Written questions by Dewhirst.

Pursuant to the Answers of (a) 12 February 2025 to Question 28577 and (b) 16 January 2025 to Question 21390 on Armed Forces: Equality, whether the work on the Armed Forces’ EDI review was led or undertaken by his Department.

The Cabinet Office has not carried out a review of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) expenditure for the Armed Forces. The Civil Service EDI Expenditure Review, which was carried out under the previous administration between June 2023 and May 2024, included EDI expenditure relating solely to civil servants, including those who may have been undertaking work on behalf of the Armed Forces, but not in relation to Armed Forces personnel.

With reference to his Department's Civil Service HQ occupancy data transparency data, last updated on 28 February 2025, which changes in reporting methodology lead to a revision of the figures.

The revision of figures applied to the Home Office occupancy stats only. This was because of a change in reporting by the Home Office.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Mass cancellation of government credit cards in crackdown on wasteful spend, published on 18 March 2025, how many Government Procurement Cards are held by each (a) Ministerial and (b) senior official private office in his Department.

The Cabinet Office has one cardholder in Ministerial Private Offices and six cardholders in senior official private offices.

On what dates the Prime Minister’s Office has held conference calls with public affairs companies; and if he will list each organisation that attended each one.

I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 17 March 2025, Official Report, PQ 37798.

What the difference is between (a) government diversity networks and (b) trade union diversity networks in government.

Government Equality, Diversity and Inclusion networks are internal, volunteer staff networks that work to improve internal culture and workforce representation. Trade unions are separate distinct organisations, who may have their own separate diversity networks for their members.

Whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of reinstating awards of honours under the Order of St Patrick.

The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is in the personal gift of The Sovereign. The UK Government is not considering the restoration of The Order of St Patrick. Nominations for existing honours are open to all citizens within the four nations of the United Kingdom.

How long routinely deleted Downing Street emails are held for the purposes of (a) public inquiries, (b) subject access requests and (c) Freedom of Information requests.

All emails generated, or received, in the Prime Minister’s Office, including any attachments, may be public records and therefore are subject to records management policies and procedures. The fact that they may be public records does not mean that all emails will be kept for ever. Most will be archived in accordance with standard record keeping procedures. If it is decided that an email needs to be kept for more than a very short period it is placed on the official record keeping system.

Pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2025, to Question 34730, on Civil Service: Redundancy, if he will place in the Library a copy of all revised guidance on (a) new and (b) updated protocols on Civil Service performance, management and termination; and whether senior civil servants who do not deliver expected efficiency savings will be made redundant.

Many of the documents pertaining to the management of civil servant performance and termination are already published on gov.uk. This includes the Senior Civil Service Performance Management Policy and accompanying formal poor performance guidance, the Cabinet Office Redundancy Protocol 2016 and the Civil Service Management Code. In March, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a new exit process termed “Mutually Agreed Exits” to bring the Civil Service more in line with the private sector. The plans will give managers more tools to address substandard performance and introduce a more efficient and flexible system that will save money for the taxpayer. More information will be provided in due course. Under the Senior Civil Service performance management framework, civil servants who do not meet the expected minimum standards of their role will be placed onto formal poor performance measures.

If he will update the (a) ministerial, (b) special adviser and (c) senior official transparency guidance on the definition of senior media executives to include large social media organisations.

Details of ministers’ and senior officials’ official meetings with all external individuals and organisations, including with social media organisations, are already published on a quarterly basis. Under long-standing guidance, special advisers are only required to declare meetings with senior media figures. There are no current plans to change the guidance.

Whether the Prime Minister met organisations at Labour Party Conference 2024 which required him to report back the discussions to his private office.

Any ministerial meetings with external organisations will be published in the usual way on gov.uk. There are processes in place where Ministers are officially supported at political events or engagements, as was the case under the previous administration.

Whether emails in Downing Street inboxes are automatically deleted.

All emails generated, or received, in the Prime Minister’s Office, including any attachments, may be public records and therefore are subject to records management policies and procedures. The fact that they may be public records does not mean that all emails will be kept for ever. Most will be archived in accordance with standard record keeping procedures. If it is decided that an email needs to be kept for more than a very short period it is placed on the official record keeping system.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the National Security Adviser being appointed as a special adviser on (a) the effectiveness and (b) parliamentary scrutiny of that role.

Special Advisers are accountable to Ministers who in turn are accountable to Parliament.

Whether the Prime Minister held discussions with media organisations during the Labour Party conference relating to government business without officials being present; and how many readouts on meetings with external organisations were provided to his private office.

Any ministerial meetings with external organisations will be published in the usual way on gov.uk. There are processes in place where Ministers are officially supported at political events or engagements, as was the case under the previous administration.

With reference to the press release entitled Prime Minister: I will reshape the state to deliver security for working people, published on 12 March 2025, what the Government’s is for the (a) number of civil servants and (b) cost of civil service pay.

The Prime Minister has set out his ambition to deliver long-term, impactful changes to reshape the British state and the Government is taking forward a number of measures to deliver greater efficiency and transformation in the Civil Service. Each department will take a decision on its individual size and shape as per the financial settlement it agrees with HMT in the Spending Review, due for conclusion in June 2025. The Prime Minister has announced that the Government is committed to cutting bureaucracy across the state, in order to focus government on the priorities of working people and shift money to the frontline. As part of this, the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the arms-length body NHS England. The government has also announced the first zero-based review of government spending in 17 years, with departments expected to go line-by-line to find savings and efficiencies, including in bodies and agencies that they sponsor.

Whether the Prime Minister plans to donate a copy of Three Pillars to Liberty to the Prime Minister’s Library.

No donations have been made to the Prime Minister's Library since 5 July 2024.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2025 to Question 30473 on Prime Minister: Press Conferences, how many people attended the event.

This was an official government event, with attendees and an audience that included members of the public, business people, and public sector workers. 286 people RSVPed to attend.

Whether the Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service has a role in approving contracts issued by the Cabinet Office.

The Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service is an approving member of the Cabinet Office Commercial Spend Control Panel, which oversees spend controls for the whole of the HM Government, including non-ministerial departments, executive agencies, and other arms-length, non-commercial bodies that are majority controlled and/or financed by departments (Non-Departmental Public Bodies). This includes the Cabinet Office. Cabinet Office Commercial Spend Controls apply to all commercial activity with a value of £20m or more, excluding VAT. ).

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 26831 on Civil Servants: Recruitment, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the publication of job titles in transparency data with his data protection obligations.

The publication of job titles is compatible with data protection obligations. It is noted that SCS organograms are published. However, the SCS data is anonymised at Deputy Director level (SCS1). Although the details are published for SCS2 and above, there are provisions within the guidance for redactions or further anonymity for data privacy and security purposes.

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 exempt from publication.

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.

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 based on time in office.

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.