Written questions by Burghart.

Whether he has provided guidance to Cabinet colleagues on recording overlay advice to Ministers.

The term “overlay advice” is not in general use, so no such guidance has been issued.

Whether the Propriety and Ethics Team who produced the due diligence on Lord Mandelson were involved in the substantive response to the Humble Address motion of 4 February 2026.

Staff from across the Cabinet Office including but not limited to the Public Inquiry Response Unit and the Propriety and Constitution Group are involved in compliance with the Humble Address motion as necessary.

Whether the Ethics and Integrity Commission plans to undertake a public consultation on the review into lobbying, disclosure and access to government.

The Ethics and Integrity Commission (EIC) is independent of the government. The EIC has set out further information about the review, including a call for evidence, on its website at the following link: https://eic.independent-commission.uk/what-we-do/reports-and-reviews/ It can be contacted at contact@eic.independent.gov.uk

Whether he plans to extend Universal Basic Services across government.

Universal Basic Services is not a government policy and is not being explored by the Cabinet Office.

Pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2026, to Question 111183, on Prime Minister: Correspondence, and the associated reply of 13 February 2026, what is the timetable for the Government responding to the formal (a) stage 2 complaint and (b) stage 1 complaint, contained in the Hon Member for Brentwood and Ongar's letter of 15 August 2025.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation

How many documents due to be disclosed in the Government’s response to the Humble Address will not be disclosed until after the legal proceedings being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.

As per the statement from the Metropolitan Police on 4th February 2026, they are asking us to refrain from publishing any relevant documents that could prejudice their investigation. We do not comment on ongoing police investigations. The Government stands ready to support the police in whatever way it can.

What criteria his Department plans to use to determine proposed (a) national security and (b) international relation redactions in the context of the Government’s response to the humble Address laid before the House on 4 February.

I refer the Hon Member to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The Government is working to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.

With reference to the consultation paper on Digital ID, published on 10 March 2026, CP1498, which company will be administering the People’s Panel for Digital ID; and what cost the cost will be.

We need to make sure digital ID works for everyone, and that’s why we’re establishing a People’s Panel on digital ID, which brings together a diverse group of people - selected to be broadly representative of the population of the UK - to consider different perspectives and debate trade-offs. The People’s Panel will cost approximately £630,000 This will be covered under a pre-existing contract with Ipsos, which is the primary vendor, signed in March 2024. The vendor is a significant long-term government contractor, including under the last administration.

What the cost to the public purse has been for the recruitment and deployment of reconciliation teams from other Departments to assist Capita in managing the backlog of pension queries; and whether this cost will be recovered from Capita through contractual clawback provisions.

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in receiving their pension quotes are unacceptable. I want to reassure you that this Government has taken firm action to help put things right as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery. For priority cases, we have deployed additional resources and improved communication to ensure members receive the support they deserve. While the immediate focus remains on stabilising the service through this intensive recovery plan, we are committed to ensuring all staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve. Existing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver improved performance and higher penalties for failure, including financial penalties. These have already applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme. Furthermore, any service failures attract penalties which reduce the overall cost of the contract. While the specific financial values of commercial transactions remain confidential, the Cabinet Office has already withheld significant transition milestone payments due to missed deliverables and continues to apply the full mechanism of service credits for performance failures. Capita also remains responsible for any additional expenses incited. The Cabinet Office will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver the contractual service levels.

Further to the Cabinet Office consultation paper on Digital ID, 10 March 2026, CP1498, whether the People’s Panel for Digital ID participants will be paid; what is the minimum page to participate on the panel; and what is the database that will be used for the civic lottery/sortition process to select the members.

Participants will be recruited through a process called sortition. This is a random postcode lottery. It is a way of selecting individuals to take part in deliberative processes, where everyone is given an equal chance to be invited. No individual can buy their way in or simply turn up at the event. All participants must be 18 or over to join the People’s Panel. Participants are paid in line with industry standards. Payment recognises the time that people are giving up to take part and ensures that a diverse range of participants (e.g. including those on low-incomes, unemployed, with caring responsibilities, etc.) can participate. Payments are aligned to each workshop they attend, so may vary depending on attendance.

Whether the Prime Minister was advised of the letter sent by Lord Glasman to Morgan McSweeney and Paul Ovenden on the appointment of Lord Mandelson as Ambassador to the United States.

I refer the Hon Member to the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The Government is working to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves.

Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025 to Question 94697, whether the temporary promotion to the Director General position was made via full and open competition.

As set out in the Recruitment Principles, temporary promotions are an exception to the requirement for fair and open competition.

Whether the Intelligence and Security Committee has authority to publish unredacted information from the Government response to the Humble Address if it disagrees with the Government’s proposed redactions.

I refer you to the Oral Statement on the 23rd February and the Government's statement and release of information on 11th March, providing an update on the response to the Humble Address. The Government is working to ensure that Parliament’s instruction is met with the urgency and transparency that it deserves. The Government continues to work with the Intelligence and Security Committee and is grateful for its assistance on this matter.

With reference to paragraph 17 of the Civil Service Recruitment Framework, updated 2022, whether the appointment of a Senior Civil Servant SCS3 (a) on temporary promotion and (b) without open and fair competition requires Ministerial approval.

Appointments of existing civil servants on temporary promotion are internal moves and permissible within fair and open recruitment. Paragraph 17 of the Civil Service Recruitment Framework relates to permanent redeployment moves.

With reference to the consultation entitled Making public services work for you with your digital identity, of 10 March 2026, CP1498, whether there are circumstances in which private companies would have access to individual citizen’s data for payment of a fee.

The new digital ID system will help to personalise and join up public services. The UK has a strong set of data protection laws that will apply to this system, and robust enforcement of those laws. We won't be watering them down for this system and there are no circumstances in which the Government will sell the public’s digital ID data to private companies.

Pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2025, to Question 22450, on Cabinet Office: Senior Civil Servants, what is the maximum amount of time that a Senior Civil Servant can remain in post on a temporary promotion.

Normally covering a role at a higher grade should not exceed 6 months and be reviewed every 3 months, exceptions would be in line with “lifecycle events” for example maternity leave cover.

Pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2026, to Question 115872, on Peerages, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the removal of Sir Ian Horobin from the peerage in 1962.

Sir Ian Horobin’s life peerage was announced on 29th March 1962 and he subsequently withdrew his acceptance voluntarily before Letters Patent were sealed and dated. His peerage was therefore never created nor subsequently removed. There is no established precedent of the Government withdrawing a peerage nomination after it has been announced.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of enabling announced life peerages to be withdrawn before Letters Patent.

There is no established precedent for withdrawing a peerage nomination after it has been announced.

If he will place a copy in the Library of the most recent guidance on undertaking due diligence for a (a) regulated public appointment, (b) direct ministerial appointment and (c) special adviser.

The requirements to conduct appropriate due diligence for regulated public appointments and direct ministerial appointments are set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments and the Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments respectively, both of which are publicly available. The specific due diligence processes undertaken in each case will be those standard processes agreed by the Accounting Officer within each department for all appropriate due diligence undertaken by that department. As with other civil servants, special advisers are subject to pre-employment checks and declaration of relevant interests. This is set out in the Code of Conduct and Model Contract for Special Advisers.

With reference to his oral contribution of 23 February 2026 on Labour Together and APCO Worldwide: Cabinet Office Review, Official Report, Columns 28 and 29, whether the Independent Adviser will consider the conduct of the hon. Member for Makerfield before he became a Minister.

The advice and the exchange of letters between the Prime Minister and Josh Simons MP are on gov.uk.