Richard Holden MP: written questions 2024
322 published records · newest first.
Written questions
TrainingDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16519More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing further skills boot camps to help tackle specific sectoral shortages.
Answer: Skills Bootcamps remain an important offer in the skills landscape, and in the longer term the department intends to fund Skills Bootcamps through funding Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and local areas directly. MCAs and the Greater London Authority ...
Answered 5 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordApprenticesDepartment for EducationTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16518More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department plans to provide for level seven apprenticeships in each of the next three financial years; and on what categories of apprenticeship this funding will be spent.
Answer: Spending on apprenticeships, including the categories of apprenticeship, is demand led as apprenticeships are a job with training and therefore employers and their needs determine which opportunities are available to learners.The government will be asking...
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordInnovate UK: FinanceDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16517More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding he plans to allocate to Innovate UK in each of the next three years.
Answer: Earlier this year, the Chancellor launched a multi-year Spending Review, the first phase of which was completed and announced at this year’s Autumn Budget. This set DSIT’s overall R&D budget for 2025/26 at £13.9bn. Further details of how this funding ...
Answered 5 Dec 2024
Original Parliament record10 Downing Street: Official HospitalityCabinet OfficeTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16516More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2024 to Question 5574 on Lord Alli, whether any political receptions held in Downing Street have been billed through the Cabinet Office and recharged to the governing party si
Answer: I refer the Rt Hon Member to my answer of 09 October 2024, Official Report, PQ 5574.
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordMinisters: Corporate Hospitality and Official GiftsCabinet OfficeTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16515More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how long after the end of the relevant month ministerial (a) gift and (b) hospitality data will be published.
Answer: The Government will publish, monthly, a register of ministers’ gifts and hospitality. Work on the new register is progressing and further details will be published in due course.
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordImmigration and Population: ForecastsCabinet OfficeTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16514More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the size of (a) the UK population and (b) net immigration in each year to 2046.
Answer: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 27 November is attached.
Answered 10 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordSmall Businesses: Annual ReportsTreasuryTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16513More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 October 2024 to Question 5667 on Small Business: Annual Report, what assessment has been made by the Office for Equality and Opportunity of the impact of the Financial Conduct Authority’s
Answer: This Question has been passed to HM Treasury, as the department responsible for financial services regulation. The Financial Conduct Authority is a non-governmental body which is independent from the government. The government does not make assessments of...
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordGovernment Communication ServiceCabinet OfficeTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16512More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 4 October 2024 to Question 4668 on Government Communication Service, for what reason the Government will not provide this information.
Answer: The audit contains the personal information of circa 6,500 communicators across government. Even if the data was anonymised, there is still a risk that individuals could be identified.
Answered 5 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordCabinet Office: ICTCabinet OfficeTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16511More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what changes have been made to the planned delivery date of the Rosa Renewal Project since inception.
Answer: The Rosa Renewal Project remains on track to complete by March 2025. It is an agile project planned to ensure the resilience of HMG’s existing shared service capability for working on very sensitive information, and managed under the Government Major Proj...
Answered 5 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPublic Sector: ProcurementCabinet OfficeTabled 27 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16510More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 7 October 2024 to Question 5121 on Employment, whether he has made an estimate of the potential cost to public authorities of the Government’s procurement reforms on (a) new social valu
Answer: The Employment Rights Bill was published in October along with a full Impact Assessment. The government will also publish a new National Procurement Policy Statement that will set how we will ensure that public procurement supports the Government’s missio...
Answered 11 Dec 2024
Original Parliament record10 Downing Street: Government Art CollectionCabinet OfficeTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16362More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November to Question 15230 on 10 Downing Street: Government Art Collection, what the reference numbers are of Government Art Collection works that have been (a) added to and (b) remo
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 31 October 2024, Official Report, PQ 8943.
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordLondon, Tilbury and Southend Line: Repairs and MaintenanceDepartment for TransportTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16349More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans her Department has for the replacement of the overhead lines on the C2C train route.
Answer: The renewal of overhead lines on the c2c route will require significant investment. Network Rail is making plans to secure the funding in future control periods.
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordGovernment Departments: Disclosure of InformationCabinet OfficeTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16348More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2024 to Question 8436 on Government Departments: Disclosure of Information, if he will make it his policy that all transparency publications currently published quarterly wil
Answer: The Government publishes a wide range of transparency data. Reporting requirements remain in place, with data regularly being published on GOV.UK. The Cabinet Office will publish, monthly, a Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality in due course.
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordSpecial Advisers: Industrial DisputesCabinet OfficeTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16347More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2024 to Question 11270 on Special Advisers: Industrial Disputes, to which specific answer of 25 July 2024 he was seeking to refer to.
Answer: The answer referred to was PQ 1667.
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordSenior Civil Servants and Special Advisers: Disclosure of InformationCabinet OfficeTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16346More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy that (a) senior official and (b) special adviser transparency returns are published as frequently as those of Ministers.
Answer: The Government publishes a wide range of transparency data. Reporting requirements remain in place, with data regularly being published on GOV.UK. The Cabinet Office will publish, monthly, a Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality in due course.
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordMinisters: Official GiftsCabinet OfficeTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16345More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to start monthly reporting of ministerial (a) gifts and (b) hospitality.
Answer: Work on the new register is progressing and further details will be published in due course.
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordSpecial Advisers: PayCabinet OfficeTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16344More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 6 November 2024 on Transparency and Accountability, HCWS198, whether special adviser salaries will increase in line with (a) senior and (b) junior civil service salarie
Answer: Details of the special adviser pay award will be detailed in the relevant Annual Report on Special Advisers, published in line with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordCivil Service Commission: CorrespondenceCabinet OfficeTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16343More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will allow the Civil Service Commission to reply directly to hon. Members by correspondence.
Answer: The Civil Service Commission is operationally independent from the government and is already able to respond to correspondence from parliamentarians as it sees fit.
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordMission BoardsCabinet OfficeTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16342More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government’s Mission Boards have quantifiable targets.
Answer: The five Missions are focused on delivering outcomes that offer real and tangible benefits to citizens: higher living standards, protection for energy billpayers with secure home-grown energy, safer streets, longer healthier lives, and a renewed confidenc...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPolitical Parties: DiscriminationWomen and EqualitiesTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16341More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will hold discussions with the (a) Equality and Human Rights Commission and (b) the Cabinet Office on the potential merits of issuing guidance to political parties on whether they are able to discrimina
Answer: It is for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to determine what guidance it issues to political parties. Equalities Ministers will have periodic discussions with their Cabinet Office colleagues on matters of mutual policy interest. 'Belief’ is a prot...
Answered 3 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordLobbyingCabinet OfficeTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16340More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department issues on (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers meeting lobbying firms which have made donations to hon. Members from the governing party.
Answer: There is longstanding guidance on meetings between ministers and external organisations which is set out in the Ministerial Code. Similar guidance for special advisers is set out in the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. Further guidance on ministers’ ...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordWritten Questions: Government ResponsesLeader of the HouseTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16339More
Question: To ask the Leader of the House, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the performance of the Government in providing answers to (a) correspondence and (b) written parliamentary questions since 4 July 2024.
Answer: Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account. We recognise there is room for improvement upon the record of the previous government, and we are committed to doing things differently. As Leader of the House, I have written to all members of Cabinet ...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordMission BoardsCabinet OfficeTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16338More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Mission Delivery Boards have made.
Answer: The government has already made significant progress on its missions since July; fixing the foundations of the country and kicking off the first steps to deliver real change. This has included stabilising the economy, the launch of Great British Energy, i...
Answered 4 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordGovernment Digital Service: ContractsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16337More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the One Login project is on (a) budget and (b) schedule.
Answer: The GOV.UK One Login programme is on budget and on schedule. It operates under the controls outlined in its Full Business Case, including Cabinet Office and HM Treasury spend controls, and independent assurance reviews conducted by the Infrastructure and ...
Answered 5 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordMigrantsCabinet OfficeTabled 26 Nov 2024AnsweredUIN 16336More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of the UK population that have migrated to the UK in the last two years.
Answer: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 27 November is attached.
Answered 5 Dec 2024
Original Parliament record
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