Written questions by Glen.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2024, to Question 4702 on Public Bodies, if he will outline the process in place for considering whether to approve the creation of a new public body.

The approvals process for new arms length bodies (ALB) is outlined in the Public Bodies Handbook - Part 2.

What the Prime Minister’s current (a) claimed annual salary and (b) entitled annual salary is (i) including and (ii) excluding his Parliamentary salary.

The Prime Minister’s claimed annual salary is £75,440. His entitled annual salary is £80,807. His parliamentary salary is £91,346. His total annual claimed salary is therefore £166,786.

What the percentage (a) employee and (b) employer pension contribution is for Ministerial pensions.

This information is publicly available on the Parliamentary Contribution Pension Fund (PCPF) website.

What steps he is taking to tackle misogyny in the Civil Service.

​​​​The Civil Service is committed to creating a safe and supportive work environment for its employees, including women, and will not tolerate any form of harassment, unacceptable behaviour, abuse, or misogynistic behaviour by any party, towards any employee. Departments have their own policies and guidance on dealing with unacceptable behaviour including handling situations of, for example, harassment, assault against staff or misogynistic behaviour.

How many officials in her Department attended this year’s Labour Party Conference.

Guidance on Party Conferences is published on gov.uk and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-servants-and-party-conferences-guidance There is no central record of any Cabinet Office civil servants attending this year’s Labour Party Conference.

What is the timetable for publication under the Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 of trade union facility time data for 2023-24.

Self-reported public-sector trade union facility time data, collected under the Facility Time Regulations, will be published before the end of the year. This is in line with our standard timelines for this data set and the timelines under the previous administration.

What guidance his Department issues on Environmental, Social and Governance requirements in government procurement.

The National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) will set out the Government’s strategic policy priorities for public procurement to create a mission-led procurement regime delivering value for money, economic growth, social value, and driving up standards.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2024 to Question 4642 on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, what the process is by which a recruitment principles exception application to the Civil Service Commission is authorised within Departments.

Each department will have its own process for authorising the use of exceptions, in accordance with the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles 2018 and the Civil Service Management Code. Details of these processes are not held centrally.

Whether Mariana Mazzuccato is employed as a Government special adviser.

No.

How changes to the Ministerial reporting regime will affect (a) gifts and (b) hospitality (i) under and (ii) over £300.

Information on the acceptance of gifts and hospitality by ministers, including details on reporting, will be set out in the Ministerial Code.

What steps he is taking to ensure that the exemptions in his Department's Guidance on using the Evaluation Registry do not unduly limit scrutiny of Government interventions.

The Evaluation Task Force continues to work with Departments to ensure good quality, proportionate evaluation of all policies, programmes and projects is carried out. The guidance on exemptions to using the Evaluation Registry has not changed since the Rt Honourable member was a minister in the department.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2024 to Question 4677 on Ministers: training, if he will publish the induction briefing that was provided to Ministers in his Department on ethics and standards.

Guidance for ministers on propriety is, ultimately, set out in the ministerial code. This will be published shortly.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 2870 on Ministers: Members' Interests, whether the established process for the declaration and management of ministers’ private interests requires Minsters to declare which trade union they are a member of.

Published Lists of Ministers’ Interests, which are available on GOV.UK, set out the categories of interests that ministers are required to declare to their permanent secretaries and the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests.

How many civil servants are allocated Admiralty House as an office workplace; and at which department or public body those civil servants are employed.

There are no civil servants currently assigned to Admiralty House as an office workplace.

Whether changes have been made to the Border Target Operation Model since 5 July 2024; and what his latest estimate is of the (a) timetable and (b) budget for the introduction of related controls.

Implementation of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) is ongoing. On 7 October HMRC announced that the waiver on Safety and Security declarations for EU imports would be extended until 31 January 2025. HMRC readiness activity is now underway. On 8 October my noble friend Baroness Hayman of Ullock laid legislation to extend the Transitional Staging Period until July 2025 for the implementation of import checks and controls on certain sanitary and phytosanitary goods entering Great Britain from certain countries. There is no specific budget allocated to BTOM. The implementation and updates are the responsibility for each Department and where appropriate for the Devolved Governments.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2024 to Question 5031 on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, whether he made an assessment of the potential merits of externally advertising the five mission delivery board civil service roles.

The internal appointment of Directors General (DGs) as Mission Senior Responsible Officers was undertaken as part of the standard management of roles within the DG workforce. As such, there was no need to assess the merits of advertising these roles externally.

What steps he plans to take in response to departments that do not register evaluations on the Government Evaluation Registry by the required deadlines; and whether penalties are imposed for repeated non-compliance.

The Evaluation Task Force undertakes quarterly monitoring and compliance checks to ensure that Departments are registering their planned evaluations on the Government Evaluation Registry. In any cases where evaluations are not registered, the Evaluation Task Force will seek to resolve the issue with the relevant department or, where necessary, via the Office for Statistics Regulation.

If he will publish the (a) terms of reference and (b) rules of procedure of the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations, and Medals.

The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (known as the HD Committee) is the policy-making body for the honours system. It was established in 1939 to coordinate the award of medals to the Armed Forces. After World War Two, its remit expanded to providing advice to The Sovereign on general honours issues. Its terms of reference are to consider general questions relative to the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals; to review the Scales of award, both civil and military, to consider questions of new awards, and changes in the conditions governing existing awards. Information about its role, and its membership, is published on gov.uk. The Government has no current plans to publish anything further in relation to its operation.

Whether the Special Adviser Remuneration Committee has met to (a) set policy, (a) amend the framework and (c) make individual decisions on special adviser pay since the general election.

Special advisers’ salaries are determined by the Special Adviser People Board, in line with the special adviser pay framework. The People Board is chaired by a senior official acting under delegated authority from the Prime Minister. The majority of Board members are senior officials. Members of the Prime Minister’s special adviser leadership team also attend, as has been the case under successive administrations.As special advisers cannot authorise expenditure of public funds, final decisions of special adviser salaries are made by civil servants. Information on Special Adviser numbers and costs will be published in the Annual Report on Special Advisers as per the requirements of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, as was the case under the previous administration.

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

Special advisers across government meet regularly in the course of their duties.