Written questions by Wood.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2025 to Question 47335 on Civil Service: Equality, whether the Government monitors exemptions permitted to the guidance on Civil Service equality, diversity and inclusion expenditure for Arm’s Length Bodies.

The exemption requirement from the Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance does not apply to arm’s-length bodies. As stated in paragraph four of the guidance, for arm’s-length bodies, the Principal Accounting Officer, in consultation with the Board, must authorise the expenditure.

With reference to the press release entitled Government-branded merchandise and away days banned, published on 6 April 2025, whether senior civil servant leadership conferences will be able to take place in external venues in London.

As set out in the relevant policy, departments are required to ensure that external venues for away days are only used when space in government buildings is unavailable.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2024 to Question 12700 on Civil Servants: Recruitment, if he will place in the Library a copy of the information provided by the Cabinet Office to the Civil Service Commission.

There are no plans to publish this information in the Library. This information contains personal data and publishing it in the Library would be considered a breach of data protection legislation. The report that this information was used to inform is available on the Civil Service Commission’s website.

What factors determined the timing of the Prime Minister's press conference on the Immigration White Paper on 12 May 2025.

I refer the Hon. Member to the transcript of the Prime Minister's speech at the press conference on 12 May 2025, available on gov.uk.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2025 to Question 44474 on Government Departments: Disclosure of Information, if she will take steps to ensure that transparency data is published in (a) one central searchable database and (b) Application Programming Interface formats.

I refer the Hon Member to my previous answers [UIN42570 and UIN46864] given on the 7th April and 28th April 2025. The Government has no current plans to publish this data as an Application Programming Interface.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 24138 on Prime Minister: Artificial Intelligence, whether the Downing Street Private Office uses the AI Redbox tool.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer of 23 January 2025, Official Report, PQ 24138.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2025 to Question 47333 on Government Departments: Press Conference, which section of that guidance provides information on using party political fittings and furniture at official events.

I refer the Hon. Member to my answer of 21 May 2025, Official Report, PQ 47333.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2025 to Question 51956 on 10 Downing Street: Energy Performance Certificates, what steps his Department has taken to improve the energy efficiency of 10 Downing Street since July 2024.

I refer the Hon. Member to my answer of 04 June 2025, Official Report, PQ 54015.

What political (a) activity and (b) interests have been declared by each Crown Representative.

The Cabinet Office requires all Crown Representatives to declare any Conflict of Interest both on appointment and at regular intervals thereafter. None of our current Crown Representatives have declared any party political activity or interests.

If he will publish the Government Campus training course materials entitled Inclusive Leadership Programme (inclusive cultures, decision making, and relationships).

The Inclusive Leadership Programme is delivered by a third party supplier, who owns the intellectual property. The learning objectives for this course can be found on the prospectus online: https://prospectus.governmentcampus.co.uk/03-diversity-equality-and-inclusion/inclusive-leadership-programme-inclusive-cultures-decision-making-and-relationships/

With reference to the written statement entitled Plan for Change: Milestones for mission-led government, of 5 December 2024, HCWS285, if he will make it his policy to report every six months on the (a) metrics and (b) targets set out in that plan.

The Plan for Change sets out clear and transparent milestones, and our plan to achieve them. We published graphs and links to the statistics on the outcomes for these milestones. The statistical annex published on gov.uk on the Plan for Change – Milestones for mission-led government provides further detail. These milestones will allow the public to track our progress and hold the government to account for their delivery.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2024 to Question 18217 on Government departments: electronic purchasing card solutions, what information his Department holds on the reasons for which some Departments publish transactions below £500.

The policy setting out the requirement to publish Government Procurement Card transactions over £500 remains in place. This is available to all government departments on gov.uk at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e8b402686650c18ce2cb541/Procurement_Cards_-_Pan_Government_Policy_V4_06042020.pdf. There is nothing to prevent government departments from publishing transactions below £500. Where they do so, the Cabinet Office does not hold information relating to their reasons for doing so.

If he will make it his policy for each Department to routinely publish details of recruitment principle exceptions below SCS2 level.

I refer the Rt Hon gentleman to the answer to PQ_29020. Aggregate data is published on details of appointments by exception below SCS2 grade. There has been no change to these arrangements since the new government took office

What estimate he has made of the costs of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme in the 2025-26 financial year.

This information is not published by the Cabinet Office on behalf of the Government as departments are responsible for the management of exit schemes. Costs are published in each department's annual report and accounts.

What guidance the UK Statistics Authority has provided to public bodies on the use of Social Time Preference Rate discounting when presenting the cost of public policies.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 30th May is attached.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2024 to Question 6095 on Cabinet Office: Public Appointment, for what reasons those direct ministerial and public appointees left their posts.

I refer the Honoural Member to the answer he was given to PQ UIN 6095 on 13th November 2024.

With reference to the press notice entitled Appointment of Cabinet Office Board Lead Non-Executive Board Member, published on 26 May 2025, whether the new Cabinet Office Lead Non-Executive Board Member has made a (a) public appointments declaration of political activity and (b) board member declaration of interest.

The Lead Non-Executive Board Member declared all interests in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments during the appointments process. Any relevant declarations made during this process can be found on the public appointments website. The individual also declared interests as a Board Member. Any relevant declarations made in line with this guidance can be found on the Cabinet Office’s website.

Whether he considered making the Government Lead Non-Executive Director a regulated public appointment.

The most recent Public Appointments Order in Council, which sets out all regulated public appointments, was made at Privy Council on 15 November 2023. The Government Lead Non-Executive was not included at that time or any time prior. Consideration of whether a role should be regulated, including whether it should be a significant appointment or subject to pre-appointment scrutiny, should happen at the point the role is created (in this case 2010), and mechanisms exist to make such changes outside of the periodic process for updating the Order in Council and the published lists. The most recent appointment of the Government Lead Non-Executive in January 2025 was made via an open and transparent recruitment process. This was the first time this appointment has been done in this way. All prior appointments were made directly by the Prime Minister of the day without competition.

If he will make an assessment of the statistical validity of ethnicity pay reporting in small sample sizes, in the context of the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.

It is important that ethnicity pay gap reporting by employers is accurate and statistically valid. The public consultation on mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting seeks views on the proposed approach, including questions about data collection, reporting and minimum sample size. The proposed minimum of 10 employees is intended to protect the privacy of employees and to produce statistically robust data. We are also engaging with a wide range of organisations and specialists, including employers who are already reporting, to understand the challenges of data collection. The findings from the consultation will inform the development of measures in the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.

What information the Crown Commercial Service holds on the number of companies that have expressed an interest in joining the RM6364 Media and Creative Framework Preliminary Market Engagement, published in April 2025.

180 companies expressed their interest in participating in the RM6364 Media and Creative Framework as part of the Preliminary Market Engagement.