Every parliamentary written question tabled by Mike Wood this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1,581–1,600 of 2,017 · Cabinet Office
Pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37432 on Prime Minister: Communication, how many headcount staff are assigned to work in the New Media Unit; and what the budget cost of the Unit is in 2025-26.
The New Media Unit currently has 19 FTE, of which 17 are permanent and 2 are loanees. Assuming the NMU is fully staffed with a consistent grade mix, throughout the financial year the annual salary costs currently would be circa £1.28 million.
Pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2025 to Question HL6565 on Senior Civil Servants and Special Advisers: Pay, what is the (a) salary level and (b) grade of seniority at which there is a policy of public disclosure on an individual public servant’s remuneration in response to a Freedom of Information Act requests.
Departments publish salary information for all their Senior Civil Service (SCS) roles in quarterly organograms on data.gov.uk and for all SCS operating at Board level in their Annual Accounts. The Cabinet Office will publish a new 2025 'high earner' list for senior public officials, linked to the Treasury's senior pay control threshold (published in guidance here), in due course. The Cabinet Office routinely publishes the salaries of those special advisers earning equivalent to senior civil servants in the Annual Report on Special Advisers which is available on gov.uk.
What is his Department's preferred methodological (a) definition and (b) classification of a working class person.
The refocused Fast Stream Summer Internship scheme will give talented undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds the opportunity to see what a career in the Civil Service is like. We will assess eligibility for the summer internship scheme based on parental occupation at the age of 14. The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) identifies this as the most accurate measure of socio-economic background.
Whether (a) his Department and (b) the Government Communications Service uses third-party providers to (i) assess, (ii) index and (iii) identify disinformation.
The Government Communication Service has a contract with Storyzy which can be used to track and identify disinformation trends. This tool is used to understand the threat posed by hostile actors where manipulating the information environment can be a threat to national security, democracy and public safety.
Pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2024 to Question 16512 on Government Communication Service, and with reference to the FOI Internal Review response IR2025/05101 of 29 May 2025, if she will place in the Library a list of the Government Communication Service staff broken down by (a) department and (b) agency.
Government Communications is made up of around 6,000 professional communicators from across the UK, supporting and promoting the work of 25 ministerial departments, 21 non-ministerial departments and over 300 agencies and other public bodies. The list provided for the response to IR2025/05101 breaks this down further, and will be submitted for entry into the House of Commons library. The Government Communication Service headcount can be found on Gov.uk at this link here.
What the headcount of staff included within the Government Communications Service is.
Government Communications is made up of around 6,000 professional communicators from across the UK, supporting and promoting the work of 25 ministerial departments, 21 non-ministerial departments and over 300 agencies and other public bodies. The list provided for the response to IR2025/05101 breaks this down further, and will be submitted for entry into the House of Commons library. The Government Communication Service headcount can be found on Gov.uk at this link here.
What data the Office for National Statistics holds on the average income of people by (a) class and (b) type of profession.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 29th August is attached.
Pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2024 to Question 4667 on Nick Joicey, for what reason the internal move was deemed exceptional circumstances.
I refer the hon Member to 4667. The Civil Service Commission is operationally independent of the government.
With reference to his Department's policy paper, Infected Blood Inquiry Additional Report Government Response, published on 30 July 2025, what is the estimated cost of delivering those recommendations.
The policy decisions that the Government announced on 21 July, and included in the Government Response on 30 July, are currently estimated to cost around £1 billion in further compensation payments. However, the total cost could change depending on what is agreed following consultation with the infected blood community.The Government has said it will pay what it takes to fund the scheme, and we will update the forecast costs at Autumn Budget 2025.
With reference to the document entitled Process Intelligence privacy notice, published on 23 July 2025, how his Department defines the term process intelligence.
Process Intelligence is the approach used to understand how work is happening across an organisation by analysing multiple processes using data from organisational systems. It supports a forward-looking approach to process improvement that delivers value for money - helping organisations identify root causes of inefficiencies that may be built into processes and actively shape better ways of working.
Pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 54270 on Government Departments: Directors, and with reference to the guidance entitled Non-Executive Board Member declaration of interests process, published on 28 November 2024, whether the threshold for declaring political activity as a Board Member is (a) the same and (b) different from that set out when applying for a public appointment in the Governance Code on Public Appointments; and whether previous political activity needs to be declared as a Board Member.
The guidance for declaring Non-Executive Board Member interests, with a particular reference to declaring political activity, differs from the Governance Code on Public Appointments as its scope is limited to current interests an individual holds. The guidance published on 28 November 2024 requires Non-Executive Board Members to declare any current political activity. There are strict rules in the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies about political activity (sections 3.11 - 3.15). As stated in the code of conduct, any breaches are also considered a breach of the terms of appointment. Declarations of previous political activity is a requirement during the Public Appointment process so that advisory assessment panels can assess whether the activity should be taken into account when determining a candidate’s suitability for the role.
Pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41436 on Government Departments: Communication, if he will publish each substantive programme of advertising, marketing and communications spending above the £100,000 control threshold that has been approved since 4 July 2024.
Spending above the £100,000 control threshold is published as standard on the transparency data page of gov.uk, found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?parent=cabinet-office&keywords=advertising+marketing+and+communications&organisations%5B%5D=cabinet-office&order=relevance
With reference to the Government press release entitled Internship Scheme To Get More Working Class Students Into Civil Service, published on 1 August 2025, how many Civil Service internship schemes the Government will run in 2026; and what the eligibility requirements of each will be.
As we set out in August, we will be opening our Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme exclusively for undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds for 2026. We will determine eligibility based on parental occupation at age 14 in line with guidance from the Social Mobility Commission. The Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme is a cross government internship programme led by the Cabinet Office. All other internship programmes across the Civil Service, arm’s length bodies and public corporations are responsible for setting their own eligibility criteria to suit the specific needs of the recruiting organisation. The exact number of other internship programmes and their eligibility criteria is not held centrally. For those who do not meet the criteria for the Summer Internship Programme but wish to pursue a career in the Civil Service, there are other opportunities for them to explore via the Civil Service Jobs website (https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/) or the Civil Service Fast Stream (https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/).
Whether the costs for any contracts with his Department's strategic suppliers have increased following the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions in April 2025.
The Cabinet Office does not hold the information regarding the detail of contract increases following the rise of employers' National Insurance contributions in April 2025.
Whether there is a target headcount for the size of the Civil Service.
I refer to my answer for PQ 59029 on 16 June 2025.
With reference to his Department's press release, Internship Scheme To Get More Working Class Students Into Civil Service' published on 1 August 2025, whether the socio-economic background criteria for civil service internship schemes proposed for 2026 apply to the internship schemes of (a) arm’s length bodies and (b) public corporations.
As we set out in August, we will be opening our Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme exclusively for undergraduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds for 2026. We will determine eligibility based on parental occupation at age 14 in line with guidance from the Social Mobility Commission. The Fast Stream Summer Internship Programme is a cross government internship programme led by the Cabinet Office. All other internship programmes across the Civil Service, arm’s length bodies and public corporations are responsible for setting their own eligibility criteria to suit the specific needs of the recruiting organisation. The exact number of other internship programmes and their eligibility criteria is not held centrally. For those who do not meet the criteria for the Summer Internship Programme but wish to pursue a career in the Civil Service, there are other opportunities for them to explore via the Civil Service Jobs website (https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/) or the Civil Service Fast Stream (https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/fast-stream/).
With reference to the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Review Data published on 29 May 2025, if he will list each of the external organisations that provided learning and development in 2023-24.
The Civil Service EDI Expenditure Review has concluded and there are no further plans to provide additional information to the information already published relating to 2023-24.
If he will publish a list of each ongoing (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiry, including the year it was established.
The table below sets out the list of open statutory and non-statutory inquiries and the year in which they were established. This includes inquiries that have published but not yet closed. The table does not include public inquiries which have been announced but have not yet been formally established, namely inquiries into events at Orgreave, the death of Patrick Finucane and the Independent Commission on Grooming Gangs. Year establishedInquiryStatutory or non-statutory2025Nottingham InquiryStatutory2025Independent inquiry into Manston short-term holding facility / Manston InquiryNon-statutory2025Southport InquiryStatutory2023Jalal Uddin InquiryStatutory2023Cranston InquiryNon-statutory2023Andrew Malkinson InquiryNon-statutory2023Thirlwall InquiryStatutory2023Inquiry into the preventability of the Omagh bombingStatutory2022Independent inquiry relating to AfghanistanStatutory2022Dawn Sturgess InquiryStatutory2022Fuller InquiryNon-statutory2022Angiolini InquiryNon-statutory2022UK Covid-19 InquiryStatutory2021Lampard InquiryStatutory2020Post Office Horizon IT inquiryStatutory2017Infected Blood InquiryStatutory2015Undercover Policing InquiryStatutory2004Robert Hamill InquiryStatutory
Whether the Government plans to introduce a (a) minimum and (b) maximum permitted workplace temperature in central government buildings.
The Government follows the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance derived from The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. The minimum temperature for workplaces is already stipulated by HSE and is readily available online. See here. There is currently no equivalent maximum temperature.
What is the estimated average salary of a civil servant in the Government Communications Service, in the most recent period for which data is available; and what is the estimated monetary value of the employer contribution to their Civil Service pension.
Government Communication Service does not set the salaries of Government Communicators. Government Communications salaries are aligned with Civil Service pay bands. Salaries vary according to grade, location, and departmental pay arrangements, and are consistent with the broader Civil Service structures. All Government Communications civil servants are members of the Civil Service pension schemes and receive employer contributions in line with standard Civil Service pension arrangements. The employer contribution rates are determined by the scheme actuaries and apply uniformly across the Civil Service.