Written questions by Wood.

Whether the Prime Minister met with any of the candidates shortlisted for the Cabinet Secretary position before the appointment.

The Cabinet Secretary was appointed through a fair and open competition, in line with longstanding process.

Whether the cost of domestic flights undertaken by the Prime Minister set out in the Freedom of Information Act response with reference FOI2025/05760 included carbon offsetting.

The flights in-scope of FOI2025/05760 were not carbon offset. This is in line with the Carbon Offsetting Reduction Scheme.

What information his Department holds on the (a) cost to the public purse, (b) number and (c) designs for lanyards bought by (i) 10 Downing Street, (ii) the Office for Women and Equalities, (iii) the Civil Service People Group, (iv) the Crown Commercial Service and (v) the Cabinet Office since 4 July 2024.

The Cabinet Office has purchased a total of 6,376 lanyards for £5,069.99 since 4 July 2024. This includes those bought for the aforementioned business units and Crown Commercial Service as an executive agency.On 6 April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced the ban on unnecessary branded merchandise. Whilst it was agreed that some expenditure on merchandise items is necessary for operational purposes (security lanyards), all of these orders were made prior to the ban on unnecessary branded merchandise.In comparison, the Cabinet Office purchased a total of over 18,000 lanyards for £17,322.76 in the 12 months to July 2024.Staff will continue to be able to wear existing lanyards.

What guidance the (a) Cabinet Office and (b) the Government Car Service have issued to Ministers on the provision of official cars for travel inside London.

The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.

Whether non-executive board members have to declare (a) past and (b) current membership of a political party; and what guidance he has issued to Departments on that subject.

Guidance on the declaration of interest process for Non-Executive Board Members, including political activity, was updated and published on 28 November 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-executive-board-member-declaration-of-interests-process/non-executive-board-member-declaration-of-interests-process#context The Governance Code on Public appointments makes clear that political activity should not affect any judgement of merit nor be a bar to appointment for a candidate being considered for a public appointment. The Governance Code already requires, for successful candidates, public disclosure where candidates, in the last five years, have been employed by a political party, held a significant office in a party, have stood as a candidate for a party in an election, have publicly spoken on behalf of a political party, or have made significant donations or loans to a party.

If he will publish the response to the Freedom of Information Act request reference FOI2025/05759, dated 16 May 2025.

The Honours Committee handbook released through this request is a version from January 2023 which is currently being updated. An updated version will be laid in the House Library as soon as is practicable.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Thousands of Civil Service roles moved out of London in latest reform to the state, published on 14 May 2025, whether civil servants relocated outside of London will have their pay reduced; and whether civil servants employed in new locations will receive lower salaries than London equivalents.

Decisions on pay, including London weightings, are delegated to individual departments.

Which central Government non-residential properties are unoccupied.

I refer the honourable gentleman to the response given for PQ 53204.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 May 2025 to Question 50575 on Cabinet Office: Women, if he will publish that intranet update.

There are no plans to publicly publish intranet updates as they are targeted at the internal civil service audience.

Whether business units in his Department are required to produce business cases to undertake expenditure on refurbishment.

All Government Departments have an obligation to apply Treasury Guidance (notably the Green Book) in how they fund and seek approval for expenditure on refurbishment works. How this is applied depends on the scale and cost of the individual project. By way of example, the full refurbishment of a large building is likely to require the Department to develop Outline Business Cases and Final Business Cases at the right project gateway to secure the funding available to that Department from its SR settlement. At the other end of the spectrum, a Department can spend against its SR settlement for Life Cycle Replacement (LCR) or maintenance works where the gateway process will be reflective of the reduced investment.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2025 to Question 50568 on Government Departments: Artificial Intelligence, for what functions his Department uses Redbox; and in which offices it is used.

The Cabinet Office is promoting the adoption of artificial intelligence among staff through the implementation of AI ‘assistant tools’. One such tool is Redbox. It allows staff to harness AI throughout their work in an assured, safe, and secure manner. Redbox is accessible to all business units within the Cabinet Office.

Whether he approved a communications spending control exception for the spending on the Government-branded beer mats.

I refer the Honorable Member to the answer to PQ 52686.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2025 to Question 50576 on Cabinet Office: Recruitment, which SCS roles were not advertised externally; and for what reason those roles were not advertised externally.

As was the case under the previous administration,the Civil Service advertises all SCS vacancies on the principle of External by Default. External by Default means that vacancies will be open to external candidates outside the Civil Service, as well as existing civil servants, unless an exception applies. Between 30 May 2024 and 30 April 2025, 7 SCS roles were not advertised externally. In each case the appropriate approval was obtained. It would not be appropriate to provide specific details of the roles as individuals could be identified.

What the average cost was of domestic flights taken by the Prime Minister since July 2024.

It has been the practice of successive administrations not to publish granular information relating to the official movements of Ministers and those accompanying them within the United Kingdom. Information about official overseas travel is published as part of the Cabinet Office transparency returns and made available on the GOV.UK website.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2025 to Question 46749 on Cabinet Office: Zero Hours Contracts, which business units the 423 staff work for.

The Cabinet Office uses zero hours contracts to selectively manage temporary demand. The Cabinet Office Pillars that the 423 contingent labour workers who can be classed as having zero hours contracts are as follows: National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) – formerly known as the Infrastructure and Projects Authority – 255. Following a recent Machinery of Government change, NISTA is now part of HM Treasury, and these workers will be transferred over to HM Treasury over the summer of 2025. Workers are engaged in this area to assist with external Gateway Reviews, where expert advice is required to review programmes and projects. These external gateway reviewers are only engaged under these contracts when there is no availability within the pool of civil servant gateway reviewers. Productive and Agile State – 155. Workers are engaged in this area to bring in commercial expertise to help run the GCF Assessment Development Centres, to assess Civil Servants’ commercial abilities for both contract management and wider commercial skills. Propriety and Constitution – 13. Workers engaged under this Pillar are for the Covid-19 Inquiry, which engages expert witnesses whose services are only required on an ad hoc basis. Contingent labour contracts should only be used in government where better value alternatives are not available. The Government is continuing to take steps to reduce the use of contingent labour.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2025 to Question 51165 on Government Departments: Flags, who provided the Pride flag; and whether that flag was a Progress flag.

The flag was sourced via the Government Property Agency contract and manufactured by the Hampshire Flag Company (HFC). The flag is a 6 stripe rainbow flag.

Whether he has received representations from PCS on guidance on using female (a) toilets and (b) changing rooms in Government buildings.

The Cabinet Office holds frequent discussions with Civil Service trade unions on a number of topics.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) bedrooms, (b) living rooms, (c) bathrooms and (d) kitchens the ministerial residence in 1 Carlton Gardens has.

The ministerial residence in 1 Carlton Gardens has a) five bedrooms, b) three living rooms, c) three bathrooms including one ensuite off the Master bedroom, and d) one kitchen.

What his policy is on (a) permanent civil servants and (b) special advisers who choose to resign and work for a public affairs company or in-house lobbyists; and whether his Department has a policy on moving such staff onto gardening leave during the period of notice.

The rules for civil servants and special advisers on the acceptance of outside appointments after departing from the Crown service are set out in the Business Appointment Rules.

How many (a) junior and (b) senior civil servants are working in the European Union Relations Secretariat.

Details of the number of senior and junior civil servants working in the European Union Relations Secretariat can be found in the quarterly organogram published on data.gov.uk.