Written questions by Dewhirst.

With reference to the Answer of 13 November 2024 to Question HL2210 on Government Departments: Communication, which communications campaigns have been (a) downsized and (b) ended following the review.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer provided by HMT to Question 20957 on 10 January 2025.

Who are the members of the Civil Service Board; how often does it meet; and where does it meet.

The members of the Civil Service Board are listed on the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service/about/our-governance The Civil Service Board meets approximately 10 times per year. Meetings are generally held at 70 Whitehall, London and virtually.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 14108 on Arm’s Length Bodies, on what statutory basis Permanent Secretaries rather than Ministers approve framework agreements.

Permanent Secretaries are appointed as Accounting Officers for their departments by the Treasury under section 5 of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000. They are directly responsible to Parliament for ensuring that their department's use of public resources are regular and in line with parliamentary expectations. This includes compliance with the wider framework of authorities, which include the various rules and guidance set out in Managing Public Money. As part of these requirements, Accounting Officers are required to have appropriate structures and systems in place to ensure effective governance of the public bodies that they sponsor. These include the Accounting Officer System Statement, and the need for a framework document for each public body sponsored. As such, in general, the requirement for a framework document is not statutory, but does form part of the Accounting Officer’s duties, meaning that the Accounting Officer is responsible for ensuring that a framework document is in place. Framework documents, while not legal documents, set out the terms of the relationship between the arms-length body and the sponsor, including the sponsorship processes by which public bodies align with and deliver on public policy objectives set by Ministers and, in some cases, legislation. They codify a combination of policy decisions made by ministers, parliamentary expectations and general principles of good governance. The processes for approval are not set out in statute, and can vary from department to department, and from arms-length body to arms-length body.

What steps his Department has taken to safeguard British semiconductor firms from hostile foreign involvement; and how many transactions in that sector have been referred to his Department under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 since 5 July 2024.

The National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021 gives the Government powers to scrutinise and potentially intervene in acquisitions of control over entities and assets in or linked to the UK that may pose national security risks. All areas of the economy are within scope, and qualifying acquisitions of entities in 17 areas of the economy - of which semiconductors are typically covered by both the Advanced Materials and Computing Hardware areas - must be notified to and receive approval from the Government. The Government publishes annual reports to provide information about the transactions that it has been notified about and those it subsequently called in for a national security assessment. The period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 will be covered in the next annual report, which will be published later this year.

With reference to paragraph 60 of the Government response to the 17th Report of Session 2022-23 of the House of Lords Constitution Committee, Permanent Secretaries: their appointment and removal, HL 258, published on 20 October 2023, what recent progress his Department has made on preparing guidance on best practice; whether that guidance will apply to civil servants in the devolved administrations on areas relating to reserved matters; and when he plans to publish that guidance.

I refer to the answer to PQ 14099.

With reference to the Security and Intelligence Agencies Financial Statement 2023-24, for what reason the net cash requirement for the Security and Intelligence Agencies was £419.85 million lower than the estimate; and what assessment he has made of the impact of this underspend on the delivery of planned programmes.

As has been the policy of successive governments, the government does not comment on matters relating to the intelligence agencies. The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament scrutinises the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of the intelligence agencies on behalf of Parliament.

How many transactions have been blocked under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 since 5 July 2024; and which transactions were blocked.

The Government publishes notices of final orders made on GOV.UK - this includes cases that are blocked, unwound, or cleared subject to conditions. The Government also publishes annual reports to provide information about the transactions that it has been notified about and those it subsequently called in for a national security assessment. The NSI Annual Report 2023-24 was published on 10 September 2024 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-security-and-investment-act-2021-annual-report-2023-24. The period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 will be covered in the next annual report, which will be published later this year.

Pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2024 to Question 14502 on Gender: Equality, what guidance the (a) Civil Service People Group and (b) Office for Equality and Opportunities has produced on whether positive discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity is permitted under the Equality Act 2010.

In April 2023, the previous government issued guidance on positive action in the workplace (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/positive-action-in-the-workplace-guidance-for-employers/positive-action-in-the-workplace). This sets out the differences between positive action and positive discrimination and what is permitted under the Equality Act 2010.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15229 on Senior Civil Servants: Freedom of Information, what best practice guidance does the (a) Cabinet Office FOI Clearing House Internal Review and (b) its successor provide to departments on the level of seniority at which information on civil servants should normally be disclosed in response to FOI requests.

The Cabinet Office has not issued either internal or external guidance on whether Freedom of Information Act requests requesting information on senior civil servants should be disclosed. All requests are considered on their own merits in all circumstances.

With reference to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's web page entitled Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: spending over £0, published on 10 October 2024, if he will publish a corresponding copy of the spending by his Department on (a) electronic purchasing cards and (b) Government procurement cards over £0 for August 2024 broken down by (i) expense type, (ii) supplier, (iii) item text, (iv) merchant category, (v) amount and (vi) date.

The guiding policy setting out the requirement to only publish GPC transactions over £500 remains in place. Guidance is available to all government departments on gov.uk at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e8b402686650c18ce2cb541/Procurement_Cards_-_Pan_Government_Policy_V4_06042020.pdfIn support of the Government’s Transparency agenda, the Cabinet Office publishes GPC spend data over £500 on gov.uk.

With reference to his Department's guidance entitled Public Bodies Handbook – Part 2: The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies, whether his Department's public bodies team assessed Great British Energy against the requirement that the creation of a new ALB should only be considered as a last resort; whether the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero provided evidence that alternative delivery models were considered; and which of the three tests in Chapter 2 of that guidance Great British Energy met.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is working through the approval process, in parallel with the passing of the Great British Energy Bill, to establish Great British Energy (GBE).

How many of the reviews by Departments of public bodies in the financial year 2023/24 as part of the Public Bodies Review Programme (a) have been completed, (b) remain outstanding and (c) have been abandoned.

Of the 50 public body reviews planned for 2023/24, 34 were completed. Nine remain in progress and seven are currently paused as the team progresses other work to deliver value for money.

How many staff work in the mission delivery unit; and what its (a) function and (b) remit is.

The Mission Delivery Unit has c 30 FTE. The core purpose of the Mission Delivery Unit is to advise the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on the delivery of the five Missions.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2024 to Question 18268 on Firearms: Licensing, when she last held discussions with (a) the police, (b) gun control groups, (c) the British Shooting Sports Council and (d) the British Association for Shooting and Conservation on firearms licensing in England, Scotland and Wales.

The Home Office regularly meets with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for firearms licensing and other officers.We also meet with representatives of other relevant stakeholder groups from time to time, including most recently, on 13th January 2025.

Whether he has issued guidance to Cabinet colleagues on engagement with the 48 Group.

No guidance has been issued on engagement with the 48 Group specifically. The Cabinet Office routinely assesses information pertaining to external bodies and groups to guide Ministerial engagement.

Whether he plans to include appointments to the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair appointment will be classified as a significant appointment.

The Industrial Strategy Advisory Council (ISAC) is an independent, non-statutory, expert committee and as such these appointments are not in scope for addition to the Order in Council or Significant Appointments under Cabinet Office guidance. We have committed to putting the Council on a statutory footing, and this will be reviewed after doing so.

How many Civil Service fast stream applicants self-declared a disability in each year for which figures are available.

The Fast Stream campaign data, including data pertaining to applicants with disabilities, is published annually and available on gov.uk.

How many special advisers have affiliated to the First Division Association; and whether special advisers are a collective bargaining unit.

Details of Trade Union memberships are not held by Civil Service employers. I refer to PQ 5303, which confirmed that there are currently no collective bargaining agreements for Special Advisers.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 15193 on Ministers: Code of Practice, for what reason the Prime Minister included the previously removed duty for ministers to comply with international law in the new Ministerial Code.

The reference has been reinserted into the Ministerial Code to provide clarity. This does not place any new duties on ministers; it brings together duties which exist elsewhere.

Whether (a) Downing Street and (b) his Department collates information on each (i) domestic and (ii) overseas flight undertaken by (A) the Prime Minister and (B) other Ministers.

Ministerial travel is undertaken using efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. Security considerations are also taken into account. As was the practice under the previous Government, information about official overseas ministerial travel will be published as part of the Cabinet Office transparency returns and made available on GOV.UK.