Written questions by Wood.

What (a) salary sacrifice arrangements and (b) Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contributions are offered to members of the civil service’s (i) Alpha and (ii) Partnership scheme.

Salary sacrifice is not available in respect of member contributions to the Civil Service Pension Schemes including alpha and Partnership schemes. Shared cost Additional Voluntary Contributions are not available to members of alpha or Partnership.

How the contract for the One Big Thing 2024 platform and evaluation was procured; and whether Wazoku was appointed through open competition.

Access to the Wazoku Platform for One Big Thing 2024 was provided through an existing contract between Wazoku and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). MoD had access to unlimited external licences, which they made available to the Cabinet Office for use for One Big Thing. The evaluation was done internally in the Cabinet Office by the Joint Data Analysis Centre.

What the average processing time was for (a) Counter Terrorist Check, (b) Security Check, (c) Developed Vetting and (d) Developed Vetting renewal clearances in the most recent month for which data is available.

United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) continues to meet its agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) across each product type. UKSV KPIs are set and regularly reviewed in consultation with customer groups to ensure demand is balanced whilst maintaining assurance in national security safeguards. UKSV KPIs are also governed by ministerial oversight.In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.

Pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025, to Question 73484, on Health Services: Equality, whether the Office for National Statistics has a definition of “working class communities”.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of the 21st of November is attached.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of publishing the remuneration of direct ministerial appointments, who have a salary which is equivalent to (a) SCS1, (b) SCS2, (c) SCS3 and (d) above minimum pay scales for those grades.

Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments was published on gov.uk on 30 October 2025. Section 21 of this guidance states “For transparency purposes, all Direct Ministerial Appointments should be announced publicly, along with their Terms of Reference. This should generally be done at the time at which the appointment is made and include information such as the time commitment expected of the role, expected end date of the appointment and remuneration details, where such is incurred.”

Pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025, to Question 70524, on Civil Servants: media and public speaking, whether the guidance on civil servants speaking in public has been released, in whole or in part, in response to the Freedom of Information Act requests.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to my answer on 21 November 2025 (PQ 91378).

Pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025, to Question 74211, on Prime Minister: Recruitment, if he will list the information requested for appointments below SCS2.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 10 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 74211.

Further to the IGR Secretariat Annual Report 2023-24, published on 5 November 2025, when will the report for 2024-25 be published.

The impartial IGR Secretariat intends to publish their 2024-25 Annual Report in the spring.

Pursuant to the answer of 26 September 2025, to Question 74202, Civil Service: Unpaid Work, how will the Cabinet Office determine the social class of an applicant to the intern scheme if their parents have divorced and re-married by the age of 14, and the applicant has two different blended families.

The specific measure we use to determine socio-economic background of an applicant for the Summer Internship Programme is the occupation of the ‘main household earner’ when the applicant was 14 years old. This is in line with the guidance from the ONS and Social Mobility Commission.

With reference to his Department's transparency data entitled Expenditure Over £25,000 - September 2025 (Cabinet Office Core), published on 30 October 2025, what works does the entry of Variable FM Expenditure - Client Requested workplace services via OCS Group UK Limited relate to.

The GPA procured this service on behalf of the occupying tenant, who has a requirement for staff to hold high security clearance. This cost is fully recovered from the occupying tenant, and is not funded by GPA or Cabinet Office budgets.

Pursuant to the answer of 26 September 2025, to Question 74202, Civil Service: Unpaid Work, how will the Cabinet Office determine the social class of an applicant to the intern scheme if they had two working parents at the age of 14 in different social classes.

The specific measure we use to determine socio-economic background of an applicant for the Summer Internship Programme is the occupation of the ‘main household earner’ when the applicant was 14 years old. This is in line with the guidance from the ONS and Social Mobility Commission.

Whether he plans to (a) amend and (b) modernise the Lieutenancies Act 1997.

There are no plans to amend or update the Lieutenancies Act 1997.

Pursuant to the answer of 30 October 2025, to Question 84251, on Government Departments: Facilities Agreements, whether government departments are required to inform the Cabinet Office if they permit trade unions to spend facility time on trade union activities, or otherwise make changes to their policy on permitted facility time.

The existing Cabinet Office facility time framework, implemented under the previous administration and unchanged, does not require departments to inform the Cabinet Office if they permit paid time off to undertake activities, although this does require the agreement of their Secretary of State or Chief Executive. Departments do not need Cabinet Office approval to amend their own policies on the use of facility time.

Pursuant to the answer of 4 November 2025, to Question 85199 on Ministers: Redundancy Pay whether Ministers are required to personally sign the waiver.

All ministers who are eligible for a severance payment are required to sign a waiver agreeing to forgo their entitlement to such a payment if, on leaving office, they have served in government for less than six months or if they leave as a result of a serious breach of the Ministerial Code. Through the waiver, ministers also commit to repaying their severance payment in the event that they are found to have seriously breached the Business Appointment Rules. Ministers also agree that if they are reappointed to government within three months of leaving office they will forgo their salary for the period overlapping with the severance payment period.I can confirm that all ministers who are eligible for a severance payment have signed waivers.

Pursuant to the answer of 4 November 2025, to Question 85508, on Permanent Secretaries: Redundancy Pay, whether the Cabinet Office holds a central list of which Permanent Secretaries have received severance payments since 4 July 2024.

Yes, the Cabinet Office holds a central list of Permanent Secretaries leavers who have received compensation payment since 4 July 2024. Payments are published in departmental Annual Reports and Accounts for the financial years in which they were made.

What guidance her Department has issued on the provision of official cars to Ministers outside the Government Car Service by (a) the Metropolitan Police and (b) private contractors.

The Home Office has not issued guidance regarding the provision of official cars to Ministers outside the Government Car Service, whether through (a) the Metropolitan Police or (b) private contractors.The provision of any vehicle as part of a protective security package is determined by an assessment of threat and risk faced by a Minister.

If she will make it his policy not to refer to working class people as having a lower socio-economic status.

As given in the answer of 8th October, the term ‘working class’ was used in the 10-Year Health Plan in the standard way that it is used in English, that is to indicate people who are employed for wages and generally experience greater job insecurity and less financial security than others in society.

Pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2025, to Question 73484, on Health Services: Equality, whether she has a definition of (a) “working class communities” and (b) “working class jobs”.

As given in the answer of 8th October, the 10-Year Health Plan refers both to “working class jobs” and “working class communities”. These terms are used in the standard way they are used in English to indicate people who are employed for wages and generally experience greater job insecurity, lower benefits, and less financial security than others in society.

With reference to the NISTA Annual Report 2024–25 dashboard, whether an evaluation has been completed for the project entitled Falcon Programme in the Cabinet Office.

The Falcon Programme is facilitating the Cabinet Office's transition from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. This is part of the drive to improve the productivity, security and efficiency of systems in the Cabinet Office and across Whitehall. As required under the Government Major Project Portfolio (GMPP), the Falcon Programme must go through the standard independent review process. NISTA carried out an evaluation in March 2025 which formed the basis of the review in their 2024-25 Annual Report. A further review is due in March 2026.

With reference to Figure 4 of the Integrated Security Fund Annual Report 2024–25, of 30 October 2025, for what reason £778.9 million of Integrated Security Fund expenditure was allocated to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proportion of funding allocated to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on national security.

The allocation to the FCDO is for two purposes. The ISF currently fulfils UK mandatory commitments to UN peacekeeping missions around the world, which the FCDO administers on its behalf. As per the Annual Report page 15, that is £263.75m. UN peacekeeping is critical in supporting global peace and security, including by preventing conflicts from escalating and creating space for political solutions. The rest of the allocation funds ISF programmes which deliver national security interventions overseas via the FCDO’s global network. ISF programming and its funding to departments are regularly reviewed to ensure alignment with evolving national security priorities.