Written questions by Chowns.

Whether the Government has considered establishing a low-cost, specialist tribunal or ombudsman to handle procurement disputes more quickly and affordably than the current High Court process; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of such a body on (a) improving access so that more SMEs can challenge procurement decisions and (b) deterring unlawful decision-making.

At present, the Cabinet Office has two free services to address procurement concerns.The Procurement Compliance Service (PCS) investigates contracting authorities’ compliance with the requirements of the Procurement Act 2023 and, where appropriate, may issue recommendations and/or guidance. Generally, the PCS considers potential non-compliance at systemic and institutional levels.The Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS) helps to protect suppliers, and potential suppliers to the public sector, by providing a free, anonymous, and confidential way to report poor public sector procurement practices, including contract management issues and late payment issues. PPRS considers specific instances of poor practice.Both services aim to improve access for SMEs by giving them a more accessible route to raise concerns and are intended to improve procurement practices in the long term. Specific PPRS reviews may lead to reconsideration of decisions being made during live procurements only.As part of the package of reforms I announced on 26th March, the Cabinet Office is reviewing the entire procurement process to find ways to open up more government contracts to SMEs and British Businesses. We will issue new guidance on government procurement reforms shortly.

Whether the Government plans to publish data on (a) the number and outcomes of procurement challenges and (b) the costs incurred by both contracting authorities and suppliers in such cases.

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

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring think tanks that seek to influence public policy to disclose their sources of private funding.

Electoral law already requires transparency where think tanks make political donations, campaign during elections, or work with political parties on regulated activity, and there are further restrictions on think tanks which have charitable status. The Government also takes seriously the risk of improper or foreign financial influence on UK democracy. Philip Rycroft’s independent review is examining the wider framework for countering these risks across the political system and will inform the Government’s next steps.

Whether informal notes were taken of the meeting at Palantir HQ that was attended by Peter Mandelson, the Prime Minister, the chief executive of Palantir and the Head of Palantir Technologies UK and that took place on 27 February 2025.

The visit was part of the Prime Minister's trip to Washington. During this visit the Prime Minister listened to a short presentation about Palantir’s work, followed by a tour of the premises and an introduction to members of staff.

Whether he plans to review (a) government contracts with and (b) the Business Appointments Rules for Former Crown Servants in relation to the Boston Consulting Group.

Government contracts are awarded in line with procurement regulations as set out in the Procurement Act 2023. Each contracting authority is responsible for monitoring supplier performance in accordance with the contract. Contracting authorities may exclude suppliers for a range of mandatory and discretionary measures under the exclusion regime in the Procurement Act, which came into force in February 2025. Those suppliers may also be added to a central debarment list by the Cabinet Office. Ministers and Crown servants at all levels, including all civil servants, special advisers, members of the armed forces and diplomats, are subject to the business appointment rules when accepting new appointments after Crown service.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2025 to Question 12807 on Public Appointments, what recent progress he has made on publishing an updated list of significant public appointments.

An update will be provided in due course.

With reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on 6 February 2025, Official Report, House of Lords, column 803, if he will make it his policy to review the Government's redactions of the Intelligence and Security Committee's report entitled Russia, Session 2019-21 HC 632, published on 21 July 2020.

ISC reports, including the Russia report, contain highly classified material which would damage the operational capabilities of UK intelligence agencies if published unredacted. All ISC reports go through a number of administrative stages and processes before publication. This includes security checks to make sure there is nothing in the report that would be prejudicial to the continued discharge of the functions of the security and intelligence services. Redactions to the Russia report were made on grounds of national security and still apply.

With reference to the Intelligence and Security Committee report entitled: Russa HC 632 published 21 July 2020, if he will open an investigation into alleged Kremlin-linked interference in UK elections.

We are committed to ensuring we have robust systems in place to defend the UK from all forms of malign state interference in UK democratic processes. The Defending Democracy Taskforce brings together Ministers from across Government, along with representatives from law enforcement and the intelligence community, to coordinate a programme of work that aims to protect UK political parties, elected officials and core electoral infrastructure. As part of this, the Cabinet Office, together with MHCLG, runs the Joint Election Security and Preparedness Unit, which leads on coordinating cross-government preparedness on election security, including running an extensive exercising programme.

With reference to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' policy paper entitled Environmental principles policy statement, published on 31 January 2023, whether his Department provides training further to section 19 of the Environment Act 2021 in the (a) statutory instrument capability programme, (b) parliamentary capability team training programme and (c) Policy Profession programme.

A range of guidance is available to civil servants when preparing legislation, including on section 19 of the Environment Act 2021. Ahead of the duty coming into force on 1 November 2023, guidance was issued to civil servants working on legislation. In January 2024, the Guide to Preparing Explanatory Memoranda (EMs) to Statutory Instruments was published and included information on this duty. The next update to The Guide to Making Legislation, which will be published shortly, will include guidance on the policy statement.

Whether (a) templates and (b) guidance for (i) ministerial submissions, (ii) the write round process, (iii) post implementation reviews of legislation and (iv) the preparation of departmental business cases have been updated to refer to the environmental principles duty in section 19(1) of the Environment Act 2021.

Each Government department is responsible for its own ministerial submission templates and guidance. Departments have been advised to amend their submission templates to reflect the EPPS duty through the Defra-led Environmental Principles Working Group.Ministers may seek collective agreement from the Cabinet or its committees through correspondence, or the ‘write round process’. It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, including through correspondence, is not normally shared publicly.In May 2024, the Department for Business & Trade published revised guidance, Producing post-implementation reviews: principles of best practice, which provides advice on the consideration of environmental impacts and specifies that departments should have due regard to the environmental principles policy statement when completing a post-implementation review of legislation.It is mandatory for government departments to make proportionate use of the Green Book, and its supplementary business case guidance, when they develop spending proposals. Where the EPPS duty applies, it is relevant for appraisals that are conducted in line with the Green Book. This is made clear on the Green Book webpage and will be reflected in the Green Book when the document is next updated.

What his expected timetable is for the publication of an updated list of significant public appointments; and whether this will include the Chair of the Office for Environmental Protection.

The list of significant public appointments is updated by the Cabinet Office, in consultation with individual departments and the Commissioner for Public Appointments. A refreshed list will be updated in due course. As set out by the previous government, the role of Chair of the Office for Environmental Protection is considered to be a significant appointment.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a citizens assembly to consider the future relationship between the UK and the EU.

The Government has no plans to establish a citizens’ assembly to consider the future relationship between the UK and EU. We fully recognise the importance of maintaining an effective dialogue encompassing a broad range of views across civil society, including through the TCA Civil Society Forum and Domestic Advisory Group, as we work to reset our relationship with the EU.