Written questions by Wrigley.

What types of cross-system data matching he is planning under the proposed digital ID system.

The Government will conduct a full public consultation on the new digital ID to inform our approach. We are currently exploring best practice from other countries with digital identity schemes and other private sector companies who have digitised their services in order to develop the set of proposals to take to public consultation.The Government has been clear that privacy and security will be hard-wired into the system from the start, and user control will be central to plans. It will operate to best practice standards for security and privacy.This includes established standards for cyber security, counter-fraud and data storage, and following all existing UK legislation.

What process the he is planning for (a) employers and (b) landlords to verify digital ID credentials; and whether that process will require personal data to be transmitted to a (i) central record and (ii) broker service.

Employers will be required to conduct digital right to work checks using the new digital credential by the end of this Parliament.We will be consulting on the detail of the programme in due course, including how to help employers onboard onto the system and how they will validate the credential to prove an employee's right to work.There are no plans to pool data in a single location. The Government has been clear that privacy and security will be hard-wired into the system from the start, and user control will be central to plans. It will operate to best practice standards for security and privacy.

Whether proposals for digital ID include a centralised audit log of verification events.

The Government will conduct a full public consultation on the new digital ID to inform our approach. We are currently exploring best practice from other countries with digital identity schemes and other private sector companies who have digitised their services in order to develop the set of proposals to take to public consultation.The Government has been clear that privacy and security will be hard-wired into the system from the start, and user control will be central to plans. It will operate to best practice standards for security and privacy.This includes established standards for cyber security, counter-fraud and data storage, and following all existing UK legislation.

What steps he plans to take to ensure that any AI-assisted (a) decision and (b) image recognition within the digital ID system is (i) explainable, (ii) human-reviewed before adverse action, and (iii) subject to a right of correction or appeal.

The Government will conduct a full public consultation on the new digital ID to inform our approach. We are currently exploring best practice from other countries with digital identity schemes and other private sector companies who have digitised their services in order to develop the set of proposals to take to public consultation.The Government has been clear that privacy and security will be hard-wired into the system from the start, and user control will be central to plans. It will operate to best practice standards for security and privacy.This includes established standards for cyber security, counter-fraud and data storage, and following all existing UK legislation.

Whether he plans to take steps to prevent commercial entities acting as digital ID verifiers from using verification data for (a) marketing, (b) analytics and (c) employment profiling.

The Government will conduct a full public consultation on the new digital ID to inform our approach. We are currently exploring best practice from other countries with digital identity schemes and other private sector companies who have digitised their services in order to develop the set of proposals to take to public consultation.The Government has been clear that privacy and security will be hard-wired into the system from the start, and user control will be central to plans. It will operate to best practice standards for security and privacy.This includes established standards for cyber security, counter-fraud and data storage, and following all existing UK legislation.

Whether (a) Palantir Technologies (b) other analytics contractors and (c) external data warehouses are being considered to support cross-departmental data matching under the digital ID initiative.

We expect the new digital ID to be designed, built and run by in-house Government teams, not outsourced to external suppliers. In the event any specialist external services or expertise are procured to support the delivery of new digital ID, this will be subject to all the usual competitive processes to ensure transparency, and value for the taxpayer.

Whether the Prime Minister plans to attend COP30 in Brazil.

The Prime Minister plans to attend COP30.

What guidance was in use in 2019 on keeping written records of meetings between Ministers and external stakeholders.

Guidance for the Management of Private Office Information and Records is published on www.gov.uk. The guidance was last updated in December 2023. Previous versions are available on the website of The National Archives.

Whether the then Prime Minister met Peter Thiel between July 2019 and September 2022.

Details of official meetings held in a ministerial capacity with external organisations or individuals are declared quarterly on GOV.UK. This includes the meetings of the former Prime Minister.

If he will publish a list of (a) call-off contracts, (b) contract values and (c) delivery milestones awarded to Palantir Technologies under Crown Commercial Service frameworks since 2020.

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) does not maintain a centralised list of all call-off contracts, values, or delivery milestones awarded to Palantir Technologies. Details of individual call-off contracts, including contract values and delivery milestones, are publicly available on the Contracts Finder website: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk. Contracts Finder lists information on government contracts worth over £12,000 (including VAT), including those awarded by departments and agencies across the public sector. It is the responsibility of the contracting authority to upload contract information to Contracts Finder.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the compliance of Palantir Technologies Ltd with transparency obligations under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 prior to 2021.

The transparency obligations prior to 2021 would have been managed directly by the awarding department or contracting authority. Details of Government contracts awarded prior to 2021 above £10,000 in Central Government, and £25,000 in the wider public sector, should be published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Whether his Department has issued guidance on considering political neutrality when awarding government contracts.

The Procurement Act 2023 requires contracting authorities to act, and to be seen to act, with integrity, and has introduced new requirements to identify and review any potential conflicts of interest in relation to a procurement. Contracting Authorities must now prepare a conflict of interest assessment at key points in the procurement, including details of any actual or potential conflicts of interest and any steps they have taken to mitigate them.

What contracts their Department has with Palantir.

Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023, which came into force on 24 February 2025, are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service.

Whether his Department has undertaken a cross-Government security risk assessment of sensitive data contracts awarded to Palantir Technologies Inc.

It is long-standing policy that the Government does not disclose the specifics of its security arrangements, including with suppliers.The UK takes national security extremely seriously and has taken robust action to ensure the security of sensitive government data. As set out in the recent National Procurement Policy Statement, the Government mitigates supply chain and national security risks by ensuring appropriate data and security controls are in place. All contracting authorities are encouraged to follow the Government Security Group’s guidance on Tackling Security Risk in Government Supply Chains, which details best practices for procurement, commercial, and security practitioners when selecting and onboarding suppliers.We also encourage organisations to adhere to the National Cyber Security Centre and the National Protective Security Authority’s supply chain security guidance when selecting technology suppliers, which outlines the required security standards and procurement considerations.The National Security Unit for Procurement (NSUP) has been established to support Ministers in assessing suppliers on national security grounds in line with the Procurement Act 2023. NSUP works closely with government departments to oversee implementation of these measures and enhance supplier security assessments across the procurement process.

What information his Department holds on the change in population of the 17-19 year old age group in Newton Abbot Constituency in the last five years.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 11th June is attached.

What steps he is taking to reduce waste in government departments.

As part of the second phase of the spending review Departments have been set a stretching 5% productivity, efficiency and savings target. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has also asked each department to carry out a line-by-line review of existing day-to-day budgets to identify where spending is no longer aligned with this government’s priorities or is poor value for money. The Government has undertaken several specific measures to drive efficiency and reduce waste and bureaucracy across Whitehall, as part of the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change. The Cabinet Office has instructed departments to: freeze Government Procurement Cards, with a tough new application process to cut the numbers in circulation;justify every Arm’s Length Body, otherwise they are to be closed, merged, or delivered by departments to reduce duplication, drive efficiency, and ensure democratic accountability for policy decisions that affect the British public; andOfficials are required to hold training and team-building exercises and ‘away days’ in government buildings that are available for free, instead of hiring external venues. All departments have been asked to review their policies on procuring corporate-branded and non-essential merchandise, with a view to restricting future purchases.

If he will take steps to increase the amount of compensation provided to bereaved carers through the infected blood compensation scheme.

The Government recognises that every victim of infected blood will have their own unique circumstances, and experienced devastating losses. Carers of an eligible infected person who, without reward or remuneration, provided personal care or support greater than would otherwise reasonably have been expected are eligible for compensation under the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme in their own right. Additionally, an infected person can choose for some or all of their Care award to be paid directly to eligible affected people who provided the care. They can choose exactly how much of the overall award they want to give, and to how many people. An executor of a deceased infected person's estate will be responsible for administering the estate as per the wishes of the infected person.

When applications for the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme will open; and what estimate he has made of (a) what the average waiting time will be for a claim to be processed and (b) when successful applicants will receive payment.

As the Minister responsible, I stand ready to provide all the support I can to speed up payments. I am restless for that speed to increase, while also respecting the Infected Blood Compensation Authority’s (IBCA) operational independence going forward. In terms of the speed of processing and paying claimants, each case is different and some progress quicker than others, but so far IBCA have invited 275 people to start a claim, with 69 people having accepted their offer and received payment.

Whether the Government plans to provide publicly funded legal advice and advocacy services to claimants of the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme has been designed so that the process to make a claim is as easy as possible, without the advice of a solicitor. However, the Government recognises that people may wish to seek legal advice. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority’s approach is that everyone claiming compensation should be able to access free legal and financial support, up to an agreed amount, to help with certain parts of their claim. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority is providing independent legal support to the people making the first claims, with around half of those who have submitted a claim so far having taken up the offer of legal support.

For what reason the burden of proof in the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme is placed on victims.

Given the long-running nature of the infected blood scandal, not all medical records will still be available and, as set out in the regulations, eligibility for compensation will be determined based on the balance of probabilities. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) has said that when an individual is invited to make their claim, it will aim to gather some of the information, including medical records and information about an applicant’s condition and severity, from organisations who already have it. This should mean those claiming will be asked for the least amount of information possible. Additionally, IBCA will make a caseworker available for each of these cases, and when I visited IBCA I saw the sympathetic, enabling approach that staff are taking when asking what types of evidence might be helpful and where it could be obtained from.