Written questions by Dewhirst.

What guidance her Department has issued to (a) police forces and (b) local authorities on the use of facial recognition cameras in public places.

When using facial recognition technology, all police forces and local authorities must comply with data protection, equalities and human rights laws. They must also comply with the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice.Police forces are also required to comply with any published policing policies and in the case of live facial recognition, follow the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice.The government wants to ensure that facial recognition operates on a firm footing, providing maximum confidence to both the public and the police on the use of these tools. To that end, I have been listening carefully to stakeholders and partners and have held a series of roundtables with policing, civil society groups, regulators and others. Formal evaluation work on the impact of the technology is also underway, and we intend to set out our plans in the coming months.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54764 on Cabinet Office: Pay, what the annual wage costs were for the EU relations secretariat in the most recent year for which figures are centrally held.

Salary data for the Civil Service is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics, an Accredited Official Statistics release. Civil Service Statistics 2025 is due to be published on 30 July 2025.

If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the political balance of the Parliamentary and Political Service honours committee across (a) independent members who hold a party political whip in the House of Lords and (b) official members.

The Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee (PPS Committee) is one of ten specialist honours committees which assess honours nominations put forward by members of the public, government departments and professional bodies. Honours committees are made up of individuals with considerable experience of the area covered by the committee. The PPS Committee considers candidates for honours from the UK Parliament, the Devolved Legislatures, the staff of Westminster and other Assemblies, the staff of bodies which report to them, Party workers, councillors and others working for local government. The current membership of the PPS Committee comprises four independent members, appointed through a public appointments process, and three official members who are the incumbent chief whips from the three largest political parties in the House of Commons. The process to appoint the new independent Chair of the PPS Committee is ongoing and an announcement will be made in due course. The full composition of each honours committee can be found on gov.uk.

Whether the Airbus A321-253NX with registration G-OATW is still used for official travel.

The Airbus A321-253NX with registration G-OATW is not used by the Cabinet Office for official travel. Since assuming the registration G-OATW in October 2023, the aircraft has been chartered under various contracts with other government departments, to support their official business.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2025 to Question 31166 on Ministers: Aviation, whether the £4,282 figure includes officials accompanying Ministers.

No, the £4,282 figure is for Ministers only.

Whether (a) he and (b) the Prime Minister are permitted to make use of the King's Helicopter Flight when not in use by the Royal Household.

No. There is no arrangement for the Prime Minister or the Secretary of State for Defence for use of the King's Helicopter Flight.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Government Procurement Card spend over £500 - April 2025 (Spending by Business Units no longer part of Cabinet Office), published on 29 May 2025, what the spending at Wolleys was for.

The expenditure at Woolley's, as recorded in the Cabinet Office’s Government Procurement Card data for April 2025, covered catering (tea and coffee) for URCON 25, the cross-government User Researcher Conference held in April 2025. The event brought together approximately 500 user researchers from across the public sector for a full day of in-person learning, collaboration, and professional development.

With reference to the Office for Equality and Opportunity's press release entitled Government announces preferred candidate for Chair of Equality and Human Rights Commission, published on 5 June 2025, whether Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson has made a declaration of political activity.

Dr Stephenson has been selected as the Government Preferred Candidate for the next EHRC Chair, following a fair and open process, in line with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. As per the Code, all candidates were asked to declare any conflicts of interest they held as part of the interview process. We will continue to follow the Code as the process continues.

Whether there is a successor publication to the Central Office of Information's white book.

The White Book is no longer in publication.

Pursuant to her oral statement of 16 June 2025, Official Report, Column 25 on Child Sexual Exploitation: Casey Report, whether the national inquiry will be (a) judge-led, (b) televised and (c) subject to the full provisions of the Inquiries Act 2005 and the Inquiry Rules 2006.

Further details on the national inquiry will be announced in due course.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the decision to cancel the communications campaign (a) Tackling Money Mules and (b) Upstream Migrant Deterrence on (i) crime and (ii) illegal immigration; and what the business case was for cancelling each of those projects.

The National Crime Agency ran a low-cost campaign targeting money mules as part of Operation European Money Mule Action (EMMA) 10. EMMA 10 was a time limited Europol-led intensification that ran from September to November 2024 and aimed to disrupt mule activity through upstream activities targeting mule facilitators and recruiters.The Home Office’s communications campaign, aimed at deterring irregular and illegal migration has not been cancelled.

Whether any representatives of the Government sit as observers or members on Royal Mail’s Stamp Advisory Committee; and whether proposals for new stamps are reviewed by the Government before they are presented for approval by the Sovereign.

A representative of the government from the Department of Business and Trade sits as a member on Royal Mail’s Stamp Advisory Committee.Decisions on Royal Mail’s annual stamp programmes are the direct responsibility of the company. Stamp designs are thoroughly reviewed by the Stamp Advisory Committee, who endorse their presentation for approval by the Sovereign.

With reference to Box 1.D of the Spending Review 2025, CP1336, published on 11 June 2025, whether she has made an estimate of the number of civil servants funded to exit the civil service in (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27.

The cost of paid exits in the Civil Service varies significantly as the terms of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, which sets the terms for paid exits in the Civil Service, is based on length of service and salary. However, we expect the transformation fund for employee exit schemes, matched by departments themselves, to enable a reformed Civil Service that is focussed on delivery, through an efficient and cost-effective workforce.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 May 2025 to Question 53200 on Cabinet Office: Labour Party, what the value of the payments was; and what dates those payments relate to.

The dates and value of payments received are as follows: Sept 2024 - £4.87 Sept to Nov 2024 - £2,827.94 Dec 2024 - £102.40 Each of these payments was for use of Government Car Service.

With reference to his Department's publication entitled Cabinet Office: Government Procurement Card spend over £500 - March 2025, published on 24 April 2025, what the spending to Berry Bros Rudd Limited was for.

The referenced entry relates to wine purchased for official business. The Government regularly hosts events and diplomatic occasions to bring together world leaders and other dignitaries, strengthen international relationships and deliver for the UK public. Any hospitality purchases for these occasions are made with value-for-money for the taxpayer as a priority.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 24563 on Farms: Domestic Visits, how many farm visits he has made since the previous Answer; and where those farms were located.

We respect the privacy of those hosting visits to farms and so are unable to share this information.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54826 on Senior Civil Servants: Training, whether external venues have been booked for away days since 6 April 2025.

On 4 April, guidance was issued on restrictions to booking external venues. Departments were asked to put appropriate approval mechanisms in place. The guidance was clear that external venues for awaydays and events should only be used when space in government buildings is unavailable. When it is absolutely necessary to use an external venue, they should be procured through established procurement routes where available. The Cabinet Office issued instructions on its intranet on 30 April 2025 that prior to booking any external venues approval must be obtained from the relevant Budget Holder and Finance Business Partner. Prior to this period, bookings may have been made which would have proved more costly to cancel, therefore some pre-booked events may still take place. However, this guidance is now live across the Department and is being implemented accordingly.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled, Portraits of His Majesty the King for UK public authorities, published on 1 April 2023, how many portraits were provided to public bodies; and what the total cost was of that scheme.

I refer the Honourable Member to the information published on GOV.UK on 28 November 2024 which provided a summary of the His Majesty The King Official Portrait Scheme, including the number of portraits provided and the total cost of the scheme: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/conclusion-of-his-majesty-the-kings-free-portrait-scheme The HMK Portrait scheme was launched on 14th November 2023 and, including two extensions of scope, ran until 15th August 2024. A total of 20,565 orders were received, the cost of which, including delivery, was £2,710,705.50 with an average price of £131.81 per portrait.

What his Department's planned timetable is for the the publication of substantive details on the implementation and configuration of the proposed new duty of candour; and whether he plans to issue a formal consultation.

We remain fully committed to bringing in this legislation which will include a legal duty of candour for public servants and criminal sanctions for those who do not comply. Having consulted with groups and their representatives, more time is required to draft the best version of a Hillsborough Law.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 53546 on House of Lords Appointments Commission, whether the recruitment campaign to appoint the two independent members was re-opened after it originally closed.

The campaign to appoint new Independent Members to the House of Lords Appointments Commission was launched earlier this year and remains active. It has not been re-opened.