Mike Wood MP: written questions 2025
1186 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Office for Equality and Opportunity: FinanceWomen and EqualitiesTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85184More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the budget for the Office for Equality of Opportunity has increased since October 2024.
Answer: The Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) overall budget has increased from £16.2m in 2024-25 to £17.7m in 2025-26. Further details will be provided, in the usual way, in the Cabinet Office’s accounts.
Answered 10 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordDiscriminationWomen and EqualitiesTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85183More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to allow claims for combined discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.
Answer: In our manifesto, we committed to strengthening protections against dual discrimination and in April we launched a call for evidence on this commitment, as well as a number of other areas of equality law. We will consider the responses to the call for evi...
Answered 10 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordEthnic GroupsWomen and EqualitiesTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85182More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether White Irish is included in the Government’s ethnicity definition of White Other.
Answer: The Government Statistical Service’s Ethnicity Harmonised Standard provides best practice for data collection across government, and it recommends that White Irish is collected as a standalone category, distinct from White Other.
Answered 6 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordEquality and Human Rights Commission and Office for Equality and Opportunity: Unpaid WorkWomen and EqualitiesTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85181More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether there are restrictions on internship applications to the (a) Office for Equality and Opportunity and (b) Equality and Human Rights Commission in (i) 2025 and (ii) 2026.
Answer: As the Office for Equality and Opportunity is part of the Cabinet Office, we follow Cabinet Office recruitment policies, including recruitment of interns. There is not a single universal rule for Cabinet Office internships as eligibility and restrictions ...
Answered 5 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordPublic Bodies: EqualityWomen and EqualitiesTabled 27 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85180More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she plans to extend the number of public bodies subject to the socio-economic duty under section 2 of the Equality Act 2010.
Answer: The Government is committed to commencing the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010. The duty will require specified public bodies, when making strategic decisions, to consider actively how their decisions might help to reduce the inequalities asso...
Answered 6 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordEquality and Human Rights Commission: Public AppointmentsWomen and EqualitiesTabled 23 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84671More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62348o n EHRC: Public Appointments, whether he will announce to appointment on conclusion of the competition on the Public Appointments website.
Answer: Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson was confirmed as the next Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission on 31 July 2025. This was announced in a press release which you can view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-dr-mary-ann-stephenso...
Answered 3 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordEquality and Human Rights Commission: Public AppointmentsWomen and EqualitiesTabled 23 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84670More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62348 on EHRC: Public Appointments, what interests of regulated appointees by the Governance Code on Public Appointments are required to be published.
Answer: Section 9.1 of the Governance Code for Public Appointments states “candidates must be asked to declare potential conflicts of interest in their application.”. The EHRC publishes the declarations of interests of its Chair and Commissioners on their website...
Answered 3 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordEquality: ResearchWomen and EqualitiesTabled 23 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84669More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has commissioned any external research on the proposed socio-economic duty.
Answer: The Government is committed to commencing the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010. We will work in partnership with public authorities, civil society and others in order to ensure that the implementation of the duty is as effective as possible. A...
Answered 11 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordFarms: Domestic VisitsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84668More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2025 to Question 62320 on Farm: Domestic Visits, if he will provide an aggregate and anonymised number of farm visits since 4 July 2025.
Answer: Defra ministers regularly visit farms in a range of counties and meet with farmers and the wider industry.
Answered 5 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Senior Civil ServantsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84667More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the recruitment process was for her Department's new Permanent Secretary; and whether he plans to publish any declarations of interest.
Answer: The new Permanent Secretary for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, was recruited under a fair and open competition managed by the Cabinet Office. Any declarations of interest will be made, published and updated in accordance with Cabin...
Answered 31 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordGenetically Modified Organisms: UK Trade with EUDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84666More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK–EU reset agreement on the (a) use and (b) sale of precision-bred (i) plants and (ii) animals.
Answer: We remain committed to moving forward with the Precision Breeding Act. The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where we need to retain our own rules. The details of these are now subject to negotiation, but we have been clear about the...
Answered 13 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: SecondmentDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84665More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is paying the salary of the Second Permanent Secretary while he is on secondment to the Blavatnik School Of Government.
Answer: Nick Joicey is currently on secondment to a role at the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University. As is standard for secondments Defra continues to pay Mr Joicey’s salary and Defra is being reimbursed by Oxford University for his role there.
Answered 26 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversities: AdmissionsDepartment for EducationTabled 23 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84664More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has issued guidance to universities on admissions based on the socio-economic background of the applicant.
Answer: The government encourages higher education (HE) providers to consider all applications on a case-by-case basis and offer equity of opportunity to all students, regardless of background or circumstance. However, it does not issue direct guidance. Universit...
Answered 3 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Energy Security and Net Zero: Facilities AgreementsDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 23 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84663More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to page 91 of his Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25, published on 15 September 2025, HC 1274, for what reason was facility time increased from £49,777 in 2023-24
Answer: The increase results from an increased headcount and pay bill in the department; ongoing transformation work necessitating high levels of Trade Union engagement and increased engagement following the change of Government in July 2024. The increase in pay ...
Answered 31 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordTravellers: Ethnic GroupsWomen and EqualitiesTabled 23 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84662More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the style guide entitled Writing about ethnicity, updated in October 2024, for what reason references to travellers were capitalised.
Answer: In October 2024, the style guide ‘Writing about ethnicity’ on the Ethnicity facts and figures website was updated. While the guide makes no direct reference to the capitalisation of references to Travellers, a capital letter was used to align with the Go...
Answered 29 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordChildren's Play: CurriculumDepartment for EducationTabled 23 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84632More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of play-based (a) learning and (b) teaching as part of the (i) early years and (ii) Key Stage 1 curricula.
Answer: The department recognises that play is critical to children’s wellbeing, learning and development. This is reflected in the early years foundation stage statutory framework, which supports early years practitioners to design a rich curriculum that include...
Answered 11 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordIntelligence Services: Unpaid WorkCabinet OfficeTabled 22 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84252More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 74666,on Intelligence Services: Unpaid Work, which internship schemes with the security services are white British people eligible to apply to.
Answer: In recent years, the 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 ...
Answered 5 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordGovernment Departments: Facilities AgreementsCabinet OfficeTabled 22 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84251More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 75447on Trade Union Officials: Facility Agreements, whether the Cabinet Office guidance on facility time has changed since July 2024; what is the maximum p
Answer: The Cabinet Office guidance on facility time has not changed since July 2024. The guidance states that facility time costs in the Civil Service should not represent more than 0.1% of a department’s paybill.
Answered 30 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordCivil Service: Unpaid WorkCabinet OfficeTabled 22 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84250More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answers of 26 September 2025, to Questions 75632, 74515, 74202, on Civil Service: Unpaid Work, whether the Office for National Statistics classifies the occupations of (a) tool-makers, (b) factor
Answer: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd October is attached.
Answered 30 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordCivil Servants: LocationCabinet OfficeTabled 22 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84249More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 63340 on Civil Servants: Location, if he will publish the Civil Service relocation policy released by Cabinet Office under the Freedom of Information Act, ref: F
Answer: We will place a copy of the Cabinet Office's relocation policy, as released in FOI2025/12570, in the Library of the House. The policy in question applies only to Cabinet Office staff rather than the wider Civil Service.
Answered 30 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordGovernment: ICTCabinet OfficeTabled 22 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84248More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he his Department applies nationality criteria to contractors who work on Government IT programmes.
Answer: All contractors working in central government will go through National Security Vetting at a level that is appropriate for the work they are expected to deliver, as decided by the relevant departmental body. As a minimum, all government contractors will b...
Answered 5 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordPublic Appointments: Political ImpartialityCabinet OfficeTabled 22 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84247More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answers of 3 September 2025 to Questions (a) 70458 on Government Departments: Directors and (b) 71225 on Public Appointments: Political Impartiality, through which process previous political acti
Answer: The Governance Code on Public Appointments requires the public disclosure of political activity within the last five years for successful candidates. The Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies requires appointees to comply with the rules of th...
Answered 3 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordNational Security Online Information TeamDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 22 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84246More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what is the statutory basis of the work of the National Security and Online Information Team.
Answer: The National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) leads the department’s operational response to information threats which present a public safety or national security risk to UK audiences, working closely with other departments including the Home Off...
Answered 31 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Science, Innovation and Technology: DisinformationDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 22 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84245More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the use of third-party providers to (a) assess, (b) index and (c) identify disinformation.
Answer: DSIT’s National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) leads the operational response to information threats, including disinformation, capable of posing a risk to UK public safety and national security. Information on contracts awarded by the departmen...
Answered 31 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordGovernment: Artificial IntelligenceDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 22 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 84244More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what data sources have been used to train the Parlex AI tool on forecasting parliamentary reactions; and whether a data privacy impact assessment has been produced.
Answer: The Parlex tool has not been trained as a new AI model, nor does it involve the development of a novel forecasting system. Instead, it is a search and analysis tool that enables users to research existing parliamentary records to support policy developmen...
Answered 31 Oct 2025
Original Parliament record
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