Written questions by Wood.

Pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2026 to Question 116770 on Public Appointments: Internet, whether departments have a deadline for adding Direct Ministerial Appointments to the portal.

As set out in the preceding question (116770), the responsibility for the publication of information on Direct Ministerial Appointments rests with individual sponsor departments. The Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments states that it is for individual departments to decide the most appropriate processes to strategically manage the DMAs that they make, which will include adding existing DMAs to the portal.

Pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2026 to Question 120625 on Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committees: Public Appointments, which two members were appointed by a reserve list; and for what reason a reserve list was used.

Professor Stephanie Rickard and Craig Stephenson OBE were appointed to the Parliamentary and Political Service Committee, from the reserve list, in October 2024. Both had applied during the fair and open March 2024 campaign and were found appointable by the Advisory Assessment panel. As per the Governance Code on Public Appointments (December 2016 version), where a vacancy occurs within 12 months of the conclusion of a previous appointments process, and the role and person specification for both posts are the same, departments may put forward appointable candidates from the reserve list from the first competition for appointment to the new vacancy.

Pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2026 to Question 117761 on Cabinet Office: Public Expenditure, for what reason expenditure by the Prime Minister's Office is not counted as Cabinet Office expenditure.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer to PQ 122164.

What steps his Department took between 4 July and August 2024 to promote the take up of the King's portrait programme.

His Majesty The King’s free Portrait Scheme was a voluntary programme offering a free, framed portrait of The King to any eligible public institution that requested one. A range of communication activities were undertaken to promote the programme.The Cabinet Office continued to communicate with eligible authorities until the close of the programme. This included direct communications, press releases, and updates on gov.uk. Following the conclusion of the scheme, a breakdown of the take up was published on gov.uk.

For what reason he plans to introduce a mandatory retirement age for the House of Lords.

As set out in the Government’s manifesto, the Government recognises the good work of many peers who scrutinise legislation and hold the government of the day to account.However, reform to the House of Lords is long overdue and essential. The Government’s objective is to bring about a renewed focus on active contribution, within a smaller House of Lords that better reflects the country it serves. The Government is therefore committed to introducing a mandatory retirement age for members of the House of Lords.

Pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2026 to Question 121096 on Cabinet Office: Email, whether Lord Mandelson was copied into any of those emails.

Lord Mandelson was a copy recipient of some of the emails, one of a number of officials and advisers copied into the emails.

What assessment his Department made of the potential impact of the work-in-progress data backlog for the Civil Service Pension Scheme of the outgoing supplier on Capita.

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in receiving their pension quotes are unacceptable. I want to reassure you that this Government has taken firm action to help put things right as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery. For priority cases, we have deployed additional resources and improved communication with affected colleagues, so that staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve. Existing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver improved performance and higher penalties for failure, including financial penalties. These have already applied in respect to Capita's performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme. Capita has made lump sum payments to 10,147 members, the majority of whom have retired but are not yet receiving their pension, and are on track to bring these members into regular pension payments by the end of April. To provide immediate financial support to those who may need it, arrangements are in place for interest-free bridging loans typically up to £5,000 or £10,000 in exceptional cases to most recent retirees facing payment delays. This is alongside interim lump sum payments being made to provide immediate funds to retiring members. The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time. The Cabinet Office has mandated Capita that they must restore service levels by the end of June 2026. We are using every commercial lever at our disposal, including withholding payments for deliverables that have not been met. We also reserve the right to take further formal action to ensure the service returns to the required standards.The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update is available at this weblink: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates

Pursuant to 18 March 2026, to Question 118534, on Morgan McSweeney, whether (a) Paul Ovenden, (b) Matthew Doyle and (c) Morgan McSweeney were subject to an offboarding procedure in relation official government information held on non-corporate devices; and whether significant information for the public record was transferred to an appropriate official system.

There is an established system for Special Advisers in place for the management of official government information held on non-corporate devices during the departure process. The policy covering non-corporate communication channels is published on gov.uk.

Whether NHS data will be integrated into the Digital ID database.

No. There will be no new single central database storing all government data on a person in one place. We will design the digital ID system to be secure, with only the minimum amount of data collected and stored. Data will primarily remain securely in the parts of the system where it already exists. For instance, data about someone’s health will remain with the National Health Service.

Pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2026 to Question 121096 on Cabinet Office: Email, whether any of those emails were (a) sent to and (b) sent by Gordon Brown.

It would not be appropriate to comment on the security operations of a previous administration.

Whether the Cabinet Office Propriety and Constitution Group has written guidance on whether an incumbent Prime Minister who loses his House of Commons seat at a general election remains Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister is the head of the Government and holds that position by virtue of his or her ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, which in turn commands the confidence of the electorate, as expressed through a general election. As set out in the Cabinet Manual, by modern convention, the Prime Minister always sits in the House of Commons. It is not possible, or desirable, to set out how these conventions operate in practice in every scenario.

What the final outturn cost was of the refurbishment of the No9 media room including VAT.

The payment appears in the January transparency publications for Cabinet Office expenditure over £25,000

Whether he has made changes to the Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm's-Length Bodies since July 2024.

The Approvals Process for creating new Arm's-Length Bodies (ALBs) has not changed since July 2024. Approval for setting up a new ALB must be sought formally from Cabinet Office ministers and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury before any decision about any new ALB is made. It is government policy that arm’s length bodies should only be set up as a last resort, when there is no viable alternative. New bodies are also being considered under the same principles as the wider ALB review, as announced on 6 April 2025.

What data relating to (a) children and (b) schools will be integrated into the Digital ID database.

We will design the digital ID system to be secure, with only the minimum amount of data collected and stored. There will be no new single central database storing all government data on a person in one place. Data will primarily remain securely in the parts of the system where it already exists. Through the public consultation that is now live, we are asking the public what age they think is appropriate to have the digital ID. Whatever the minimum age for eligibility, the system will be designed to operate to international best practice standards for data security and privacy and in line with UK Data Protection Law, to help ensure data is kept safe.

If he will publish his Department's guidance on Mutually Agreed Exits.

Guidance on the use of Mutually Agreed Exits is available on the Civil Service Pensions website. This is applicable to all employers who use the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. This document, and others, are included in the CSCS Employers page on the Civil Service Pensions Scheme website here https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/employerhub/employer-responsibilities/member-support/civil-service-compensation-scheme-cscs/The Annex 6F document is published on the CSPS website here https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/annex-6f

Whether the Freedom of Information policy team has given guidance to departments on the use of the mosaic justification.

The Cabinet Office has not issued Freedom of Information guidance to government departments on the ‘mosaic effect’.

Whether he plans to uprate Freedom of Information Act cost thresholds.

The cost thresholds above which public authorities are not obliged to comply with a Freedom of Information request are set out in secondary legislation. Any changes to FOI legislation will be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.

How many Information Tribunal cases relating to His Department have been determined since 4 July 2024; and if he will list the reference numbers of each.

Tribunal decisions, including those relating to the Cabinet Office, are published by The National Archives and can be found at caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk.

With reference to the guidance entitled the approvals process for the creation of new arm's-length bodies, published on 15 March 2018, whether the Cabinet Office Public Bodies Team assessed the Warm Homes Agency against the requirement that the creation of a new arms length body should only be considered as a last resort; whether the Department provided evidence that alternative delivery models were considered; and which of the tests in chapter 2 of that guidance it overcame.

The formation of the Warm Homes Agency is still under consideration and will be announced in due course. Subject to agreement, the WHA will consolidate the existing delivery landscape by closing the existing body, Salix, and integrating its functions, alongside relevant roles from DESNZ and Ofgem. This approach ensures there will be no net increase in the number of arm’s length bodies supporting the government's objective to rationalise delivery.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2026 to Question 114464 on Cabinet Office: Conditions of Employment, what teams do the 126 employees with homeworking contracts work in.

Contractual home working staff are spread across 42 teams, of those only 3 contain 5 or more home workers. These are:United Kingdom Security Vetting Delivery TeamPublic Sector Fraud Authority National Fraud InitiativeGovernment People Group Civil Service Data & Insight Services All other teams contain less than 5 individuals. It is standard statistical practice to not report on groups less than 5.