theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Chris Philp:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of asylum accommodation contracts on the private rented housing market in Croydon. \p Dame Angela Eagle: When this Government came to office, we inherited a system where hotels had become one of the primary means of providing asylum accommodation – with more than 400 in use in Autumn 2023 at a cost of almost £9 million per day – and where a 70 per cent collapse in asylum decision-making in the last months of the previous administration had driven that pressure up further.

We have taken rapid action to address that chaos, in particular by speeding up the volume of asylum decision-making so that fewer people are stuck in limbo, dependent on support from the state, and so that more failed asylum-seekers can be removed from the UK, along with foreign national offenders and others with no right to be in our country.

The number of hotels in use is now around half the peak reached under the previous Government, and we will take further action over the rest of this Parliament to end the use of asylum hotels entirely.

We are continuing to work with a range of stakeholders to pursue that goal, while fulfilling our statutory obligations in the interim. Where the Home Office needs to use dispersed accommodation, it does so in accordance with the principle of Full Dispersal, announced by the previous government in 2022 to ensure that asylum seekers were more fairly distributed across the UK.

We also continue to consult with local authorities, the police, and other interested parties to ensure that – wherever there are concerns over the impact of particular asylum accommodation sites on the local community, public safety and public amenities – all necessary actions are taken to address those concerns, and protect the security of each local area.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to investigate potential conflicts of interest in the administration of asylum accommodation contracts relating to people who both oversee contracts and are licence holders for houses in multiple occupation used for asylum accommodation. \p Dame Angela Eagle: All commercial contracts are subject to normal government procurement rules.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

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Alison Bennett:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has considered the potential merits of introducing a visa route for Ukrainians that could lead to settlement, similar to those implemented in (a) Poland and (b) Czechia. \p Seema Malhotra: On 1 September, the Home Secretary announced in parliament that the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) would be extended for an additional 24 months to enable those eligible to obtain a further period of permission following their initial permission under UPE. More detail will follow in due course.

The extension aligns with the UK Government’s ongoing support for Ukraine and its people, while also respecting the Ukrainian Government’s strong desire for the future return of its citizens. It is for this reason that our offer of sanctuary through the Ukraine schemes remains temporary in nature and does not lead to settlement in the UK.

We continue to keep the Ukraine Schemes and the evolving situation in Ukraine under active review, whilst also working closely with Ukraine and international partners, including European countries offering protection under the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

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Dan Norris:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the visibility of police in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Avon and Somerset Police have been allocated £4,574,856 from the £200 million neighborhood policing fund for 2025/26. Based on their funding allocation, Avon and Somerset Police’s projected growth over 2025/26 will be 70 Police Officers (FTE).

The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will mean every community has named, contactable officers dedicated to addressing the issues facing their communities.

Additionally, forces will conduct increased patrols in town centres and other hotspots, based on local demand and intelligence, tackling key local issues, giving enhanced visibility and presence.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

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Dan Norris:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to help prevent violence against retail workers. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Under the previous Government, violence and abuse towards retail workers increased to unacceptable levels. We will not stand for this. Everybody has a right to feel safe at their place of work and we have long championed specific protections for retail workers.

In the Crime and Policing Bill, we brought a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores. The Bill has now completed its passage through the House of Commons and was introduced to the House of Lords on 19 June.

Given the violence and abuse associated with shop theft, as part of the Bill we will also scrap the effective immunity – introduced by the previous government - to shop theft of goods of and under £200, making clear any shop theft is illegal.

We are providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the policing bodies tackle retail crime, including organised criminal gangs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the efficacy of enforcement provisions in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, in the context of the recent BBC investigation into the illicit tobacco market. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will strengthen enforcement and crack down on rogue retailers selling illegal and unregulated tobacco and vape products to children and young people. The Bill introduces new £200 fixed penalty notices in England and Wales for certain tobacco and vape offences, including underage sales, and enables the introduction of a retail licensing scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and a new registration scheme for tobacco, vape and nicotine products sold on the UK market.

Alongside the Bill, we are investing £30 million of new funding for enforcement agencies in 2025/26, including Trading Standards, HMRC and Border Force. This funding is being used to support the enforcement of illicit and underage tobacco and vape sales in England, and the implementation of the measures in the Bill.
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John McDonnell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what training is provided by police forces for interacting with neurodiverse people; and whether she has considered the potential merits of issuing guidance on this matter. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The College of Policing is responsible for setting the relevant professional standards, guidance and training on operational policing matters. The College’s core guidance includes the initial training for officers under the Policing Education Qualifications Framework which incorporates autism, learning disabilities, mental health and vulnerabilities. Through this, officers are taught to assess vulnerability and amend their approaches as required.

The NPCC have established a National Neurodiversity Working Group whose work includes supporting police forces to design and deliver an effective service for neurodivergent victims, witnesses, suspects, and residents.

Police powers of entry under PACE must be exercised proportionally, meaning the level of intrusion should be necessary and justified in the circumstances, and where there are vulnerable people, the powers must be balanced to ensure public safety and the rights of individuals. Police forces, including the Met use a Vulnerability Assessment Framework (VAF) to identify vulnerability and ensure an appropriate response.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with (a) payment processors and (b) courier services on disrupting the purchase and delivery of knives sold online by overseas retailers without age checks. \p Dame Diana Johnson: We are currently strengthening the legislation around the online sale of knives with measures in the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament. This includes:

We have also taken action to ban zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes from 24 September 2024; and to ban ninja swords from 1 August 2025.

The Home Secretary also commissionedCommander Stephen Clayman, the National Police Lead on knife crime, to undertake t a review into the online sale and delivery of knives. The review was completed and its report published on 19 February 2025. The Government acted on the review’s recommendations immediately concerning better age verification checks at point of sale and delivery and requiring online sellers to report bulk purchases of knives. We will also be consulting later this year on a registration scheme for sellers of knives, as recommended by Commander Clayman in his review, and we are exploring the review’s other recommendations including changes in respect of importation of knives.
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Sarah Edwards:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of vehicles involved in criminal activity have had non-compliant licence plates in the last 12 months. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Home Office does not routinely collect information related to the compliance of licence plates for vehicles which have been involved in criminal activity.

Data of this type may be held locally by law enforcement organisations.
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled Pre-charge bail and released under investigation: Striking a balance, published on 8 December 2020, what recent discussions she has had with police forces on the (a) timeliness of (i) regular case reviews and (ii) updates to people released under investigation and (b) the steps those police forces are taking to (A) ensure the rights of those subject to investigation are respected and (B) maintain public confidence in relation to how suspects are dealt with after they are released from custody. \p Dame Diana Johnson: HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services regularly inspects police forces on their use of tools such as pre-charge bail and released under investigation (RUI) to manage offenders and protect victims and the wider public from harm. The College of Policing publishes and maintains the statutory guidance on the use of pre-charge bail, including guidance on RUI.

Recent police data suggests that the proportion of suspects on RUI is reducing, with a corresponding increase in the proportion of suspects on pre-charge bail. The Home Office continues to monitor the use of these powers. The latest data, covering the year to March 2024, was published on 27 February 2025 Police custody and pre-charge bail, year ending March 2024 - GOV.UK
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to strengthen border and import-level screening to prevent the delivery of knives purchased from overseas retailers without age verification. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Border Force utilise a suite of data analysis and detection capabilities to screen for illicit goods crossing the UK border.

We are currently upgrading our x-ray detection capabilities and introducing a new scanning system that improves how our officers analyse images at the border to better detect threats such as offensive weapons.

Border Force also utilise advance data and intelligence to risk assess movements crossing the UK Border, this includes targeting the illegal importation of offensive weapons to prevent their delivery to a UK recipient.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the penalties for antisocial drug smoking. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The maximum penalty for possession of a Class A drug is up to seven years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.

The maximum penalty for possession of a Class B drug is up to five years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing supervised drug consumption facilities on (a) levels of drug-related harm and (b) public health. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The government has no current plans to facilitate the implementation or regulation of drug consumption rooms.

This government will continue to promote preventative public health measures and we are committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug problem can access the help and support they need.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of automatically extending the period in which all Ukrainians living in the UK under the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme can stay in the UK. \p Seema Malhotra: The Government are fully committed to supporting Ukraine in its fight against Putin’s illegal war, while also providing a safe and secure haven for those fleeing the conflict. We have offered our extended sanctuary to over 300,000 Ukrainians and their families.

On 1 September, the Home Secretary announced in parliament that the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) would be extended for an additional 24 months to enable those eligible to obtain a further period of permission following their initial permission under UPE. More detail will follow in due course.
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of recorded violent crimes resulted in a (a) charge and (b) summons in the last 12 months. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Home Office collects and publishes information on the number of violence against the person offences, and their investigative outcomes, including those assigned a charge/summons outcome, recorded by the police in England and Wales, on a quarterly basis. The latest information, to the year ending March 2025, has been published on 24th July, and can be accessed here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/police-recorded-crime-and-outcomes-open-data-tables

It is not possible to separately identify charges and summonses.
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the proportion of violent crime that is linked to gang activity. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and Home Office police recorded crime data contains information on violent crime and is published by the ONS (Crime in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics and the nature of violent crime: appendix tables - Office for National Statistics).
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason she did not provide a substantive response to the Freedom of Information Act request with reference number 359A/25 on her Department's use of services provided by Palantir Technologies UK Ltd. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Home Office issued a substantive response to the requester in May 2024, which stated:

We have carried out a thorough search and we have established that no current Palantir contracts or use of Palantir software were identified within the Home Office.
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the causes of recent trends in serious violent crime. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Office for National Statistics publishes information on crime, including serious violent crime, on a quarterly basis. The latest information, for the year ending March 2025, shows that serious violence has fallen, including the first fall in knife crime for four years.

Homicide has also fallen, to 535 offences, down from 567 the previous year and there has been a 21% decline in offences involving firearms, to 5,103 offences.
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Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many officers in frontline roles are assigned to violent crime prevention units. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the primary function of police officers, as at 31 March each year, in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.

Information is collected on the primary function of each officer, however, the specific team an officer is assigned to, such as “violent crime prevention unit”, is not collected. Information on the primary function of police officers is available in Table F1 of the data tables accompanying the ‘Police Workforce England and Wales’ publication here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687f89ac37c38e28f3846871/police-workforce-mar25-tables-230725.ods.

Frontline policing is comprised of visible operational frontline roles and non-visible frontline roles, each of which contains specific functions. Further information on the functions included under visible operational frontline and non-visible frontline, including the definitions of each category can be found in Table F4 of the data tables accompanying the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ publication here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687f89ac37c38e28f3846871/police-workforce-mar25-tables-230725.ods
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's policy that time spent under the Ukraine visa schemes does not count towards the continuous residence period for settled status on the ability of Ukrainians to seek (a) rental agreements, (b) changes of employment and (c) enrolment on an education course. \p Seema Malhotra: The Government have always been clear that the Ukraine Schemes are temporary and do not lead to settlement in the UK. Similarly, time spent in the UK with permission granted under the Ukraine Schemes cannot be relied upon towards the continuous qualifying period for the purposes of a Long Residence application.

The Government continues to keep both the Ukraine Schemes and the evolving situation in Ukraine under close and active review.

On 1 September, the Home Secretary announced in parliament that the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (UPE) would be extended for an additional 24 months to enable those eligible to obtain a further period of permission following their initial permission under UPE. More detail will follow in due course.
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Sojan Joseph:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring Control over the Immigration System, published on 12 May 2025, what discussions she has had with the British National (Overseas) (BHO) community on the potential merits of exempting BNO visa holders from the proposed extension of the settlement qualifying period. \p Seema Malhotra: The Government is committed to supporting members of the Hong Kong community who have relocated to the UK and those who may come here in future.

Further details of all measures announced in the Immigration White Paper will be set out in the normal way in due course, and where necessary, will be subject to consultation.

We regularly engage with representatives of the Hong Kong diaspora in the UK on issues related to the BN(O) visa and will continue to do so.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting indefinite leave to remain to all Ukrainians who have lived in the UK for more than five years. \p Seema Malhotra: I refer the Honourable Member to my answer given on 1 May to PQ UIN 47468.
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Helena Dollimore:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the British Museum will retain the ticketing revenue from the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition. \p Chris Bryant: The government will not be increasing grant in aid funding for the Bayeux Tapestry display at the British Museum.

The British Museum will use the ticketing revenue from the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition to support the costs of putting on this major exhibition for the visiting public, along with the accompanying public programmes. The British Museum offers concessionary tickets, including free entry for under 16s to all of its exhibitions.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken to investigate advertisements by the Advertising Standards Agency. \p Chris Bryant: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is responsible for regulating advertising in the UK across traditional forms of media (print, radio, TV) and online and is independent of the Government.

The process the ASA follows when handling complaints is publicly available on its website, alongside its performance data in responding to complaints over the year, and expected timelines relating to more and less complex cases.

It explains that straightforward issues (around 80% of cases) can be resolved in a number of days, but that more complex issues where the advertiser is contacted generally take longer. A small number of the most complex cases can take up to six months to resolve, particularly when appointing independent experts to help assess evidence.
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Mr Louie French:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to continue the Future of Cricket Fund. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to support the growth of cricket through its recent announcement of funding for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB, the national governing body for cricket) to build two new indoor cricket domes in Farington (near Preston) and Luton. The Future of Cricket ‘Fund’ was an announcement made by the previous Government, which was entirely unfunded.

This funding for cricket centres is in addition the £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the nation which was announced following the Spending Review.

We will work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans. I met with the ECB, along with representatives from other sports, to discuss this.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding.

This includes long term investment to the ECB which receives up to £11.6 million for five years to invest in community cricket initiatives.
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Gavin Robinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will extend the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme beyond this year. \p Chris Bryant: The Scheme for 2025 to 2026 will close on 31st March 2026 or once the £23 million budget has been reached, whichever is earlier. Funding after March 2026 will be considered as the Department works through the output of the Spending Review and Departmental business planning process.
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Paula Barker:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department had with music industry bodies on the cost of music concerts. \p Chris Bryant: Ministers have spoken regularly with the industry, with artists and promoters about the cost of pop and classical music concerts, the importance of small music venues and the costs of tickets on the primary and secondary market.

That is why we have committed to introducing new protections for consumers on ticket resales, and launched a consultation on 10th January to seek views on potential options for resale platforms as well as primary sellers. The consultation was published alongside a call for evidence on pricing practices in the live events sector, including the use of dynamic pricing by the primary market.

The consultation and call for evidence closed on 4th April and the responses have been considered. As part of the consultation and call for evidence process we engaged with a number of music and wider live event ticketing bodies, including Ticketmaster. The Government will respond shortly to set out next steps.
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Shaun Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will provide a breakdown of statutory maternity leave claims by income decile of the recipient for each of the last three years. \p Dan Tomlinson: The table below shows the number of claimants of Statutory Maternity Pay, by recipient’s income decile, where income deciles have been calculated across the whole Real Time Information (RTI) population for each given tax year.

Income Decile

Date

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Total 2022-23

2,000

5,000

36,000

68,000

89,000

93,000

91,000

92,000

85,000

66,000

Total 2023-24

2,000

5,000

36,000

62,000

88,000

92,000

91,000

94,000

84,000

68,000

Total 2024-25

2,000

6,000

38,000

63,000

87,000

92,000

91,000

94,000

86,000

71,000

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in August 2025. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) Claim numbers have been rounded to nearest 1000.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to reassess the mileage reimbursement rate. \p Dan Tomlinson: The Government keeps the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) rate under review and HMRC use a variety of information in estimating typical motoring costs per business mile. This includes information from the AA, the National Travel Survey, the Association of British Insurers, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

As with all taxes and rates, the Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at Budget in the context of public finances.
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Gareth Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the press release entitled Sizewell C gets green light with final investment decision, published on 22 July 2025, whether the National Wealth Fund is expected to return the additional capital provided to it by HM Treasury. \p James Murray: The National Wealth Fund (NWF) is the provider of the Government’s loan for Sizewell C. This enables the project to benefit from the NWF’s operationally independent infrastructure finance expertise.

The NWF will repay the debt provided by HM Treasury following repayments made by Sizewell C to the NWF. The associated profit will be recycled to consumers, helping to keep the impact of Sizewell C on consumers’ bills low.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the change in the estimated worth of the frozen assets of the previous Libyan regime between 2011 and 2025. \p Emma Reynolds: The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury published in its 2023-2024 Annual Review that £13.4 billion in assets relating to the Libya sanctions regime have been reported as frozen as of September 2023. This is an aggregated total of all entities and individuals listed on the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets. OFSI does not hold a comparable figure for 2011.

OFSI’s next Annual Review is due to be published later in 2025.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has issued guidance to special advisers on undertaking opposition research involving individual politicians. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: As has been the case under successive governments, special advisers are required to adhere to the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers at all times. No specific guidance has been issued on special advisers undertaking opposition research involving individual politicians.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 11 of the National Security Strategy 2025, published on 24 June 2025, what progress she has made in enhancing the resilience of critical national infrastructure. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The UK Government is committed to building the security and resilience of UK critical national infrastructure (CNI). On 8 July this year, the Government published the Resilience Action Plan, which sets out this government's strategic approach to increasing the UK's resilience against the risks the UK faces.

To improve CNI resilience, UK Government has committed to continue delivery of CNI Knowledge Base - the UK government’s world-leading CNI mapping tool; map and fully use the complex network of reserved and devolved standards for CNI sectors, which are fundamental in holding industry to account and assuring the resilience of UK CNI; develop a new Cyber Resilience Index to build on existing cyber resilience measures to provide a cross-sector, holistic overview of cyber resilience for UK CNI; and raise resilience by using UK government resources, including the expertise of our National Technical Authorities (including National Cyber Security Centre and National Protective Security Authority), to provide world-leading advice on security and resilience best practice directly to businesses.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_94

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Review Data published on 29 May 2025, if he will list each of the external organisations that provided learning and development in 2023-24. \p Georgia Gould: The Civil Service EDI Expenditure Review has concluded and there are no further plans to provide additional information to the information already published relating to 2023-24.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_95
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_95

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the document entitled Process Intelligence privacy notice, published on 23 July 2025, how his Department defines the term process intelligence. \p Georgia Gould: Process Intelligence is the approach used to understand how work is happening across an organisation by analysing multiple processes using data from organisational systems. It supports a forward-looking approach to process improvement that delivers value for money - helping organisations identify root causes of inefficiencies that may be built into processes and actively shape better ways of working.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_96
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_96

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 134 of the Strategic Defence Review 2025, what progress he has made in establishing an infrastructure pillar within the Home Defence Programme. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: As set out in the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review, the Cabinet Office led Home Defence Programme is developing greater preparedness against a changing international risk picture. Work to bolster the resilience of UK Critical National Infrastructure forms one strand of the wider programme. These areas are being developed in close cooperation with the MOD and Whitehall departments.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_97
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_97

Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) the National Security Adviser and (b) his Department has had meetings with Inter Mediate since 4 July 2024. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The National Security Adviser meets with a range of individuals and organisations as part of his role providing advice to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on national security matters. Such meetings are often sensitive in nature, and the Government does not routinely comment on them or their content.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_98
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_98

Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether departments have reported concerns about Allied Universal (G4S) delivery of contracted services to the Cabinet Office in the past 12 months. \p Georgia Gould: Allied Universal includes a number of G4S group entities. Contract awards may therefore be recorded under different UK legal entities (for example, G4S Care and Justice Services (UK) Ltd and G4S Facilities Management (UK) Ltd).

Contracting authorities are responsible for awarding and managing their contracts, including monitoring performance and applying contractual remedies in line with the regulations in force at the time. For contracts designated as the Government’s most important contracts, performance against KPIs is published on GOV.UK.

Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder). Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 inc VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search).

The government has taken significant steps to increase transparency in the delivery of public services. The Cabinet Office regularly publishes a list of the government’s most important contracts on GOV.UK. This includes up to four Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each contract, together with current performance. Where Allied Universal (including G4S entities) holds such contracts, the information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/key-performance-indicators-kpis-for-governments-most-important-contracts. For other contracts, effectiveness is monitored by the relevant contracting authorities through their contract management arrangements
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_99
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_99

Fabian Hamilton:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to revise the document entitled The Principles governing intelligence sharing to include an explicit prohibition on authorising cooperation where there is a real risk of torture, published on 18 July 2025. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Your question to the Secretary of State for the Home Department has been passed to me for reply. ‘The Principles relating to the detention and interviewing of detainees overseas and the passing and receipt of intelligence relating to detainees’ (‘The Principles’) came into force on 1 January 2020 and includes a commitment for the guidance to be reviewed every five years. That review is underway and the Government will update the House on the outcome in due course.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_100
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_100

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the accessibility of the UK Emergency Alert System for people who are (a) visually and (b) hearing impaired. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: We have ensured that the Emergency Alerts system works with voice reader software. This means that everyone who already has this and all other accessibility settings enabled on their phones should have the alert read out to them.

As part of the communications campaign, we have developed a British Sign Language information video explaining the upcoming national test.

We have also engaged with disability groups, including the Royal National Institute of Blind People, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People and Mencap. These charities conducted engagement campaigns to reach individuals with visual impairments to help them understand more about the alerts.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_101
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_101

Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the FOI disclosure reference (a) IC-390141-T8J5 and (b) FOI2025/01532. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: I refer the honourable member to PQ 69874 where the FOI information sought is disclosed.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_102
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_102

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times the UK Multi-Stakeholder Forum for Open Government has met in 2025. \p Georgia Gould: The UK Multi-Stakeholder Forum for Open Government (MSF) has not met during 2025. The MSF last met on 17th July 2024 and plans for reconvening the MSF are currently being developed.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_103
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_103

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the costs for any contracts with his Department's strategic suppliers have increased following the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions in April 2025. \p Georgia Gould: The Cabinet Office does not hold the information regarding the detail of contract increases following the rise of employers' National Insurance contributions in April 2025.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_104
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_104

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish the public sector trade union facility time data for the 2024-25 financial year. \p Georgia Gould: We intend to publish the self-reported public sector trade union facility time data in line with our standard timelines for this data set, which will be before the end of this year.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_105
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_105

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2025 to Question 69066 on Lobbying, whether he plans to (a) change the consultant lobbying regime and (b) undertake post-legislative scrutiny of the lobbying measures in the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: I refer the Hon Member back to PQ69066 and to PQ54767.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_106
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_106

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Public Appointments Commission has issued guidance on the declaration of significant political activity for regulated appointments. \p Georgia Gould: The Commissioner for Public Appointments has not issued guidance on the publication of declarations of political activity. As set out in previous answers, rules on political activity by prospective or existing public appointees are already clearly set out within both the Governance Code on Public Appointments and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, and the process for declaring interests, including how they should be published by departments, is also set out in detail on Gov.uk.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_107
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_107

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Directors of Communications for government departments and agencies have left their roles since 4 July 2024. \p Georgia Gould: Since 4 July 2024, 5 Directors of Communications for government departments have left their roles.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_108
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_108

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41436 on Government Departments: Communication, if he will publish each substantive programme of advertising, marketing and communications spending above the £100,000 control threshold that has been approved since 4 July 2024. \p Georgia Gould: Spending above the £100,000 control threshold is published as standard on the transparency data page of gov.uk, found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?parent=cabinet-office&keywords=advertising+marketing+and+communications&organisations%5B%5D=cabinet-office&order=relevance
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_109
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_109

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 July 2025 to Question 65885 on Cabinet Office: Marketing, which digital and social media channels were used for paid advertising; whether this included digital influencers; and what programmes were promoted. \p Georgia Gould: Channels and partners used by the New Media Unit (NMU) are determined on a project by project basis. The NMU utilises a wide range of digital and social media channels to reach target audiences. This includes the use of digital influencers.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_110
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_110

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the College for National Security Privacy Notice published on 19 June 2025, what steps he has taken to ensure that diversity data collected by the College for National Security is not used to inform (a) recruitment, (b) promotion, and (c) access to training decisions, (i) directly and (ii) indirectly. \p Georgia Gould: I refer to my answer for [PQ 69607] provided on [21/07/2025]. CfNS does not at the moment collect diversity data.

Personal data is currently collected and processed in line with the College’s Privacy Notice, which can be accessed on GOV.UK here.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_111
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_111

Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the Review of the Arms Length Body Landscape; and if he will provide an update. \p Georgia Gould: The government is undertaking a comprehensive review of the entire Arm's Length Body (ALB) landscape, as announced on 6 April 2025, and is a core part of creating a productive and agile state. The review is ongoing, and outcomes will be communicated in due course.
wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_112
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-03 conversation_112

Mr Richard Holden: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. \p Georgia Gould: 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.