Every parliamentary written question tabled by Mike Wood this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 841–860 of 1,713 · Cabinet Office
Pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2025, to Question 73325, on Armed Forces: Conferences, if he will place in the Library the equivalent Cabinet Office guidance for officials on contact with the media.
There are currently no plans to publish this guidance as the area remains subject to ongoing policy development.
Pursuant to the answer of 2 January 2026, to Question 99825, on Tom Kibasi, whether he served the full two month secondment in Downing Street.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 2 January 2026, Official Report, PQ 99825.
Pursuant to the answer of 21 July 2025, to Question 65368, on Empty Property, what records does the Office of Government Property’s Insite database hold on the number of (a) residential and (b) non-residential public sector properties which are vacant or empty.
The Office of Government Property’s InSite database brings together property information provided by central government departments to support oversight of the government estate. (a) Residential propertiesInSite does not hold centrally validated records on the number of residential public sector properties that are vacant or empty. Responsibility for managing residential properties, including determining and recording vacancy status, rests with the individual owning departments. The Cabinet Office therefore does not hold a central record of vacant or empty residential public sector properties. (b) Non-residential propertiesInSite holds information on non-residential public sector properties that are vacant or surplus, based on information provided by departments to support cross-government estate oversight, with coverage continuing to develop as the system matures. This includes:Operational use; anda Vacant Space dataset, which records vacant spaces within non-residential buildings that remain in operational use. Data drawn from InSite is also published on gov.uk at https://www.data.gov. uk/dataset/a3ad62cf-d8a2-4d3b-b3c6-24c35c5e0f71/the-government-property-estate-including-buildings-and-land to ensure continued transparency. These datasets relate to non-residential property only and reflect the information provided by departments at the time of publication.
Pursuant to the answer of 2 January 2026, to Question 99822, on Publications: Gender, on how many occasions since July 2024 has a publication or publisher failed a SAFE assessment.
There are currently 67 publishers who have been assessed but not included in the inclusion list. It is important to note that this may not completely prohibit use for government communications. A publisher may still be utilised for relevant campaigns, provided appropriate campaign-specific guardrails are implemented to mitigate potential risks.
Pursuant to the answer of 2 January 2025 to Question 100334 on Public Appointments: Social Class, and the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s annual report of 2024-25 published in December 2025, on what date in 2024-25 did the Cabinet Office start to ask applicants for public appointments of their social class; and his Department provides guidance; and whether it is compulsory for applicants to provide this data.
Socio-economic background questions were added to the application process on the public appointments digital service in May 2024. All candidates are required to provide a response to these questions as part of their application, but they can state ‘prefer not to say’ if they wish. Guidance on completing diversity questions, including socio-economic background, is provided to candidates via the digital service.
Pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2025, to Question, 90238, on Government Communications Service: Staff, if he will publish the number of (a) headcount and (b) FTE Government Communication Service staff in each government department, central public body and Arm’s Length Body, including NHS, according to information collated in the most recent Government Communications Service audit; and what are the aggregate figures.
Please see the table below that contains the full-time equivalent figures for departments. These figures incorporate the ALBs, which are grouped under their respective sponsoring organisations. Sponsor OrgFTEAttorney General's Office97.72Cabinet Office406.85Department for Business & Trade348.06Department for Culture, Media & Sport451.20Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs389.94Department for Energy Security & Net Zero294.24Department for Education285.90Department for Transport630.47Department of Health & Social Care772.76Department for Science, Innovation & Technology333.67Department for Work & Pensions239.39Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office149.12HM Revenue & Customs294.10HM Treasury84.35Home Office197.44Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government124.15Ministry of Defence501.54Ministry of Justice285.96Northern Ireland Office17.00Supreme Court of the United Kingdom≤5.00Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland16.00UK Export Finance20.90Office of the Secretary of State for Wales7.80
What consideration has been made of requiring Digital ID to sign into social media accounts.
We are inviting the public to have their say in the upcoming consultation as we develop a safe, secure, and inclusive system for the UK, including on the possible range of uses of the digital credential.
Pursuant to the answer of 2 January 2026 to Question 99536 on Ministers: Public Appointments, what is an internal desk note; and what legal or constitutional status do they hold.
There is no formal definition of what constitutes an internal desk note, but it is generally considered to mean a document containing internal procedural advice on the technical and policy considerations that should be taken into account by officials when implementing an area of policy. Such documents offer guidance on good practice, sometimes in interpreting legislative responsibilities, but do not in themselves hold any legal status.
Pursuant to the answer of 2 January 2026 to Question 99528 on Ministers: Corporate Hospitality and Official Gifts, whether Ministers are required to inform the Cabinet Office where a gift or hospitality is accepted by a Minister and the gift is subsequently returned, refunded or repaid.
Annex A, Paragraph 8 of the Ministers' Gifts and Hospitality: Publication Guidance, available on GOV.UK, outlines the process to be followed if the status of a gift changes at a later date.
Pursuant to the answer of 2 January 2026, to Question 99838, on Senior Civil Servants: Redundancy Pay, what was the business case for making an exit payment greater than that permitted in the model contract.
The severance payment was made in accordance with paragraph 18.1 in the Permanent Secretary model contract. The business case was made on the basis that the Cabinet Secretary departed the Civil Service, and it was calculated on the basis of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme i.e. 1 month’s pay (capped at £149,820 salary) for each year of service.
Pursuant to the answer of 2 January 2026 to Question 100340 on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, how many senior civil servants have been recruited to posts not advertised externally in the last 12 months.
Between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025, there were 90 provisional offers made for Senior Civil Service (SCS) posts (permanent and temporary) that were advertised across government but not advertised externally. This is data obtained from Civil Service Jobs and does not include internal recruitment, which might have been conducted within a department. As per our External by Default policy, SCS vacancies which are not advertised externally must be approved by a Minister or Permanent Secretary equivalent in non-Ministerial departments.
What consideration has been made of allocating a Digital Identity Number to children at birth.
All UK citizens and legal residents aged 16 and over will be able to get the national digital identity credential, and we will be consulting the public on the minimum age. We want people to have the option to use the national digital ID to make their lives easier - like smoother access to public services and safer proof of who you are across the economy.
Pursuant to the answer of 2 January 2026, to Question 99839, on Trade Unions: Facilities Agreements, and with reference to paragraph 233 of the Cabinet Office Guide to Parliamentary Work, if he will provide an overall figure for the (i) percentage and (ii) absolute number of public bodies required to submit facility time data under Schedule 1 but which did not do so, in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2023-24, broken down by type of public body.
Other than what is publicly available under Schedule 1 of the Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017, Cabinet Office does not have a list of public bodies that were required to submit facility time data in 2024-25 or 2023-24, and therefore does not hold a list of public bodies who did not submit facility time data.
Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025, to Question 93745, on Cabinet Office: Social Media, what is the nature of the data withheld due to commercial and wider sensitivities.
Disclosing specific contract details is likely to damage international relations and compromise the UK's interests abroad, and could prejudice commercial interests.
Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025, to Question 93745, on Cabinet Office: Social Media, if he will name the specific social media influencers who were paid to advertise the government in relation to the (a) Free School Breakfast Club, (b) National Living/Minimum Wage, (c) Warm Homes, (d) Audacious Kingdom and (e) Greater Together campaigns.
These campaigns are used to raise awareness about government schemes and initiatives and promote the UK internationally. The government recognises content creators as an important way to reach and engage audiences online. Please note, some data has been withheld due to commercial and wider sensitivities.
With reference to the VIP International Flights privacy notice, published 2 January, whether the Cabinet Office holds information on the (1) number, (2) cost and (3) destination of VIP flights for (a) the Prime Minister, (b) Cabinet Office Ministers and (c) other Ministers.
In accordance with the Ministerial Code, the Government is committed to transparency regarding official travel. Information relating to relevant ministerial travel is published on a quarterly basis and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications#2024
Pursuant to the Answer of 2 January to Question 100339 on 9 Downing Street: Repairs and Maintenance, on what date was the invoice paid; and what is the transaction number for its entry in gov.uk transparency data.
The indicative cost of these works was up to £80,000, as was reported at the time of undertaking the work. The final cost of these works will be published in due course in Cabinet Office transparency returns.
With reference to the publication entitled Ministers' overseas travel and meetings: Publication Guidance, January 2025, and the paragraph 1(a) guidance on foreign meetings, whether a meeting with a foreign government with an external organisation would require the publication as attendees of (a) the name of the foreign government and the name of the external organisation or (b) just the name of the external organisation.
The same Publication Guidance the Hon Member quotes makes clear that in such scenarios, "the meeting should be declared including the names of these [external] organisations or individuals only”.
Pursuant to the answer of 5 January 2025, to Question 100331, on Ministers: Official Cars, what is the estimated, non-granular aggregate expenditure by the Government Car Service on official cars for civil servants in the last 12 months.
The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to government departments as a shared resource. Each department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles. GCS does not invoice separately for ministerial or civil servant use.
Further to the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s annual report 2024-25, published December 2025, page 17, what is the timetable for the Cabinet Office publishing a Senior Independent Panel Member list.
The Senior Independent Panel Member list referred to in the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s annual report 2024-25 is not intended for public disclosure. The list, which is under development, will be an internal register available for departmental officials to access in the public appointments digital service, to support the efficient and effective running of public appointment campaigns. The composition of an advisory assessment panel is provided in the advertisement for each campaign, including the Senior Independent Panel Member.