theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of support available for children living in poverty in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Alison McGovern: Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. It is unacceptable that 9.5% of children in Surrey Heath constituency are in relative poverty (before housing costs). The Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

The Strategy will look at levers across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience; and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

As a significant downpayment ahead of Strategy publication, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty through Spending Review 2025. This includes an expansion of Free School Meals that will lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of the parliament. We are also establishing a long-term Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact), investing in local family support services, and extending the £3 bus fare cap. We also announced the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation and £13.2 billion including Barnett impact across the Parliament for the Warm Homes Plan.

We’ve also committed to rolling out Best Start Family Hubs in every local authority by April 2026 and creating up to 1,000 hubs across the country by the end of 2028. Backed by £500m funding, this vital support will relieve pressure on parents and give half a million more children the very best start in life. And last month, we confirmed funding of £600m for the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years, ensuring that children and young people can continue to benefit from enriching experiences and nutritious meals during the school holidays.

These commitments come on top of the existing action we have taken which includes expanding free breakfast clubs, capping the number of branded school uniform items children are expected to wear, increasing the national minimum wage for those on the lowest incomes and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Restart Scheme in regions with persistently high unemployment. \p Alison McGovern: The Department is currently undertaking a quantitative impact evaluation of the Restart Scheme. This evaluation will assess the overall effectiveness of the scheme nationally, including areas of high unemployment, but will not necessarily be able to draw conclusions about these areas in isolation, we aim to publish the findings by the end of this year.

In addition, the Restart Scheme Evaluation, published in May 2024 The Evaluation of the Restart Scheme – May 2024, provides analysis of delivery across different Contract Package Areas.
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Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to provide support for SMEs for occupational health programmes. \p Alison McGovern: The Government is committed to supporting people with their employment journey. Expert-led impartial advice, and interventions such as occupational health, can help employers provide appropriate and timely work-based support to manage their employees’ health conditions, and also support business productivity.

The Joint Work and Health Directorate’s Occupational Health reform programme has focused on increasing access and uptake of occupational health. This has included a £1m fund for innovation that focussed on increasing access to and capacity in Occupation Health. The fund has encouraged the development of new models of Occupational Health tailored to the self-employed and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a better use of technology. Phase 1 was launched in January 2023 and projects finished January 24. Phase 2 launched in December 2023 with a further a £1.5m fund. Projects went live 1 April 2024 and completed in March 2025.

The Department for Work and Pensions additionally offers support to SMEs through a number of programmes, such as the Disability Confident Scheme, which provides employers with the knowledge, skills and confidence to employ those with a disability or health condition and a digital information service for (Support with Employee Health and Disability), which provides tailored guidance on supporting employees in common workplace scenarios involving health and disability.

Employers, including SMEs, can also refer to WorkWell pilots which went live from October 2024 in 15 areas across England. Available to people both in and out of work, it provides low intensity holistic support for health-related barriers to employment, and a single joined up gateway to existing local work and health service provision.

Upon publication of our Get Britain Working White Paper, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent Keep Britain Working Review as a part of the plan to Get Britain Working again.

In recognition of the vital role of businesses of all sizes, Sir Charlie Mayfield is considering recommendations to support and enable employers to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces, support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence, and recruit and retain more disabled people and people with health conditions.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of unemployment in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire. \p Alison McGovern: The information requested is published and available at:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

Guidance for users can be found at:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp
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Lauren Edwards:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the causes of economic inactivity related to poor health. \p Alison McGovern: There were 2.8m people who were economically inactive with long-term sickness as their main reason in the UK in April to June 2025.1 This group accounts for 30.7% of the total inactive population and is the most common reason given for inactivity; this percentage has increased by 5.6 percentage points since December to February 2020 but had been increasing since before the pandemic. The largest absolute increases have been for women, people with a long-term mental health condition and proportionately for people aged 18 to 34.2

At present, there is no conclusive evidence on the causes of poor health related economic inactivity. A range of complex and interacting factors could be driving the rise in economic inactivity due to long-term sickness including NHS waiting lists3,4, long COVID5 and changes in the demographics6 and health of the population7,8,9.

1 A01: Summary of labour market statistics - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

2 The employment of disabled people 2024 - GOV.UK

3 The impact of winter pressures on different population groups in Great Britain: NHS waiting lists - Office for National Statistics

4 How much could reducing the NHS waiting list contribute to falling inactivity in our upside scenario? - Office for Budget Responsibility

5 Self-reported long COVID and labour market outcomes, UK: 2022 - Office for National Statistics

6 Population changes and economic inactivity trends, UK: 2019 to 2026 - Office for National Statistics

7 Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK - Office for National Statistics

8 Half a million more people are out of the labour force because of long-term sickness - Office for National Statistics

9 What we know about the UK’s working-age health challenge - The Health Foundation
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the disability employment gap in Lincolnshire. \p Alison McGovern: The disability employment gap is monitored and published in the official statistics release The employment of disabled people 2024 - GOV.UK in data tables LMS008, LMS009 and LMS010. This includes statistics on the local authority areas Lincolnshire.

The disability employment gap for 2023/24 was 24.7 percentage points in Lincolnshire. This compares to the UK wide disability employment gap of 27.2 percentage points for 2023/24. This is the latest period for which reliable data is available.

Estimates below national level are based on smaller sample sizes and should therefore be used with caution.
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John McDonnell:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle age discrimination in the workplace. \p Alison McGovern: The Government acknowledges the key role employers play in helping older individuals to remain in or re-enter the workforce, and the importance of embracing policies conducive to this support. The 2010 Equality Act provides strong protection against direct and indirect age discrimination in employment, rendering it unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees or job applicants based on age.

We know that work helps everyone play active and fulfilling roles in society while building financial security for retirement. The Department is committed to supporting older workers through a wide-ranging strategy that promotes inclusion, flexibility, and progression. This includes promoting age-inclusive practices, supporting workplace health, policy and service reform and removing age related barriers to employment. The Department has also signed up to and actively promotes the Age-Friendly Employer Pledge, encouraging employers to adopt flexible working, age-positive hiring, and career development.

Our new Jobs and Careers service will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and help them progress in work or increase their earnings. The Jobs and Careers Service will incorporate principles of accessibility and inclusivity, acknowledging diverse support needs, including those of older individuals.

We also asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent “Keep Britain Working” review as a part of the plan to Get Britain Working. In recognition of employer's vital role, his review is considering recommendations to support and enable employers to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. This includes the perspectives of older people themselves, as well as input from organisations like the Centre for Ageing Better. Recommendations are expected in autumn 2025.
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Lauren Edwards:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support older people to remain in work. \p Alison McGovern: The Government knows that work helps everyone play active and fulfilling roles in society while building financial security for retirement. The Department is therefore committed to supporting older workers through a wide-ranging strategy that promotes inclusion, flexibility, and progression. This includes promoting age-inclusive practices, supporting workplace health, policy and service reform and removing age related barriers to employment. The Department has also signed up to and actively promotes the Age-Friendly Employer Pledge, encouraging employers to adopt flexible working, age-positive hiring, and career development.

Our Jobs and Careers service will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and help them progress in work or increase their earnings. The Jobs and Careers Service will incorporate principles of accessibility and inclusivity, acknowledging diverse support needs, including those of older individuals.

The Government also acknowledges the key role employers play in helping older individuals to remain in the workforce, and the importance of embracing policies conducive to this support. In recognition of employer's vital role, we have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent ‘Keep Britain Working’ review. This review is considering recommendations to support and enable employers to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. This includes the perspectives of older people themselves, as well as input from organisations like the Centre for Ageing Better. Recommendations are expected in autumn 2025.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of the outcomes of the Youth Guarantee Trailblazer schemes since its launch. \p Alison McGovern: Since launching in Spring, the eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers are testing a range of localised support to reduce the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training.

The eight Trailblazer areas are actively identifying and engaging at risk or disengaged young people to help them access tailored support to move into employment and training opportunities through local connections with employers and delivery partners.

The findings of the local and national evaluations will inform our approach to wider roll-out of the Youth Guarantee.

To further improve outcomes for young people, we have committed to continue funding the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in 2026/27 to enable more young people to access employment, education and training opportunities.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential reasons for the increase in the number of unemployed 16 to 24 year olds in the last year. \p Alison McGovern: The Department understands the negative effects of unemployment can be particularly pronounced for young people and can have longstanding implications on their future earnings potential and life chances. A range of factors influence employment opportunities for this age group, including low skills levels, disadvantage linked to socio-economic background, care experience, health issues (in particular, worsening mental health) and higher prevalence of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

This is why despite Youth Employment increasing by 39,000 since publication of the governments White Paper Get Britain Working - GOV.UK DWP have a focus on ensuring young people are supported into employment, whilst also recognising their needs will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances

DWP already provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by Work Coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria her Department plans to use to identify young people at risk of falling out of (a) education, (b) employment and (c) training for enrolment in the Youth Guarantee scheme. \p Alison McGovern: As part of our plan to Get Britain Working, we will launch a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 in England to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work.

To identify young people at risk of falling out of education, employment or training the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education are working closely with the eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England, delivering the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers. These authorities began mobilising the Youth Guarantee Trailblazers in April 2025 and are now testing a range of approaches to reach and support those at risk of becoming NEET. These include using available local data to identify disengaged or at risk young people, working with partner organisations already supporting vulnerable groups and drawing on the Department for Education’s non-statutory guidance on the ‘Risk of NEET indicators’ guidance available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/identifying-and-supporting-young-people-at-risk-of-neet
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Rachel Gilmour:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) support is provided for claimants with (i) severe health conditions and (ii) daily-living needs who score zero on a Personal Independence Payment assessment, (b) decisions take into account a claimant’s circumstances and (c) interim assistance is provided pending appeal. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provides a contribution towards the extra costs that may arise from a long-term disability or health condition.   Entitlement to PIP focuses on the functional impacts of a person’s health condition or disability on their daily life. It is assessed on the basis of needs arising and not on the condition itself, so is available to individuals when they meet the PIP qualifying criteria. If PIP is not in payment, then the claimant can claim any other benefit to which they consider they may be entitled

A claimant appealing against their PIP decision will continue to receive the level of award, if any, that the decision entitles them to until such time as a new decision is made by the tribunal. If the tribunal allow the appeal, then in most cases the decision will be effective from its original date and arrears will be paid if appropriate.
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Nadia Whittome:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of (a) the potential impact of the benefit cap on poverty rates among larger families and (b) the potential merits of its abolition. \p Sir Stephen Timms: No assessment has been made.

This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is progressing work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in autumn, that will deliver fully funded measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. We are considering all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support carers who are in part-time work. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Government keeps all aspects of Carer’s Allowance under review to see if it is meeting its objectives. It is not means-tested but is subject to a weekly earnings limit. This was increased by a record amount in April 2025, which will benefit at least 60,000 unpaid carers between 2025/26 and 2029/30. The Government is also considering the possibility of introducing an earnings taper in the longer term.

Many carers who are receiving Carer’s Allowance and doing some work will also be receiving Universal Credit. For those receiving Universal Credit, the 55% taper rate and any applicable work allowance will help to ensure that people are better off in work.

Supporting carers who want to work alongside managing their caring responsibilities is an important element of our plans to modernise the world of work, ensuring that there are good jobs for carers, and a skilled workforce for employers.

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023, taken forward by the Department for Business and Trade, gave employees a right to time off to care for someone who is disabled or has a long-term health condition for the first time. We are reviewing implementation of Carer’s Leave and looking at where any improvements may be needed. This will include, but is not limited to, examining the benefits of paid leave, while being mindful of the impacts on businesses.

The Employment Rights Bill includes provisions which will support all employees to achieve a better work life balance, including changes that will make it more likely that flexible working requests are accepted. This stands to make a particular difference to people combining work with unpaid care.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has she made of the (a) quality and (b) security of employment among young people aged 16 to 24. \p Alison McGovern: The employment rate among young people aged 16 to 24 has increased by 1.0%pts on the year to 51.8%. This could indicate that the quality and job security has increased.

The Department understands the negative effects of unemployment can be particularly pronounced for young people and can have longstanding implications on their future earnings potential and life chances. This is why DWP have a particular focus on ensuring young people are supported into employment, whilst also recognising their needs will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances.

DWP currently provides young people aged 16-24 with labour market support through an extensive range of interventions at a national and local level. This includes flexible provision driven by local need, nationwide employment programmes and support delivered by work coaches based in our Jobcentres and in local communities working alongside partners.
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Navendu Mishra:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of categorising military compensation as exempt from eligibility criteria for means-tested benefits. \p Sir Stephen Timms: I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 8 July 2025 to question UIN 63814
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Ann Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the Housing Benefit taper rate from 65 per cent to 55 per cent. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department acknowledges there is a challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those residing in Supported and Temporary Accommodation and receiving their housing support through Housing Benefit. The department is considering the issue carefully in partnership with stakeholders.

As funding is required to allow a change, any future decisions will take account of the current fiscal context.
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Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to increase the Universal Credit rate for people under 25 ahead of the Autumn Budget 2025. \p Sir Stephen Timms: There are currently no plans to increase the Universal Credit rate for people under 25.

Under the Social Security Administration Act 1992 the Secretary of State is required by law to review State Pension and benefit rates each year to see if they have retained their value in relation to the general level of prices or earnings.

We have uprated benefit rates for 2025/26 in line with inflation, with 5.7 million Universal Credit households forecast to gain by an average of £150 annually.

In addition, we have introduced our Universal Credit bill which legislates to rebalance Universal Credit by bringing in, for the first time ever, a sustained above inflation increase to the UC standard allowance for all claimants.
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Ann Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will undertake a review of the impact of changes implemented as part of the Pensions Act 2014 on the ability of widows to inherit a spouse's state pension entitlement. \p Torsten Bell: There are no current plans to carry out such a review.

The new State Pension, for people reaching State Pension age from 6 April 2016 onwards, is based on an individual's own National Insurance record. In general, it is not possible, as it was under the old State Pension system, for a person to increase their State Pension or to qualify for a State Pension based on their late spouse or civil partner's National Insurance record, although there is some protection under the transitional arrangements for the new State Pension.

The new State Pension modernised the State Pension system, moving away from an out-of-date model in the past where many women depended on their husbands for their State Pension entitlement. The new State Pension is rooted in the contemporary world, with people’s entitlement determined by their own National Insurance record.

The change on inheritance was one of a number of reforms which need to be seen in the round. These include much greater recognition for periods when women are outside the labour market, caring for children. These reforms have resulted in much improved State Pension outcomes for women. Women reaching State Pension age in the year to December 2024 on average received 99.1% of the amount received by men, with equalisation expected shortly. Under the previous system, on average, women receive 86% of the amount received by men.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2025, to Question 64828, on Central Government: Empty Property, if he will list the datasets that (a) were previously held on the Electronic Property Information Mapping Service and (b) are now held on InSite. \p Georgia Gould: The datasets previously held on the Electronic Property Information Mapping Service comprised information on property, buildings, land, occupation, vacant space, and surplus assets. These were made publicly available on gov.uk at https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/c186e17f-654d-4134-aed7-b3f13469546a/epimstransparency.

These datasets have now been superseded by the datasets now held on the InSite system, which include property, contract, building, land, occupation, vacant space, and surplus assets. These are also published on gov.uk at https://www.data.gov. uk/dataset/a3ad62cf-d8a2-4d3b-b3c6-24c35c5e0f71/the-government-property-estate-including-buildings-and-land to ensure continued transparency.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the Civil Service Board has ceased operation; and whether its functions have been taken over by (a) a new or (b) pre-existing body. \p Georgia Gould: Following the appointment of the current Cabinet Secretary, a review of the Civil Service Governance arrangements took place, to identify what steps could be taken to make it simpler and more effective. As a consequence of the review, CSB ceased operations in January 2025.

CSB’s functions are undertaken by a combination of the Head of Department, the People Board and the Civil Service Operations Board.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2025 to Question 40919 on Civil Servants: Personnel Management, if he will publish the Mutually Agreed Exits guidance. \p Georgia Gould: Guidance on Mutually Agreed Exits will be published in due course.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 53201 on Cabinet Office: Building, what major repairs are required to bring the building back into use. \p Georgia Gould: 36 Whitehall requires major repairs and refurbishment to bring back into use and is being actively considered as part of the plans for London's government office estate.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the (a) Crown Commercial Service and (b) Government Communications Service has (i) a framework agreement for the procurement of social influencers and (ii) roster of preferred or recommended influencers. \p Georgia Gould: The procurement of social influencers in Cabinet Office can be done through the CCS Framework RM6125 - Lot 1 End to end campaign solutions, which can be found on this link here.. There is no roster of preferred or recommended influencers.
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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of staff in his Department have flexible working arrangements; and how many of those work compressed hours. \p Georgia Gould: As many flexible working arrangements, including compressed hours working, are agreed and recorded at a team level, the information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) his Department and (b) the Government Communications Service uses third-party providers to (i) assess, (ii) index and (iii) identify disinformation. \p Georgia Gould: The Government Communication Service has a contract with Storyzy which can be used to track and identify disinformation trends. This tool is used to understand the threat posed by hostile actors where manipulating the information environment can be a threat to national security, democracy and public safety.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to introduce a (a) minimum and (b) maximum permitted workplace temperature in central government buildings. \p Georgia Gould: The Government follows the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance derived from The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. The minimum temperature for workplaces is already stipulated by HSE and is readily available online. See here. There is currently no equivalent maximum temperature.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 63329 on Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, what the (a) title and (b) purpose of that training was. \p Georgia Gould: The title of the training course was Team Facilitated Conversations.

The purpose of the training was for the individual to gain the necessary skills and processes to resolve team conflicts across various sectors.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the Government Communication Service guidance entitled Guidelines for influencer marketing; and whether influencers must declare the source of their government funding. \p Georgia Gould: There are no current plans to publish the Guidance for Influencer Marketing. As per Advertising Standards Authority regulation, influencers must make sure ‘advert’ or ‘#Ad’ is clearly visible at the start of any paid for influencer content and it is obvious that it is an advert paid for by the UK Government or part of a government campaign.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 65153 on Government Communications Service: Reviews, whether the Director of Government Communications is being recruited externally through open and fair competition; and what the salary range is. \p Georgia Gould: The selection process for this role was open and fair competition, overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission, chaired by the First Civil Service Commissioner. The salary range is £170,000 – £200,000.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of headcount members of the Government Communication Service; and what estimate he has made of the number of embedded communications across central government that are not included with the Government Communication Service. \p Georgia Gould: Government Communications is made up of around 6,000 professional communicators from across the UK, supporting and promoting the work of 25 ministerial departments, 21 non-ministerial departments and over 300 agencies and other public bodies. The list provided for the response to IR2025/05101 breaks this down further, and will be submitted for entry into the House of Commons library.

The Government Communication Service headcount can be found on Gov.uk at this link here.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_222

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2025 to Question HL8627 on Cabinet Office: Managers, which business units the 540 staff leaving are from. \p Georgia Gould: The 540 refers to the number of applications that were approved and is subject to the individual's final acceptance.

The voluntary exit process has not yet concluded, so we are unable to report on which business units individuals will be leaving from.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_223

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the eligibility criteria for the MI5, MI6 and GCHQ Summer Intelligence Internship on people from disadvantaged white working class backgrounds. \p Georgia Gould: In recent years, UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) has run a number of internships and placement schemes. They are designed to provide insight about what it is like to work in UKIC to individuals who have particular skills and experience, want to work in a particular area and/or are from demographics and backgrounds under-represented across Government.

Any internship participant wishing to subsequently apply for employment with UKIC or the Civil Service is required to take part in a fair and open competition, in the normal way, with selection based on merit.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_224

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data the Office for National Statistics holds on the average income of people by (a) class and (b) type of profession. \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 29th August is attached.

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 133.5KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_225

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 23677 on Transgender People, whether his Department has completed its revision of the guidance on gender reassignment. \p Georgia Gould: The current model Gender Reassignment HR policy and guidance was issued in 2019. A review to update it was started in 2023 under the previous administration. The recent Supreme Court ruling in the For Women Scotland case and revision of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Code of Practice has had implications for this review. This is therefore ongoing and the revised policy and guidance will be shared with departments in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_226

Laurence Turner:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2022 to Question HL 6355 on History: Publications, what recent progress has been made on the publication of Volume 2 of the Official History of the Joint Intelligence Committee. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Official History of the Joint Intelligence Committee will be published in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_227

Laurence Turner:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of resuming the Official History Programme. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Government will consider resumption of the Official History Programme when circumstances allow.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_228

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2024 to Question 4667 on Nick Joicey, for what reason the internal move was deemed exceptional circumstances. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: I refer the hon Member to 4667. The Civil Service Commission is operationally independent of the government.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_229

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the press release of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament of 1 May 2025, and pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2025 to Question 54011 on Intelligence and Security Committee, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department’s policies of the Committee's representation to the Government that safeguards against conflicts of interest have now been comprehensively dismantled. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Established processes are in place to monitor and manage actual and perceived conflicts of interest.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department provides on holding departmental receptions at the offices of consultant lobbying firms. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Ministerial Code sets out guidance for Ministers on engaging with external stakeholders.

Separate guidance relating to the regulation of consultant lobbying is published by the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_231

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's press release, Internship Scheme To Get More Working Class Students Into Civil Service' published on 1 August 2025, whether the socio-economic background criteria for civil service internship schemes proposed for 2026 apply to the internship schemes of (a) arm’s length bodies and (b) public corporations. \p Georgia Gould: As we set out in August, we will be opening our Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme exclusively for undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds for 2026. We will determine eligibility based on parental occupation at age 14 in line with guidance from the Social Mobility Commission. The Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme is a cross government internship programme led by the Cabinet Office. All other internship programmes across the Civil Service, arm’s length bodies and public corporations are responsible for setting their own eligibility criteria to suit the specific needs of the recruiting organisation. The exact number of other internship programmes and their eligibility criteria is not held centrally.

For those who do not meet the criteria for the Summer Internship Programme but wish to pursue a career in the Civil Service, there are other opportunities for them to explore via the Civil Service Jobs website (https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/) or the Civil Service Fast Stream (https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will undertake a public consultation on the proposed duty of candour. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The Government has committed to implement a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities, and criminal sanctions for those who do not comply.

We remain fully committed to bringing in this legislation and we will continue to work with families and stakeholders.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_233

Cameron Thomas:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the Honours System in terms of (a) fairness, (b) equity and (c) and value. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The Cabinet Office Honours team is working to make the honours system truly representative of UK society, in line with the Prime Minister’s priorities for the honours system. As part of this work, we have recently established a new independent Diversity and Outreach Committee which will assist the committee process in delivering an honours system which is properly diverse and reflective of UK society.

In addition to ongoing work, every five years, a report to Parliament is published on the Operation of the UK Honours System. This report sets out progress and key developments to our work to improve the integrity and fairness in, and access to, the Honours System. The most recent report was published in May 2023 and can be viewed here. The next report is due to be published in 2028.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_234

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the Cabinet Secretary has delegated his attendance to the Main Honours Committee. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service is responsible for the operation of the honours system, but as is customary, delegates this responsibility to another senior Permanent Secretary.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_235

James MacCleary:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to implement the recommendations of the Infected Blood Inquiry Report. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: As I set out in my Oral Statement to the House on 21 July, the Government will be bringing forward a further set of regulations as soon as Parliamentary time allows to implement the recommendations we have already accepted.

The Government will be consulting the infected blood community on the remainder of the recommendations before making any further changes to the Scheme.

The Government would like to provide the community with sufficient time to consider and share their views on the Government’s proposals in response to the Inquiry’s recommendations. The consultation is expected to open in October. Any changes will require further regulations. We expect this second, more substantial set of regulations, to be brought before Parliament in 2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-04)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-04 conversation_236

Jess Brown-Fuller:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the differing compensation payments for deceased infected blood scandal victims based on whether they contracted HIV or Hepatitis C. \p Nick Thomas-Symonds: The impact of a Hepatitis infection can range from very mild to very severe, including liver failure and death as a direct result of the infection. In its second interim report, the Infected Blood Inquiry recommended that the compensation scheme should reflect the different impacts of infection by developing severity bandings.

The Expert Group provided the Government with clinical advice on the distinctions between these impacts. This meant the Government could set severity bands for Hepatitis infections based on clear clinical markers.

As set out in the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025, where someone’s experience of Hepatitis, whether it is historic or in the present day, has been more severe, they will receive more compensation. In its Additional Report, published 9 July, the Inquiry stated that “that tiers are relevant to Hepatitis in a way in which they are not in cases of HIV.”