Written questions by Wood.

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 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.

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 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 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.

What discussions he is having with his European counterparts on the recognition of (a) legal qualifications and (b) other professional qualifications.

HMG remains committed to making it easier for UK and EU professionals to have their qualifications recognised across regulated professions.In the 2025 Common Understanding, the UK and EU committed to setting up dedicated dialogues on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement provisions which enable regulator-led, sector-specific recognition agreements to be negotiated.The annual Trade Specialised Committee on Services, Investment and Digital Trade also provides a forum for the UK and EU to discuss the recognition of professional qualifications.HMG encourages and supports UK regulators, including legal regulators, to work with their EU counterparts to improve recognition of professional qualifications, including through guidance and funding.

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 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.

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 2 December 2025, to Question 93747, on Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, what the date, title, location and purpose of the cross-government event related to the public expenditure on TasteThatLove are.

See answer to WPQ 93747. The purpose of the event was to encourage collaboration between government departments, academia and the private sector.

Pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2025, to Question 90240, on Cabinet Office: Secondment, if he will list the names of the organisations that have had Civil Servants seconded to them since July 2024, according to records centrally held through the secondments data commission.

The Civil Service has seconded staff in from private, public and voluntary sector organisations and has also seconded staff out. Secondments remain a key route to utilising essential skills and experience into the right roles and teams, enabling talented individuals from within and outside the Civil Service to share critical capabilities and innovative thinking for a set period of time. The secondments data commission provides insight on inward and outward secondments taking place across government. The Cabinet Office has worked closely with departments to improve the amount, detail and quality of the data available including names of organisations individuals have been seconded from or to, where this information is available. The limited number of records/ data sets can impact third party organisations and makes the data personally identifiable information, and therefore it will not be possible to publish this data.

Pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2025, to Question 90245, on Admiralty House: Official Residences, which civil servants, and from which business unit, are allowed to stay in the Admiralty House official residences.

I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 20 November 2025, Official Report, PQ 90245.

Pursuant to the answer of 2 January 2026, to Question 99531, on Government Departments: Advertising, how much has been spent on (a) digital, (b) out of home, (c) press, (d) radio and (e) television since July 2024.

The total spend figures across central departments since July 2024 is £214,900,056.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 21 July 2025, to Question 66951, on Environment Protection: Public Bodies, and with reference to paragraphs 211, 233 and 234 of the Cabinet Office's Guide to Parliamentary Work, if he will publish the disclosed information or provide a relevant hyperlink to the information.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 66951 on 21 July 2025.

With reference to the Commission for Public Appointments, Annual Report, 2024-25, p.41, if he will place in the Library a copy of the full dataset on the 67 individuals who declared political activity that is held by the Cabinet Office.

As was the case under previous governments, and in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, the political activity of successful candidates is published by government departments as part of the public announcement regarding the appointment.

Pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2025, to Question 90240, on Cabinet Office: Secondment, if he will list the names of the organisations that have seconded staff into central government since July 2024, according to records centrally held through the secondments data commission.

The Civil Service has seconded staff in from private, public and voluntary sector organisations and has also seconded staff out. Secondments remain a key route to utilising essential skills and experience into the right roles and teams, enabling talented individuals from within and outside the Civil Service to share critical capabilities and innovative thinking for a set period of time. The secondments data commission provides insight on inward and outward secondments taking place across government. The Cabinet Office has worked closely with departments to improve the amount, detail and quality of the data available including names of organisations individuals have been seconded from or to, where this information is available. The limited number of records/ data sets can impact third party organisations and makes the data personally identifiable information, and therefore it will not be possible to publish this data.

Pursuant to the answer of 21 July 2025, to Question 65368, on Empty Property, how many dwellings are owned or managed by the Government Property Agency which are currently empty.

There are currently 13 vacant properties within the Government Property Agency’s managed portfolio. This total includes sites that are in the process of being disposed of or have been vacated to facilitate ongoing refurbishment work with the aim to improve the overall condition and efficiency of the managed estate.

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.

Pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2025, to Question 74206, on Government Departments: Social Media, which external firms are used to procure social media influencers across government under CCS Framework RM6125 – Lot 1 End.

Influencers have proven to be effective in reaching audiences that traditional marketing channels find hard to reach. Influencer work is supported primarily via the agencies OmniGov and Pablo Unlimited via the Campaign Solutions 2 framework, detailed at the following link: https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/RM6125 While there were no immediate plans to release the guidance at the time of Question 70489, increased public interest in this topic has now led us to conclude that the public interest favours its release. I can confirm that the Guidance for Influencer Marketing will be placed in the House Library.