Every parliamentary written question tabled by Mike Wood this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1,621–1,640 of 1,713 · Cabinet Office
Whether the Prime Minister has used the RAF 32 Squadron’s Dassault Falcon 900LX executive jets for travel inside the UK.
It has been the practice of successive administrations not to publish granular information relating to the official movements of protected individuals and those accompanying them within the United Kingdom.
What changes he is making through the Performance management framework for the Senior Civil Service for 2025-26.
The Senior Civil Service (SCS) performance management framework for the 2025-26 performance year has been published and the changes have been set out within the document. They will take effect from the 1st April 2025.
Pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 30825 on Ministers: Helicopters, if he will list all the providers that can provide helicopter transport under the terms of the Commercial Air Transport contract.
The Cabinet Office has a general travel contract in place provided by Corporate Travel Management (North) Ltd (CTM) that can arrange travel by various modes. CTM maintains a comprehensive database of pre-approved operators. Owing to security considerations, and the commercially sensitive nature of the contract, CTM is unable to provide details of individual operators. This contract started in September 2022, under the previous administration. This contract has not been used for helicopter travel by this Government.
Pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 27921 on Cabinet Office: Secondment, whether (a) any staff in his Department are seconded from other local authorities and (b) the secondee from Camden council works on policy.
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. As the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster set out in his speech in December 2024, we will be bringing in secondees - both frontline workers and digital and data experts - to help deliver public service reform. This includes the secondee referenced from Camden Council, who works as the Director of Public Service Reform in the Public Sector Reform and Efficiency team. More details will be published in the quarterly Organogram of Staff Roles & Salaries on data.gov.uk.
If he will publish his Department’s internal guidance on answering written Parliamentary Questions.
As was the case under previous administrations, there are currently no such plans to publish this guidance.
Pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2025 to Question 22196, on Senior Civil Service: Recruitment, for what reasons can these individuals not be identified.
Under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), we are prohibited from providing information about individuals, or which can be used to identify individuals, to third parties without their express permission. By providing job titles, this could lead to individuals being identifiable. While the details regarding some Senior Civil Service appointment processes are made public, many are not.
Pursuant to the Answer of 24 December 2024 to Question 20750, on Public Sector: Procurement, if he will publish (a) a list each stakeholder that was consulted, (b) the dates of the roundtable discussions including which organisations attended and (c) the online NPPS stakeholder survey; and whether there will wider public consultation.
Details of ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications. The NPPS survey was available on gov.uk and received 436 responses including 114 from businesses and/or public sector suppliers, of which 56 identified as SME or VCSE organisations. A further 11 responses were received from Trade Associations representing the views of their wider business membership.
With reference to page 16 of the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-2025, published on 24 February 2022, what progress the Government has made on delivering the additional 50 Enterprise Advisers.
The action in the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-2025 to deliver an additional 50 Enterprise Advisors has been met.
Pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 21348 on Departmental Responsibilities, whether Government departments produce internal Outcome Delivery Plans.
I refer the Honorable Member to the answer given to the Honorable Member for Brentwood and Ongar on 13 January 2025 (PQ UIN 21348).
Whether any private sector companies with contracts with his Department will receive higher payments to compensate for the increase in employer National Insurance contributions; and whether there are contractual obligations on passing on increased fees.
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 22198 on Civil Servants: Freedom of Information, what grade thresholds does the Government apply in Freedom of Information Act requests when determining whether a civil servant is sufficiently senior that a Section 40 exemption would not apply to the disclosure of their personal information.
All Freedom of Information requests are considered on their own merits in all circumstances.
Whether civil servants conducting email audits can review the email inboxes of (a) other civil servants and (b) special advisers.
The Cabinet Office does not routinely conduct email audits of its staff. Staff email inboxes cannot typically be accessed by colleagues without permission, but email data can be retrieved for security or HR purposes in exceptional circumstances.
Whether any suppliers to his Department have contractual terms and conditions requiring pricing reviews due to changes to employer National Insurance contributions.
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 14712, on Honours: Public Appointments, at what stage was each of the honours competitions when they were closed and then re-opened; and whether there had there been (a) interviews and (b) shortlists of individual applicants.
PQ 14712 relates to three Honours Committee campaigns which were launched and closed in the summer of 2024: (i) Community and Voluntary Service (ii), Parliamentary and Political Service, and (iii) Diversity and Outreach (formerly called Representation and Outreach).For all three campaigns no applicants were shortlisted nor did any interviews take place before the campaigns were relaunched
If he will ensure that public appointments of Departmental non-executive directors publish declarations of interest.
The Cabinet Office, and indeed all departments with Non-Executive Board Members, will publish declarations of interest of departmental Non-Executive Board Members in accordance with the guidance which can be found on gov.uk.
What assessment he has made of the potential merits of joining the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention.
We are always looking at ways to reduce barriers to trade - within our clear red lines - because having a smooth trading relationship with European partners is essential to driving growth at home. This is one of the options we are open to looking at to reduce barriers, and it’s right and responsible that we are looking at it to determine what is in the UK’s national interest. But we do not currently have any plans to join PEM.
What the Government's policy is on dynamic alignment with the European Union.
We are committed to resetting the relationship with our European friends to strengthen ties to deliver growth and security for the UK. We have been clear that there will be no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement.
What changes have been made to the guidance entitled Additional information on Exemptions, Thresholds, Expectations and Compliance, and Breaches of Spend Controls, updated on 20 January 2025.
Changes were made to the guidance entitled, Additional information on Exemptions, Thresholds, Expectations and Compliance, and Breaches of Spend Controls. These changes were to:Remove the text belowThreshold: Expenditure over £100,000 for the duration of the commitment (freehold acquisition cost or total rental expenditure to lease expiry)Replace with new text showing an increased threshold figure -Threshold: Expenditure over £500,000 for the duration of the commitment (freehold acquisition cost or total rental expenditure to lease expiry)All transactions of £1m per annum or over will require Ministerial approvalThese changes to the guidance were made to reflect changes to Cabinet Office controls which were made at the start of the 2023-24 financial year.
What the Government's policy is on regulatory alignment with the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689).
The UK is committed to establishing a proportionate AI regulatory approach which is grounded in science and supports growth and innovation, in the UK’s national interest. As we develop our approach to regulating AI, we recognise the need to engage with a range of international partners.
If he will ensure that Departmental public appointments publish declarations of interest.
The Cabinet Office, and indeed all departments with Non-Executive Board Members, will publish declarations of interest of departmental Non-Executive Board Members in accordance with the guidance which can be found on gov.uk.