Written questions by Trickett.

What meetings the Prime Minister has had with Palantir since May 2024.

Awaiting answer.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 32929 on Cabinet Office: Palantir, whether his Department has seconded staff from Palantir between 4 July 2024 and 11 March 2025.

Secondments are part of a range of ways of bringing talent and experience into the civil service for short periods of time and have been used by successive governments. Secondments are arranged at a business unit level and must follow the processes as set out in the Civil Service Recruitment Principles, however based on the information held centrally, there is no record of any secondees from Palantir.

How many staff his Department has seconded from Hakluyt since July 2024.

Secondments are part of a range of ways of bringing talent and experience into the civil service for short periods of time and have been used by successive governments. Secondments are arranged at a business unit level and must follow the processes as set out in the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. However based on the information held centrally, there is no record of any secondees from Hakluyt.

How many of his Department's officials have been seconded from (a) the Institute for Economic Affairs, (b) the Policy Exchange, (c) the Adam Smith Institute and (d) Labour Together since July 2024.

Secondments are part of a range of ways of bringing talent and experience into the civil service for short periods of time and have been used by successive governments. Secondments are arranged at a business unit level and must follow the processes as set out in the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. However, based on the information held centrally, there is no record of any secondees from the above mentioned organisations.

How many staff his Department has seconded from Palantir since July 2024.

Secondments are organised - and data is held - at Business Unit Level. Under the Plan for Change, the Cabinet Office is drawing together multi-disciplinary teams across the country including front line public service workers, policy officials and those with digital and data skills to pioneer public service reform. This does not currently include employees from Palantir.

How much was spent on consultants across Government Departments in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

Consultancy spend across government is not centrally held and is held by each department. Cabinet Office spend on consultants is published in the Annual Reports and Accounts which are available on gov.uk.

How much his Department spent on consultants in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

Consultancy spend across government is not centrally held and is held by each department. Cabinet Office spend on consultants is published in the Annual Reports and Accounts which are available on gov.uk.

What criteria will his Department use to measure social value when undertaking procurement rounds.

Public procurement is a key lever for enabling delivery of the Government’s missions by using procurement policy to drive economic growth, raise employment standards, and achieve additional social value through the life of a contract. The Government’s ‘Plan to Make Work Pay’ sets out an ambitious programme to value organisations that create local jobs, skills and wealth and treat their workers well and equally. Ministers are considering how to take these plans forward.

What steps he is taking to encourage the Government Property Agency to develop plans to insource facilities management services when contracts expire.

The Government Property Agency’s current contracts, which cover nearly 90 Buildings across the current government estate, commenced on 1st November 2023 for a minimum period of 5 years. The Government Property Agency will consider all options for delivery when planning for the next generation of government contracts, including insourcing.

Whether he has had recent discussions with civil service trade unions on the procurement of facilities management services.

The Cabinet Office holds frequent discussions with Civil Service trade unions on a number of topics. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster held introductory meetings with the General Secretaries of the FDA, Prospect and PCS unions recently where they discussed a range of issues.