Written questions by Glen.

Whether she made a ministerial declaration of interest in relation to her donation from Ian Corfield.

Ian Corfield was appointed on a short-term basis to carry out urgent work in support of the government’s International Investment Summit in October. A full recruitment process could not have been completed in the time available. He has since been appointed, unpaid, as a direct ministerial appointment. The donation was included in the Chancellor's Register of Member's Interests.

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 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.

Whether the International Investment Summit Adviser has (a) had meetings with representatives of Arden Strategies and (b) arranged meetings between Arden Strategies clients and officials in her Department since 5 July 2024.

The IIS Adviser has engaged with a number of different businesses and trade bodies in the run up to the International Investment Summit – including Arden Strategies - to help coordinate meetings with key investors as part of the usual course of business.

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.

What meetings officials in her Department have had with companies represented by Arden Strategies since 5 July 2024.

The government has engaged with a number of different businesses and trade bodies in the run up to the International Investment Summit – including Arden Strategies - to help coordinate meetings with key investors as part of the usual course of business. It also has an ongoing business engagement programme run by officials. All external meetings between senior officials at Permanent Secretary and Director General will be published on gov.uk in the usual way as part of the department’s quarterly transparency return.

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.

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.

How many times the Cabinet Office Board has met since 4 July 2024.

Details of the Cabinet Office Board meetings are published in the yearly Annual Report and Accounts.

Whether people in receipt of a Civil Service pension who then re-join as a special adviser are subject to abatement.

As temporary civil servants, special advisers are subject to the usual Civil Service Pension Scheme rules.

What guidance his Department issues to senior officials on declaring (a) gifts and (b) hospitality received by them and a Parliamentarian who is a family member.

As under the previous government, the Department holds a comprehensive policy and guidance on accepting and giving gifts and hospitality. All Civil Servants are required to declare gifts and hospitality both given and received via a central register and obtain approvals.

Whether she has made an assessment of the level of interference in the trade union movement by (a) Russia, (b) North Korea and (c) Iran.

The Government’s first duty is to protect our national security and keep our country safe. We keep potential threats to the UK under constant review and, where necessary, we use all the tools at our disposal to mitigate these threats.The UK has a strong record of responding robustly to state threats. Alongside our existing operational response, new legislation has been brought in through the National Security Act 2023 to deal with the range of modern state threats, including foreign interference. The Act includes a Foreign Interference Offence, which contributes to the toolkit available to law enforcement and the intelligence agencies to disrupt foreign interference activity, protect the British public and address the evolving threat to our national security.As a matter of long-standing policy, the Government does not comment on the detail of matters of national security or on individual cases. This Government is committed to tackling the threat of foreign interference, wherever it originates.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2024 to Question 2872 on Political Parties: Donors, whether transparency data will include ministerial meetings with Lord Alli.

Details of official meetings held in a ministerial capacity with external organisations or individuals are declared quarterly on GOV.UK, alongside details of all meetings with senior media figures.

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

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

Who the members are of the Special Advisers Remuneration Committee.

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 the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has held recent discussions with the Premier League on (a) statutory football regulation and (b) the taxation of football clubs.

I have not held any discussions with the Premier League in my capacity as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2024 to Question 2304 on Prime Minister: Aviation, how many (a) domestic and (b) overseas flights for Prime Ministerial travel have been carbon offset since 5 July 2024.

I have nothing further to add to the answer given to the Rt Hon Member on 4 September 2024.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2024 to Question 2870, what guidance his Department issues for Ministers on the prevention of potential (a) conflicts of interest and (b) perceived conflicts of interest.

The Ministerial Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of all ministers. It is the personal responsibility of each minister to decide whether and what action is needed to avoid a conflict or the perception of a conflict, taking account of any advice received from their permanent secretary and the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ interests.