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: In line with the Model Contract for Special Advisers which is published online and details the circumstances in which severance is payable, Baroness Gray was not eligible for a severance payment, therefore no such payment was made.
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Johanna Baxter:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he plans to take to ensure that UK Resilience Academy expert panels on whole-system risks are available for parliamentary scrutiny; and how the Government plans to (a) respond to and (b) implement as necessary their recommendations. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Cabinet Office will instruct the UK Resilience Academy to convene independently-chaired panels dedicated to reviewing specific whole-system risks. The panels will draw on leading independent experts from across sectors outside government to ensure impartial and credible assurance. Terms of Reference will underpin the panels, and a pilot study will test and refine this approach.

The Government's updates on its actions to improve resilience, including in response to the findings of the independent expert panels, will be set out in the Annual Statement to Parliament on risk and resilience.
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Johanna Baxter:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which catastrophic risk boards are co-chaired by his Department; what the remit is for each board; which other Government departments are involved; and how frequently they meet. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: As outlined in the Central Government Concept of Operations for Emergency Response and Recovery (the Amber Book), the Cabinet Office have taken a stronger and more directive role in planning for catastrophic risks. The Cabinet Office co-sponsors the planning phase of catastrophic risks with the Lead Government Department (LGD), including through co-chairing of catastrophic risk boards.

The Cabinet Office works with LGDs to agree which boards it would be appropriate to co-chair on a case by case basis. The Cabinet Office and LGDs work closely with representatives from the other relevant departments, agencies and, where appropriate, the Devolved Governments in preparing for catastrophic risks.
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Johanna Baxter:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to publish central operational response plans developed for each identified potential catastrophic risk; and whether he plans to make (a) plans and (b) summaries available to Parliament. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Government published the updated Central Government Concept of Operations for Emergency Response and Recovery (the Amber Book) in April 2025 which codifies the leadership role the Cabinet Office plays for responding to catastrophic risks. The Cabinet Office also co-sponsors the planning phase of catastrophic risks with the Lead Government Department which owns the risk. Part of this planning is to develop the concept of operations for each catastrophic risk. These plans are internal and operational in nature, and there is currently no intent to publish these documents.
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Mr Paul Foster:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a ministerial attendance list for the meeting of the Domestic and Economic Affairs Committee of the Cabinet on 16 November 2023. \p Georgia Gould: It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees, including their attendance, is not normally shared publicly. The standing membership of the Domestic and Economic Affairs committee was placed in the Parliamentary library by the previous Government on 3rd November 2022.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Cabinet Office spend approvals: October to December 2024, published 27 March 2025, what was the purpose of the spending on Great Campaigns HQ; what suppliers were contracted; and on what media channels. \p Ellie Reeves: Since 2011, the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Campaign has successfully encouraged an international audience to visit, trade, invest, live, work and study in the UK and has generated over £7 billion of returns to the UK economy. GREAT HQ’s activity targets cross-cutting drivers of growth. To deliver these campaigns, GREAT HQ works with several approved suppliers via government commercial frameworks, delivering mainly via targeted digital channels.
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Mr Paul Foster:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Ministers attended the meeting of the Domestic and Economic Affairs Committee on 25 March 2024. \p Georgia Gould: It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees, including their attendance, is not normally shared publicly. The standing membership of the Domestic and Economic Affairs committee was placed in the Parliamentary library by the previous Government on 3rd November 2022
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Mr Paul Foster:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a meeting of the Domestic and Economic Affairs Committee of the Cabinet relating to a data breach took place in October 2023,. \p Georgia Gould: It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees, including how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.
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Alex Ballinger:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether a COBR meeting took place on OP RUBIFIC between 21 May 2024 and 25 June 2024. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees is not normally shared publicly.
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Alex Ballinger:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any COBR meetings took place on the (a) data breach relating to Afghanistan and (b) Afghan Response Route between August 2023 and May 2024. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees is not normally shared publicly.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the use of super-injunctions by the Government on the reputation of Government. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The Government has been deeply concerned about the lack of transparency to Parliament and to the public as a result of the super-injunction about the data protection breach from February 2022 relating to the Afghan relocations and assistance policy.

As the Secretary of State for Defence stated to the House on 15 July, the super-injunction was unprecedented. The Government looks forward to engaging with any forthcoming select committee inquiries.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-02)

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Mike Wood: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. \p Georgia Gould: 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.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-02)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's transparency data entitled Cabinet Office: spend control data for October to December 2024, published on 27 March 2025, what the spending on (a) 35 Great Smith Street, (b) 5 Endeavour Square, (c) Bishopgate House and (d) Exchange Tower was for. \p Georgia Gould: The spend control data relates to four approvals under the National Property Control (NPC) for rent for office space.

The NPC requests were all made by the Government Property Agency, an Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office, on behalf of the department/s or organisation/s to be located in these sites.
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Euan Stainbank:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the maximum amount of money is the Scottish Government can spend through the Crown Commercial Service on a single contract. \p Georgia Gould: The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) provides public sector organisations with a range of commercial agreements, through which they can procure common goods and services, as well as offering commercial advice and procurement services. CCS does not set a limit on the amount that an individual organisation can spend on a single contract procured using CCS commercial agreements or services. It is the responsibility of each organisation, including the Scottish Government, to determine its own level of spend on each contract.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 11 July 2025 on Lancaster 2.0, HCWS812, if he will list each member of the new UK-France Nuclear Steering Board. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The UK France Nuclear Steering Group will be chaired by the Presidency of the Republic on the French side and by the Cabinet Office on the UK side. The steering group will be made up of senior officials from other Ministries and organisations as required. The first meeting will take place in the autumn, and it will meet regularly after that. Attendance shall be determined by the agenda items for each meeting; representation will vary accordingly.
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Dan Norris:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to help support (a) small and medium-sized businesses and (b) social enterprises in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency to be awarded government contracts. \p Georgia Gould: The Government is determined to ensure the £385 billion of public money spent on public procurement annually, delivers economic growth and supports small businesses across the country. For too long, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) have been held back by government procurement processes that are too slow, bureaucratic, and difficult to navigate.

The National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) sets out the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement and builds on measures in the Procurement Act including an expectation for all public bodies to maximise procurement spend with SMEs and VCSEs.

In central government, we have announced new rules to drive greater transparency and accountability for increasing numbers of SMEs and VCSEs delivering public contracts. From 1 April 2025 central government departments must set three-year targets for direct spend with SMEs, and from 1 April 2026 for VCSEs, and to publish progress annually.

The Government is also currently consulting on further reforms to our public procurement processes to build on the changes introduced in the Procurement Act. In particular, these reforms will open up more opportunities for SMEs and VCSEs.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much he plans to save by stopping the use of wax seals on official documents; and whether he plans to implement this immediately. \p Georgia Gould: The Government is considering legislation to scrap laws that get in the way of a modern and productive state.

Any such legislation will be brought forward and announced in the usual way.
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Connor Naismith:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has had discussions with his (a) French and (b) EU counterparts on the potential merits of allowing home owners in foreign countries to stay in their homes for more than 90 days in every 180. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: HMG officials and Ministers, including myself, regularly engage EU and EU Member State counterparts on a range of issues affecting UK nationals. The UK and the EU allow for visa-free, short-term travel in line with their respective arrangements for third country nationals. UK nationals can travel visa-free in the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period. UK nationals planning to stay longer will need permission from the relevant Member State. In France, a long-stay visa is available. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2025 to Question 62339 on Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the membership on decision making. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The process for Honours selection is transparent and robust; all nominations are considered by one of ten expert Honours Committees, each chaired by an independent chair, and comprising a majority of independent members each with considerable experience of the area covered by the committee. Once the selections have been made by each Committee, the Chairs take their recommendations to the Main Honours Committee and agree the final List for submission by the Prime Minister to The King for His Majesty’s approval.

All independent chairs and members are appointed through an open and transparent public appointments process, in full compliance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the status is of his Department's Gender Identity and Intersex guidance; and whether his Department has currently operational guidance in this area. \p Georgia Gould: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Reigate on Tuesday 21 January 2025 (UIN 23677, tabled on 13 January 2025).
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what changes his Department made to the Cabinet Office's Government Function: People, Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework, issued 30 June 2025. \p Georgia Gould: A Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework is a management tool designed to provide consistent, comparable management information that supports functional assurance and continuous improvement.

The People Function Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework was updated to reflect the updates made in Government Functional Standard GovS 003: People v 2.1 which was published on 16th June 2025.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the proposed remuneration package for the new National Armaments Director has been revised since the post was first advertised. \p Georgia Gould: The salary for the National Armaments Director role remains as advertised.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish the senior officials high earners salaries list for 2025. \p Georgia Gould: The previous administration did not update this list prior to the General Election. The Cabinet Office will publish a new 2025 list in due course.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2025 to Question 65874 on Prime Minister: Staff, on what date (a) the Implementation Unit and (b) the No10 Delivery Unit were abolished. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: There has not been an Implementation Unit in 10 Downing Street for at least 15 years. The No10 Delivery Unit moved to the Cabinet Office and was renamed the Mission Delivery Unit reflecting its focus on the government’s five missions.
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Steff Aquarone:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to her Answer of 21 July 2025 Question 68537 on Emergencies: Sirens, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that communities in (a) coastal areas and (b) that have limited or no phone signal receive those alerts. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Emergency Alert system is a UK Government capability that allows time critical life saving information to be broadcast to phones within a certain area.

This was introduced in April 2023, and has now been used five times. Emergency Alerts are instantaneous and the Government can send alerts directly to all compatible mobile phones within a geo-targeted area. A list of compatible mobile phones can be found on https://www.gov.uk/alerts/how-alerts-work. A second national test of the Emergency Alerts system will take place on Sunday 7 September around 3pm in the afternoon.

This is just one of many capabilities available to first responders in order to warn and inform the public of a risk to life. Broadcast media including local radio and online news websites disseminate important information, and specifically for adverse weather, warning methods include flood alerts via the Flood Warning Service, Met Office weather warnings and knocking door-to-door when safe.