Written questions by Wood.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2025 to Question 70517 on Government Departments: Directors, which departments did the five leave from; and what was the cost to the public purse of exit packages.

Although the directors may have left their post, they have not necessarily left their organisation, or the Civil Service. The Government Departments were:Foreign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroDepartment for EducationDepartment for Business and TradeDepartment for Science, Innovation and Technology Any cost to the public purse would not be centrally held as directors are directly employed by their department.

With reference to his Department's transparency data entitled Cabinet Office spend approvals: April to June 2025, published on 26 September 2025, what is the financial breakdown of (a) programmes within and (b) external contractors employed as part of the planned spending by the New Media Unit.

The New Media Unit delivers campaigns to support the government missions and government priorities. The New Media Unit’s planned spend is £10.9m. No external individual contractors are employed by the New Media Unit. However, we use third party suppliers to support New Media Unit campaigns.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77545 on Cabinet Office: Social Media, whether the influencers are (i) contracted directly by the New Media Unit or (ii) procured through a third party agency.

The New Media Unit delivers campaigns to support the government missions and government priorities. The New Media Unit’s planned spend is £10.9m. No external individual contractors are employed by the New Media Unit. However, we use third party suppliers to support New Media Unit campaigns.

If he will publish the (a) methodology and (b) guidance used under the Government Communication Service SAFE framework to assess website.

Beyond the information currently accessible via the provided link below, there are no plans to release further detail on the SAFE framework. https://www.communications.gov.uk/publications/safe-framework-the-4-principles-for-hmg-brand-safety/

With reference to his Department's guidance entitled Influencer Marketing Privacy Notice, updated on 10 September 2025, which agencies have been used by (a) his Department and (b) the Government Communications Service to select appropriate influencers to support government communication campaigns since July 2024.

Influencers have proven to be effective in reaching audiences that traditional marketing channels find hard to reach. Influencers 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

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2025 to Question 71231 on New Media Unit: Staff, what the (a) operating costs and (b) budget for (i) marketing and (ii) advertising are for the New Media Unit.

Operational costs are charged at a departmental level, rather than being broken down to the team level. The New Media Unit has a budget of £13.2 million allocated for marketing, media, and advertising expenditures.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 September 2025 to Question 74186 on Cabinet Office: Council Tax, if he will publish that policy.

The long-standing policy referred to in Question 74186 was set out in a parliamentary question to the then Prime Minister the Rt Hon Sir Tony Blair as follows: “The level and responsibility for payment of council tax is determined on whether the property is the Minister's main or secondary residence. If a main residence, the responsibility for payment of the tax falls to the Minister. If the property is a secondary residence, responsibility for payment falls to the responsible Department.” This question is available at the following link: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo000605/text/00605w14.htm#00605w14.html_spmin0.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of section 1 of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill on judicial reviews of (a) public bodies and (b) Ministerial decisions.

Clause 1 of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill sets out that the purpose of the Bill is to ensure that public authorities and public officials at all times perform their functions (a) with candour, transparency and frankness, and (b) in the public interest. Clause 1 then sets out how the remainder of the Bill achieves that purpose. Clause 1 does not in itself establish new obligations subject to judicial review.

With reference to the National Audit Office's report entitled Government exits and redundancies, published in September 2025, if he will publish the latest dataset on civil service exit scheme applications provided to the National Audit Office by his Department.

Data contained in the current National Audit Office’s (NAO’s) Good Practice Guide was provided to the NAO to help explain the context of the guidance that the NAO has issued. There are no plans to publish further data as this information is held by individual departments, and will be reported in their Annual Report and Accounts.

What the minimum level of security vetting is for people taking part in civil service internship schemes.

All Fast Stream Summer Interns will complete the Baseline Personal Security Standard (BPSS) checks as part of their onboarding. Candidates will be put forward for higher levels of clearance if their placement requires it. It is a condition of employment that candidates are required to successfully obtain all necessary levels of clearance prior to taking up their placement.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 September 2025 to Question 74509 on Members: Pay, whether the pay freeze for ministers who continue to claim a lower salary to their entitlement under law will be maintained for Ministers who are Members of the (a) House of Commons and (b) House of Lords for the rest of this Parliament.

The pay freeze for ministers remains in place.

Pursuant to the Answer of 2 September 2025 to Question 69366 on 9 Downing Street: Repairs and Maintenance, what the provisional cost of the works approved is.

A one-off refresh of the facility was undertaken in December 2024. This has restored the room back to its original politically neutral state. 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, when the invoice is submitted and paid.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2025 to Question 70476 on UK Multi-Stakeholder Forum for Open Government, for what reason that forum has not met in 2025.

The next MSF is being organised to take place before the end of 2025. There have been no meetings of the MSF thus far in 2025 due to a Machinery of Government change which moved the former Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) from Cabinet Office to the Department for Science Innovation and Technology. CDDO was the business unit previously responsible for open government policy, but this responsibility has now transferred to the Civil Service Strategy Unit within Cabinet Office.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Civil Service staff networks to only meet outside working hours and have all events signed off by senior managers, published on 23 September 2025, whether guidance on staff diversity networks will be issued to (a) local government, (b) the police, (c) the NHS, (d) the armed forces and (e) other parts of the public sector.

The Cabinet Office does not have responsibility for public sector organisations outside of the Civil Service.

If he will publish any guidance issued to departments on producing internal Outcome Delivery Plans.

As part of this year’s Spending Review, we committed to a new planning and performance framework by the Autumn Budget. This will confirm our approach to how departments should plan and manage performance in the future.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the ContractFinder entry entitled Disinformation Analysis Software awarded to Storyzy, award date 1 July 2025, for what reasons does her Department use this software.

DSIT leads the operational response to information threats by analysing narratives and trends from publicly available information online, within its ministerially defined remit - public safety or national security risk to the UK.This does not include the monitoring of individuals.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Civil Service staff networks to only meet outside working hours and have all events signed off by senior managers, published on 23 September 2025, what approvals have been given in (a) his Department and (b) the Office for Equality and Opportunity since 23 September 2025.

The cross Civil Service Network Policy applies as published to all cross-Civil Service Staff Networks only. However it also acts as a model policy for Departments to adopt or adapt depending on business needs for their departmental networks. The Cabinet Office is now working to be able to adopt this policy for internal departmental networks and will carry out their own engagement with internal stakeholders to be able to adopt the policy. The sign off and approval process for events will be part of this policy development for the Cabinet Office.The guidance will apply to all networks in Cabinet Office.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 73348 on Companies: Registration, for what reason Companies House recognised Palestinian as a nationality before the UK Government formally recognised the state of Palestine; and what is the wider policy of Companies House for what nationalities are recognised where there is no formal recognition by the UK Government.

‘Palestinian’ has been included in the Companies House list of nationalities for many years. This guidance was last reviewed in 2017, at which point Palestinian was retained on the list. Nationalities and countries for company filings - GOV.UK The current policy is to accept a nationality which matches a nationality on this list.

With reference to the Government Response to the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament Report 'IRAN', published in September 2025, CP 1403, what information the Government holds on whether hostile actors from Iran have infiltrated Parliament through parliamentary staffers.

HMG does not routinely comment on the details of operational matters or specific threats.However, we take all threats to national security, including those from Iran, incredibly seriously. Whilst the security of Parliament is a matter for the Parliament, HMG will do whatever is needed to help keep our democratic institutions safe from foreign interference and espionage threats. This includes protecting them from malign Iranian influence activity in the UK, including placing the whole of the Iranian State- including Iran’s intelligence services- on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. This means that those who are directed by Iran to conduct activities in the UK must register that activity, whatever it is, or face 5 years in prison.On 13 October, MI5’s National Protective Security Authority published new guidance to better protect the UK’s democratic institutions from all foreign interference and espionage threats.The guidance is designed to help MPs, peers, councillors, Parliamentary staff and candidates understand the threat and take simple, effective steps to protect themselves, their teams, and the integrity of the UK’s democracy.

Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has had discussions with (a) Larry Ellison and (b) Oracle on Digital ID Cards.

We are not talking to Larry Ellison or Oracle about digital ID.Throughout the development of the new digital ID, the Government will work closely with expert stakeholders, including civil society groups, technology companies and industry bodies to make it as effective and inclusive as possible.The Digital ID will be designed, built and run by government digital teams. Any additional specialist external services that may be needed to support delivery will be subject to the usual competitive processes.