Written questions by Wood.

How many (a) disciplinary actions and (b) dismissals of Home Office officials have there been for unauthorised access to personal data since July 2024.

We do not hold data specifically on the number of cases involving unauthorised access to personal data and would otherwise be disproportionate effort to retrieve.The nearest category for which we hold data is ‘Unauthorised Access IT Systems, Databases and Record Systems’, the following have been prepared using these figures. (a) Number of discipline actions ‘Unauthorised Access IT Systems, Databases and Record Systems’19 (b) Number of dismissals where the charge type is ‘Unauthorised Access IT Systems, Databases and Record Systems’12

With reference to Annex 1 of the Better Regulation Framework Guidance, September 2023, whether the court judgment exemption will be applied in relation to the requirement for a Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Equality and Human Rights Commission's updated statutory Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Association.

The EHRC has revised its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations following the consultation and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities. The Government is considering the updated draft Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Code will be laid before Parliament for a 40 day period. The Government will follow the appropriate process when considering the Code.

When severance payments to (a) Simon Case and (b) Alex Chisholm were approved by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

HM Treasury applies rigorous scrutiny when approving special severance payments. (a) Simon Case’s severance payment was approved by the Chief Secretary in March 2025.(b) Alex Chisholm’s severance payment was approved by HM Treasury officials in accordance with published guidance.

Whether he plans to allow trade union representatives to access NHS buildings on strike days.

The Department has no current plans to introduce new provisions regarding trade union access to National Health Service premises on strike days. Under existing legislation, including the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and the Employment Rights Act 1996, lawful picketing and trade union activity are permitted, provided they comply with statutory requirements and do not disrupt services or compromise safety. Responsibility for managing access to NHS buildings during industrial action rests with individual NHS employers. They are best placed to assess local circumstances and ensure arrangements align with operational needs and legal obligations, including the Code of Practice on Picketing.

Communities and Local Government, whether the Government paid a second homes council tax premium in (a) March and (b) April 2025 for the then Deputy Prime Minister’s official residence in Admiralty House.

Following the introduction of the second homes premium on 1 April, this has been paid in full in a one-off full payment in July 2025. This payment was made on the date the invoice was received from Westminster City Council.

With reference to her Department's Guidance on Public Sector Exit Payments: Use of Special Severance Payments, updated on 28 July 2025, for what reason the guidance no longer requires all special severance payments to be approved by her Department.

Departments are fully accountable for ensuring that exit payments are appropriate and proportionate. HMT scrutiny will now focus on the largest and most contentious payments. This change supports greater departmental autonomy while maintaining strong standards of financial control.

With reference to the correspondence entitled DAO 02/25 Updates to Managing Public Money, published on 12 June 2025, what the business case was for the changes of guidance on (a) the propriety of using the Companies Act 2006 to establish Government-owned companies and (b) revisions permitting the setting of delegations by the Treasury for the approval of special severance payments.

The guidance contained in Managing Public Money is produced by the Treasury, and reflects the ongoing dialogue between the Treasury and the Committee of Public Accounts regarding Parliament’s expectations for the use of public money. It also includes operational guidance in the interests of effective administration. While the government has used the Companies Act and its precursors since their original passage, the position on the propriety of this, and its interaction with the 1932 PAC Concordat, was unclear. Following correspondence between the Treasury Officer of Accounts and the Public Accounts Committee in late 2024, the revised approach was incorporated into the latest edition of Managing Public Money. Similarly, the introduction of the ability to set delegations for special severance payments supports greater departmental autonomy while maintaining strong standards of financial control.

Which organisation administers the defined contribution staff pension scheme for the National Wealth Fund; and what information her Department holds on the proportion of the funds are invested outside the UK.

The National Wealth Fund selected a pension provider adhering to Cabinet Office guidance. As an operationally independent body, the National Wealth Fund administers its pension scheme in accordance with its framework document and public sector pay guidance.

How many times the Growth Mission Board has met; and on what dates she attended.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the Chair of the Growth Mission Board and has attended, and chaired, all meetings of the Board. Beyond this, it is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees - including mission boards - including their attendance, and how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 59028 on Public Expenditure, what the monetary value is of the indicative (a) capital and (b) resource departmental expenditure limit settlement budgeted for Parliament over each year of the Spending Review; and whether this includes budgeted funding for the restoration and renewal programme.

Figures on the resource and capital outturns, estimates and forecasts for Parliamentary Bodies over the Spending Review period - including for the Restoration and Renewal of Parliament - are provided in the table below. The figures in future years can change. The budgets for Parliamentary Bodies are set by Parliament. Outturn 2023-24 (£m)*Outturn 2024-25 (£m)*Plans 2025-26 (£m)**Plans 2026-27 (£m)Plans 2027-28 (£m)Plans 2028-29 (£m)Plans 2029-30 (£m)Resource567.7602.8634.6643.7651.6657.3-Capital167.1187.1233.7257.0267.2278.0291.3*Excludes non-cash ringfence**Main Estimate, excludes non-cash ringfence

Whether the budget for the Office for Equality of Opportunity has increased since October 2024.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO) overall budget has increased from £16.2m in 2024-25 to £17.7m in 2025-26. Further details will be provided, in the usual way, in the Cabinet Office’s accounts.

Whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to allow claims for combined discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

In our manifesto, we committed to strengthening protections against dual discrimination and in April we launched a call for evidence on this commitment, as well as a number of other areas of equality law. We will consider the responses to the call for evidence, which closed at the end of June, and confirm next steps in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2025 to Question 51461 on the Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit, whether the Unit will be separate to the Fair Work Agency.

As set out in Next Steps to Make Work Pay, the government is committed to establishing an Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit. In April we launched a call for evidence on how enforcement of the equal pay scheme could be improved as well as a number of other areas of equality policy. This included consideration of the establishment of the Unit and its institutional home. We will consider the responses to the call for evidence, which closed at the end of June, and confirm next steps in due course.

Whether there are restrictions on internship applications to the (a) Office for Equality and Opportunity and (b) Equality and Human Rights Commission in (i) 2025 and (ii) 2026.

As the Office for Equality and Opportunity is part of the Cabinet Office, we follow Cabinet Office recruitment policies, including recruitment of interns. There is not a single universal rule for Cabinet Office internships as eligibility and restrictions vary by the specific internship scheme and the individual advert. In August 2025, a new policy was introduced to broaden access for working-class students to the Civil Service. OEO will apply this guidance to future intern recruitment, with the programme launching in 2026. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent regulator and follows a similar approach as all roles are advertised Civil Service Jobs.

Whether White Irish is included in the Government’s ethnicity definition of White Other.

The Government Statistical Service’s Ethnicity Harmonised Standard provides best practice for data collection across government, and it recommends that White Irish is collected as a standalone category, distinct from White Other.

If she will issue guidance to regulators that they should not impose equality, diversity and inclusion requirements which have not been approved by legislation.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 12 June 2025 to PQ 59367.

Whether she plans to extend the number of public bodies subject to the socio-economic duty under section 2 of the Equality Act 2010.

The Government is committed to commencing the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010. The duty will require specified public bodies, when making strategic decisions, to consider actively how their decisions might help to reduce the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage. We will consider whether the list of public authorities to which the duty will apply requires updating as part of our research programme and evidence gathering.

With reference to the style guide entitled Writing about ethnicity, updated in October 2024, for what reason references to travellers were capitalised.

In October 2024, the style guide ‘Writing about ethnicity’ on the Ethnicity facts and figures website was updated. While the guide makes no direct reference to the capitalisation of references to Travellers, a capital letter was used to align with the Government Analysis Function's harmonised standard for ethnicity, based on the 2011 Census. This standard is also followed by the Office for National Statistics in its service manual.

With reference to page 91 of his Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25, published on 15 September 2025, HC 1274, for what reason was facility time increased from £49,777 in 2023-24 to £69,892 in 2024-25; what was the increase in facility time as a proportion of the pay bill; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of funding trade union activities from facility time.

The increase results from an increased headcount and pay bill in the department; ongoing transformation work necessitating high levels of Trade Union engagement and increased engagement following the change of Government in July 2024. The increase in pay bill from 2023/24 to 2024/25, accounted for 0.0058% of the 2024/25 paybill. No assessment has been made.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62348o n EHRC: Public Appointments, whether he will announce to appointment on conclusion of the competition on the Public Appointments website.

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson was confirmed as the next Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission on 31 July 2025. This was announced in a press release which you can view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-dr-mary-ann-stephenson-as-the-next-ehrc-chair On 31 July 2025, the announcement was posted on the Public Appointments website on a separate webpage here:https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/announcements?titleSearch=+Equality+and+Human+Rights+Commission+%28EHRC%29+Chair&body=&regulated=&bodyJustice=&sort=announcementDate%3Adesc#search-results