Written questions by Wood.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62348 on EHRC: Public Appointments, what interests of regulated appointees by the Governance Code on Public Appointments are required to be published.

Section 9.1 of the Governance Code for Public Appointments states “candidates must be asked to declare potential conflicts of interest in their application.”. The EHRC publishes the declarations of interests of its Chair and Commissioners on their website: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/how-we-operate/our-commissioners/commissioner-declarations-interests

Whether her Department has issued guidance to universities on admissions based on the socio-economic background of the applicant.

The government encourages higher education (HE) providers to consider all applications on a case-by-case basis and offer equity of opportunity to all students, regardless of background or circumstance. However, it does not issue direct guidance. Universities are autonomous bodies independent from government and are responsible for their own admissions decisions.The department works with key sector stakeholders, such as Universities UK, The Sutton Trust, UCAS and The Russell Group, who are co-leading work to consider how to improve access and participation.The department will also develop options to address regional disparities in access and tackle the most systemic barriers across the journey into HE. To deliver this we will bring together a task and finish group of sector experts, charities, the Office for Students and UCAS to focus on how the system can best widen access for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The task and finish group will be chaired by Professor Kathryn Mitchell, vice chancellor of the University of Derby.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the recruitment process was for her Department's new Permanent Secretary; and whether he plans to publish any declarations of interest.

The new Permanent Secretary for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, was recruited under a fair and open competition managed by the Cabinet Office. Any declarations of interest will be made, published and updated in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2025 to Question 62320 on Farm: Domestic Visits, if he will provide an aggregate and anonymised number of farm visits since 4 July 2025.

Defra ministers regularly visit farms in a range of counties and meet with farmers and the wider industry.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK–EU reset agreement on the (a) use and (b) sale of precision-bred (i) plants and (ii) animals.

We remain committed to moving forward with the Precision Breeding Act. The EU has accepted there will need to be a number of areas where we need to retain our own rules. The details of these are now subject to negotiation, but we have been clear about the importance of being able to support the use of new and innovative technologies.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of play-based (a) learning and (b) teaching as part of the (i) early years and (ii) Key Stage 1 curricula.

The department recognises that play is critical to children’s wellbeing, learning and development. This is reflected in the early years foundation stage statutory framework, which supports early years practitioners to design a rich curriculum that includes regular opportunities for play-based learning.The department commissioned the Children of the 2020s study to improve our understanding of children’s progress throughout key phases of learning and education. We will assess the second wave of data which will be published soon, including findings on play-based learning and teaching.

Whether her Department has commissioned any external research on the proposed socio-economic duty.

The Government is committed to commencing the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act 2010. We will work in partnership with public authorities, civil society and others in order to ensure that the implementation of the duty is as effective as possible. As part of this, we are currently analysing responses to the call for evidence on equality law, which included several questions relating to the socio-economic duty. We will also consult on draft statutory guidance in order to ensure it addresses the needs of public bodies and civil society and supports effective implementation. No external research relating to the socio-economic duty has been commissioned.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is paying the salary of the Second Permanent Secretary while he is on secondment to the Blavatnik School Of Government.

Nick Joicey is currently on secondment to a role at the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University. As is standard for secondments Defra continues to pay Mr Joicey’s salary and Defra is being reimbursed by Oxford University for his role there.

Innovation and Technology, what data sources have been used to train the Parlex AI tool on forecasting parliamentary reactions; and whether a data privacy impact assessment has been produced.

The Parlex tool has not been trained as a new AI model, nor does it involve the development of a novel forecasting system. Instead, it is a search and analysis tool that enables users to research existing parliamentary records to support policy development and parliamentary handling.Parlex uses only publicly available parliamentary data, including Hansard transcripts, Parliamentary Questions, and Select Committee materials. All tools developed by the Incubator for AI, including Parlex, are assured in line with government guidelines, which include data protection assessments.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 75447on Trade Union Officials: Facility Agreements, whether the Cabinet Office guidance on facility time has changed since July 2024; what is the maximum permitted amount of facility time as percentage of the overall paybill.

The Cabinet Office guidance on facility time has not changed since July 2024. The guidance states that facility time costs in the Civil Service should not represent more than 0.1% of a department’s paybill.

Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the use of third-party providers to (a) assess, (b) index and (c) identify disinformation.

DSIT’s National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) leads the operational response to information threats, including disinformation, capable of posing a risk to UK public safety and national security. Information on contracts awarded by the department to third-party contractors to support this activity is available on GOV.UK.Details about Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK.

Innovation and Technology, whether his Department uses third-party providers to (a) assess, (b) index and (c) identify disinformation.

DSIT’s National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) leads the operational response to information threats, including disinformation, capable of posing a risk to UK public safety and national security. Information on contracts awarded by the department to third-party contractors to support this activity is available on GOV.UK.Details about Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on GOV.UK.

Pursuant to the Answers of 26 September 2025, to Questions 75632, 74515, 74202, on Civil Service: Unpaid Work, whether the Office for National Statistics classifies the occupations of (a) tool-makers, (b) factory owners, (c) Members of Parliament, (d) Ministers of the Crown and (e) civil servants as working class under the NS-SEC framework.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd October is attached.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 63340 on Civil Servants: Location, if he will publish the Civil Service relocation policy released by Cabinet Office under the Freedom of Information Act, ref: FOI2025/12570 of 28 August 2025.

We will place a copy of the Cabinet Office's relocation policy, as released in FOI2025/12570, in the Library of the House. The policy in question applies only to Cabinet Office staff rather than the wider Civil Service.

If he will make it his policy to review his Department's guidance entitled Government Function: People – Continuous Improvement Assessment guidance, in the context of the judgment of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16.

A Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework is a management tool designed to provide consistent, comparable management information that supports functional assurance and continuous improvement. We will review and update policy wherever necessary to ensure it complies with the latest legal requirements.

Pursuant to the Answers of 3 September 2025 to Questions (a) 70458 on Government Departments: Directors and (b) 71225 on Public Appointments: Political Impartiality, through which process previous political activity of a regulated appointee is publicly declared if that political activity falls under the definition of political activity under the Governance Code on Public Appointments but does not fall under the definition of political activity under the guidance for Non-Executive Board members interests.

The Governance Code on Public Appointments requires the public disclosure of political activity within the last five years for successful candidates. The Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies requires appointees to comply with the rules of the appointing body on handling conflicts of interests, which typically require the public declaration of potential conflicts, usually in the body’s register of interests. The general guidance on the declaration of interests process for Non-Executive Board Members, which would include political activity, is published on Gov.uk, with the intention of standardising the management and publication of such interests across UK Government departments in order to increase consistency and transparency around those interests, as recommended by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.

Innovation and Technology, what is the statutory basis of the work of the National Security and Online Information Team.

The National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) leads the department’s operational response to information threats which present a public safety or national security risk to UK audiences, working closely with other departments including the Home Office and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.The team's remit and work is kept under review by DSIT ministers who remain accountable to parliament, including regarding the work of the NSOIT.

If he will publish the Model Contract for Senior Civil Servants.

Contracts for SCS are not published publicly, so we will not be publishing a model contract.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 74666,on Intelligence Services: Unpaid Work, which internship schemes with the security services are white British people eligible to apply to.

In recent years, the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) has run a number of internships and placement schemes. They are designed to provide insight about what it is like to work in UKIC to individuals who have particular skills and experience, want to work in a particular area and/or are from demographics and backgrounds under-represented across Government. The eligibility criteria for specific internship schemes in UKIC are made publicly available on agency websites at the time when they are advertised.

Whether he his Department applies nationality criteria to contractors who work on Government IT programmes.

All contractors working in central government will go through National Security Vetting at a level that is appropriate for the work they are expected to deliver, as decided by the relevant departmental body. As a minimum, all government contractors will be cleared at Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) level. This vetting includes identity checks, employment history, unspent criminal convictions, and the right to work in the UK. If the role is deemed to require additional security clearances, such vetting will be undertaken. The government will engage the best qualified individual for the role regardless of nationality, as long as they have the appropriate security clearance deemed necessary for the role (including the right to work in the UK).