Written questions by Glen.

Whether there is a regular cross-departmental meeting of special advisers.

I refer the Rt Hon member to PQ7444.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2024 to Question 5052 on Government Departments: Disclosure of Information, what his planned timetable is for the launch of the new transparency portal for consolidated government data.

This government is committed to looking at how the range of transparency data published can be improved and made as useful as possible.

What steps he is taking to ensure that all Departments use an appropriate level of evaluation to assess the (a) design, (b) implementation and (c) outcomes of new interventions.

The Evaluation Task Force continues to work with Departments to ensure robust and proportionate evaluations of government programmes are carried out and published.

Whether he has issued guidance to public bodies on using public funds to subscribe to Stonewall.

Cabinet Office has not issued any specific guidance to arm’s length bodies (ALBs) on using public funds to subscribe to organisations.ALBs are subject to the principles of sound financial management as set out in the Managing Public Money guidance.

Whether he plans to uprate the salaries of Lords Ministers in line with inflation.

Salary entitlements for ministers are set out by the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975. The salaries ministers will claim in this government will be confirmed in due course and published on gov.uk.

Whether his Department plans to publish a consultation on enacting the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010.

We will commence the socio-economic duty in section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 through a commencement order when parliamentary time allows. We will engage widely to ensure that its implementation is as effective as possible.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 August 2024 to Question 1256 on 10 Downing Street: Repairs and Maintenance, what the estimated budget for refurbishment is for this financial year; and what works have taken place since 4 July 2024.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to my answer to Question 1256 on 31 July 2024. As was the practice under the previous Administration, there is a £30,000 redecoration and modernisation allowance.

If he will list the (a) Freedom of Information and (b) Environmental Information Regulation requests received by his Department since 2024 by (i) information requested, (ii) decision taken and (iii) exemption used.

As was the case when the Rt Hon member was a minister in the department, the Cabinet Office publishes statistics for FOI and EIR requests for all central government departments and other monitored bodies which can be found on www.gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics. The statistics detail volumes, outcomes and any exemptions applied, and are published on a quarterly basis.

Whether he plans to change the (a) reporting regime and (b) threshold at which Ministers must declare (i) hospitality and (ii) gifts.

I refer the Right Honourable Member to the debate in the House on Reporting Ministerial Gifts and Hospitality, debated on Monday 14 October 2024. The Government will set out further details in due course.

Whether he has requested a leak inquiry in relation to media reports about Sue Gray's salary.

It is the longstanding policy of successive governments not to comment on leak investigations.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 September 2024 to Question 5051 on Civil Servants: Trade Union Officials, if he will publish the (a) supporting guidance and (b) facility time agreements signed by his Department.

As was the case when the Rt Hon member was a minister in the department, this agreement and supporting guidance are not published.

What guidance he has issued on whether (a) an applicant's and (b) their parent's socio-economic background should be considered in (i) promotion and (ii) employment decisions in the Civil Service.

The socio-economic background of applicants or their parents does not form part of the promotion or employment decisions in the Civil Service. All Civil Service Recruitment is governed by the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. They outline the legal requirement for selection for appointment to the Civil Service to be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. The Civil Service Management Code outlines that Departments and agencies must ensure that all promotions and lateral transfers follow from a considered decision as to the fitness of individuals, on merit, to undertake the duties concerned. The Civil Service approach to recruitment is anonymised by default to support the consideration of candidates for promotion and employment based on merit alone.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2024 to Question 4658 on Civil Servants: Recruitment, if he will publish the Time To Hire data.

Since question 4658 was answered the data has been updated. The Time To Hire data, for campaigns completed between April and June 2024, indicates the median averages for the Whitehall 17 departments range between 25 and 69 calendar days for grades AA to Grade 6, and 20 and 70 calendar days for SCS Pay Bands 1 and 2.

What methodology the Government uses to assess whether someone is a working person for the purposes of policy development; and whether pensioners are included in that demographic.

Each government department is responsible for assessing potential policies to ensure they deliver the Government’s objectives.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2024 to Question 4695 on Government Communication Service, whether the Government plans to reduce spending on official photographers in order to meet the savings on communications listed in Table 2 of HM Treasury's publication entitled Fixing the foundations: public spending audit 2024-25, CP 1133, published in July 2024.

The referenced savings from the ‘Fixing the foundations’ document relates to spend on communications and marketing campaign activity. The review has concluded and it will deliver immediate savings to support HM Treasury efficiencies.

With reference to the three entries totalling £189,870 for Fujitsu Services Ltd under the GPG - Interoperability One Data Programme, in his Department's transparency data entitled Cabinet Office: spend data over £25,000 - July 2024, published on 29 August 2024, what other suppliers were considered for those software services.

In January 2024, Fujitsu said it would withdraw from bidding for contracts with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes – it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has a contract with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities. Fujitsu's bid approach is detailed in this letter, deposited in Parliament.The spend published on 29 August 2024 relates to work done on an existing contract awarded to Fujitsu in March 2023 under the previous administration.In selecting the supplier in March 2023, the Tech Services 3 framework was employed. This was chosen as other frameworks did not have the quantity of suppliers needed to attract adequately competitive bids or would lead to direct awards. 125 companies were invited to bid, of which 3 did, including Fujitsu. Following an evaluation, which assessed technical ability to meet the requirements, how well they understood these by developing a proof of concept, social value and costs, Fujitsu were successful.

Pursuant to the Answers of 13 September 2024 to Questions 4350 and 4352 on Smoking, whether his Department plans to ban (a) smoking and (b) vaping in (i) public gardens and (ii) outdoor recreational spaces at (A) 10 Downing Street and (B) 70 Whitehall.

The Government will soon introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which stands to be the most significant public health intervention in a generation and will put us on track to a smoke-free UK.Action on smoking will help to reduce 80,000 preventable deaths, reduce the burden on the NHS and reduce the burden on the taxpayer.The Department of Health and Social Care will set out more details soon.

What his Department's policy is on the use of (a) Tiktok, (b) WeChat and (c) Telegram on (i) Government communications devices and (ii) Ministers' non-corporate communications devices.

In March 2023 the previous government introduced a precautionary ban specifically on the TikTok application on government mobile devices following a security review, alongside announcing new policy on the control of all third-party applications on government devices. The precautionary ban on TikTok remains in place.The cross-government Mobile Device Management (MDM) policy was published in 2023. The policy requires all government organisations and their Arm’s Length Bodies to control which third-party apps can be installed and run on corporate mobile devices using an allow list of approved apps or, in exceptional circumstances only, using a deny list of apps that are specifically prohibited.The government does not have specific policy on use of the WeChat or Telegraph applications on government devices - this is because the MDM policy provides a comprehensive, strategic response to the risks posed to government device data, as opposed to taking a more piecemeal “app-by-app” approach. This ensures that we are not only addressing the immediate, known risks but also future-proofing HMG against new risks as they emerge.The MDM policy does not extend to Ministers’ personally owned devices. Due to the sensitive nature of their role, Ministers receive regular security briefings and advice on protecting their data and mitigating cyber threats, including briefing on using social media securely and the security of electronic communications. Under Cabinet Office guidance published in 2023 on use of non-corporate communications channels for government business, in general it is expected that ministers use government systems for government business.

Pursuant to the answer of 16 September 2024, to Question 5052, on Government Departments: Disclosure of Information, whether his Department has cancelled the launch of the transparency portal for consolidated government data.

This government is committed to looking at how the range of transparency data published can be improved and made as useful as possible.

If the vacancy for the position of the Second Permanent Secretary, Head of Mission Delivery Unit, was (a) publicly advertised and (b) for how long.

The appointment follows a Civil Service wide recruitment competition overseen by the Civil Service Commission. The application process was open for five days.