Charlie Dewhirst MP: written questions
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Written questions
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Northern IrelandCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37810More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 14974 on Procurement: National Security, for what reason the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Northern Ireland Programme evaluation is exe
Answer: The information related to this programme is exempt from publication, as it meets one or more of the seven reasons for exemption listed in the Freedom of Information Act.
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSpecial Advisers: Codes of PracticeCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37809More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2024 to Question 14093 on Special Advisers: Code of Practice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Code of Conduct for special advisers to r
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ14093. The Government published the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers 6 November 2024.
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPrime Minister: RecruitmentCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37808More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 6057 on Prime Minister’s Office: Vacancies, how many jobs in the Prime Minister's Office were filled by exception without (a) internal and (b) external adve
Answer: As was the case under the previous Government, where over 9,000 such exceptions were used in the year ending March 2023, exceptions are a long-established part of bringing talent and expertise into the Civil Service. Since 4 July 2024, there have been 3 a...
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAdvisory Committee on Business Appointments and House of Lords Appointments CommissionCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37807More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answers of 26 November 2024 to Question 14115 on House of Lords Appointments Commission ad to Question 14114 on the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, whether he plans to publish a fram
Answer: The consolidated Framework Document for the Independent Offices (covering the Civil Service Commission, Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and the Commissioner for Public Appointments) was published on 18 February 2025.There is not currently a Fr...
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPermanent Secretaries: Dismissal and RecruitmentCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37806More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2024 to Question 14099 on Permanent Secretaries: Dismissal and Recruitment, what his planned timetable is for the implementation of the recommendations in 2025.
Answer: I have nothing to add to my answer to question 14099 on 26 November 2024.
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPermanent Secretary Remuneration CommitteeCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37805More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2024 to Question 14113 on Permanent Secretary Remuneration Committee, whether the Permanent Secretaries on the Committee can influence their own salaries.
Answer: Permanent Secretary members of the Permanent Secretary Remuneration Committee have no influence on their own salaries. Proposals on the performance and pay of these members are made by the non-civil servant members of the Committee, and agreed by the Prim...
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCivil Servants: PayCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37804More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2024 to Question 14107 on Civil Servants: Pay, if he will publish an anonymised list of the salary of each civil servant by public body.
Answer: As was the case under the previous administration (a) summary data that includes £5k salary band headcounts and median and mean salary measures by department and grade are published here https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics a...
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPublic Bodies: Information OfficersCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37803More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2024 to Question 16512 on Government Communication Service, if he will provide a breakdown of the 6,500 communications staff employed by each individual public body.
Answer: I refer the Hon. Member to Question 1208, answered on the 31st July 2024.
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPublic Sector Reform and Innovation FundCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37802More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people he plans to recruit for the test-and-learn teams funded through the Innovation Fund.
Answer: The £100 million Public Service Reform and Innovation Fund will be deploying Test, Learn and Grow teams around the country over the next three years to design and test innovative solutions to our biggest public service challenges in partnership with local...
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordConditions of EmploymentDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37801More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the planned Right to Switch Off, what plans he has for the application of this policy (a) on fallow days for employees, (b) during office hours on Mondays to Fridays for people who wo
Answer: In “Next Steps to Make Work Pay” the Government said it would deliver the right to switch off through a Statutory Code of Practice, rather than through the Employment Rights Bill.A Code of Practice sets out guidelines for employers to follow. A failure to...
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPrime Minister: Press ConferencesCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37800More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2025 to Question 30473 on Prime Minister: Press Conferences, for what reason members of the Labour party were invited to the event; and whether the Labour party contributed
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 20 February 2025, Official Report, PQ 30473. The Labour Party did not contribute to the cost of the event.
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordMinisters: Redundancy PayCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37799More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2024 to Question 18209 on Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, what progress she has made on her review of eligibility for ministerial severance payments ba
Answer: The review of ministerial severance payments under the terms of the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 is ongoing. An update will be provided in due course.
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPrime Minister: Public RelationsCabinet OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37798More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister's Office keeps minutes of calls for public affairs professionals.
Answer: Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk as part of the government’s transparency agenda.
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPublic Sector Reform and Innovation FundCabinet OfficeTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37436More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much and what proportion of the Innovation Fund he plans to allocate to (a) staffing, (b) logistics, (c) management of the test-and-learn teams and (d) other administrative costs.
Answer: The Government is committed to reforming the state to deliver better public services. The work underway includes the £100 million Public Service Reform and Innovation Fund, which will be deploying Test and Learns teams around the country over the next thr...
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordGovernment Departments: Social MediaCabinet OfficeTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37435More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department provides guidance to departmental social media accounts on liking party political posts by (a) Ministers and (b) hon. Members.
Answer: The Government Communication Service has published guidance on propriety in digital and social media. It states that official social media accounts managed by departments must not be used for the further dissemination of messages from party political or o...
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCybersecurityHome OfficeTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37434More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will (a) make an assessment of and (b) have discussions with the National Cyber Security Centre on the potential impact of the decision of Apple to discontinue the advanced data prot
Answer: I refer the Honourable Member to the response given to UIN 33378 answered on 3rd March 2025.The government regularly engages with the NCSC, as the national technical authority for cyber security, for its expert advice on a range of cyber security matters ...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordNational Energy System OperatorCabinet OfficeTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37433More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies, updated on 15 March 2018, whether his Department's public bodies team assessed the National
Answer: The National Energy Systems Operator (NESO) is a public corporation and is therefore not administratively classified as an arm’s-length body. The guidance entitled ‘The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies’ did not apply to NESO f...
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPrime Minister: CommunicationCabinet OfficeTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37432More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 7442 on Prime Minister: Communication, how many staff work on digital communications in Downing Street; and at what cost.
Answer: As of 17 March 2025, there are 43 FTE Civil Servants in the overall communications team, covering a range of disciplines including digital, planning, press and private office. 15 FTE Civil Servants work on digital communications covering a number of respo...
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordMission Boards: MembershipCabinet OfficeTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37431More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will list the full membership of each Mission Board.
Answer: The membership of the Mission Boards - as outlined on gov.uk - is the lead Secretary of State as the chair of their respective Mission Board and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster as Deputy Chair; other Ministers will be invited according to the age...
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCivil Servants: RedundancyCabinet OfficeTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37430More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to reduce barriers to making civil servants redundant who do not deliver efficiency savings.
Answer: The Government remains committed to the 2016 Protocol and the need to avoid compulsory redundancies as far as possible. Separately to redundancies, the Government has set out plans to introduce mutually agreed exits to allow Civil Service employers to com...
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCabinet Office: StaffCabinet OfficeTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37429More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 25452 on Cabinet Office: Staff, what the longest period of time is that a member of the Skills Match Hub has been signed up excluding maternity leave.
Answer: I refer the hon. member to the answer of PQ 25452, given on 29 January 2025.
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordGovernment Departments: Disclosure of InformationCabinet OfficeTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37428More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress he has made on the new integrated transparency platform.
Answer: This Government is fully committed to transparency and ensuring information published is as useful as possible. For example, the Government introduced a central register of ministers’ gifts and hospitality on a monthly basis. These registers are published...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordArms Length Bodies: CostsTreasuryTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37427More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 24653 on Arms Length Bodies, which financial years Phase 2 savings apply to; whether those savings are from the RDEL budget; what the baseline is for those savin
Answer: Phase 2 of the Spending Review covers financial years 2026/27 to 2028/29 on RDEL to 2029/2030 on CDEL, whilst Phase 1 covers 2025/26. Over Phase 2, a 5% minimum RDEL savings target has been set for all departments and arm’s-length bodies. This is in addit...
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordGreat British Railways: StatisticsCabinet OfficeTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37426More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to lay a new Official Statistics Order to designate Great British Railways’ statistical outputs as official statistics.
Answer: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 11th March is attached.
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordOffice for National Statistics: Industrial DisputesCabinet OfficeTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37425More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the status is of the industrial action in the Office for National Statistics over workplace attendance.
Answer: The Trade Unions PCS and Prospect are currently taking industrial action short of a strike with the Office for National Statistics.
Answered 14 Mar 2025
Original Parliament record
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