Written questions by O'Brien.

What the total cost was of (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff in the last year.

For the last financial year, the total cost to the Cabinet Office of payments associated with settlement agreements is set out in Annual Report and Accounts. Please find attached link here Figures for 2025/26 are not yet available as the analysis has not been conducted and the figures have not been audited. These will be published in the department's 2025/26 Annual Report and Accounts in September 2026.

How many and what proportion of staff in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year.

All CO staff members (in scope) are allocated a performance marking at both the mid (Oct) and end of year (April) points of the performance year as part of their performance reviews.The below table sets out what proportion of staff in each grade were awarded an Exceeding marking for the 24/25 end of year process. GradeNo of Employees at gradeExceedingSCS314<5SCS28713SCS129465G6772169G71887309SEO1163208HEO1325161EO75892AO38742 This data covers all performance markings which have been uploaded onto our central system (SOP). The data will not include all agencies as many have their own dedicated systems to record this information and are not subject to the CO performance processes.

How many and what proportion of staff were promoted (a) in-grade and (b) to a higher grade in the last year broken down by (i) performance marking in the previous year and (ii) grade.

This data would be difficult to present, due to there being no definition of an in grade promotion and limited data on staff who go on promotion to another department. Collation and presentation of this data would require significant manual work and data linking across departments.

What estimate he has made of he number of UK students who will access the Erasmus scheme in 2027-28, 2028-29 and 2029-30.

The UK and European Commission have reached an agreement in principle for the UK’s association to Erasmus+ in 2027.The department expects that over 100,000 people could benefit from mobility and partnership opportunities from participation in 2027. Our immediate focus is on realising the benefits of Erasmus+ association in 2027.

What funding has been allocated to programmes relating to the UKs relationship with Europe in the (a) 2026-7, (b) 2028-9 and (c) 2029-30 financial years.

The Department is currently undertaking its internal business planning process, through which it will set programme budgets ahead of the new financial year. Details on DWP budgets are to be published in the explanatory memo for the 2026/27 Main Estimate.

Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of his Department's staff in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year.

The department operates a rating-less system for Performance & Development and as such the information requested is not available.

Innovation and Technology, in the past twelve months, how many disciplinary cases were concluded against civil servants in (a) the Department and (b) its agencies broken down by (i) outcome and (ii) whether the primary allegation related to (A) performance and (B) conduct.

Data on the number of Disciplinary/Conduct cases and Performance cases which have concluded and had an outcome recorded in DSIT and its 4 Executive Agencies in the 12 months to December 2025 are provided in the table below.Figures reflect only cases where HR Casework Services were engaged and details formally recorded; issues managed independently by line managers are not included. Categories reflect those used by each organisation for recording this information. Table - DSIT & Executive Agencies Disciplinary and Performance Case Outcomes (12 months to December 2025)OrganisationCase TypeTotal CasesWritten WarningInformal ActionResignedDismissedNo Case Found / ImprovementOther OutcomesDSITDisciplinary2267≤5-≤5≤5DSITPerformance41≤51211≤511≤5BDUKDisciplinary≤5---≤5≤5-BDUKPerformance≤5≤5≤5≤5---IPODisciplinary1610--≤5≤5-IPOPerformance1313--≤5--UKSADisciplinary≤5******UKSAPerformance6******Met OfficeDisciplinary7-≤5≤5-≤5≤5Met OfficePerformance29≤5---27≤5* Breakdown not availableDSIT Executive Agencies include: Intellectual Property Office (IPO), UK Space Agency (UKSA), the Met Office, and Building Digital UK (BDUK). BDUK ceased to be an Executive Agency and became a Directorate of DSIT on 1 November 2025.Redactions: Where numbers are five or fewer, “≤5” is shown to protect confidentiality.

Innovation and Technology, how many and what proportion of staff were promoted (a) in-grade and (b) to a higher grade in the last year broken down by (i) performance marking in the previous year and (ii) grade.

The latest data held centrally are set out in the Table below.They refer to DSIT staff who were promoted to higher grade within the Department during the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 and who were DSIT employees throughout that year.The data exclude (i) any staff promoted to roles outside DSIT and (ii) Government Digital Service as they did not formally transfer into the Department until June 2025.DSIT did not promote in-grade.Regarding part b(i) of the question, information to cross-reference promotions to performance markings is not held centrally and consequently cannot be provided. Table: Staff Promotions by Grade (Number of staff and Percentage of Grade) in DSIT from 1/4/2024 to 31/3/2025 inclusiveGradeNo. Promoted% of Grade who were promotedAO 0%EO<=30<=30HEO8425%FASTSTREAM<=30<=30SEO328%G7<=30<=30G6<=30<=30SCS 1<=30<=30Total1568%*Numbers of 30 or fewer employees have been redacted.

Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of staff in his Department were promoted (a) in-grade and (b) to a higher grade in the last year broken down by (i) performance marking in the previous year and (ii) grade.

The information is not held centrally in the format requested and could only be provided at a disproportionate time and cost.

Innovation and Technology, what the total cost was of (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff in the last year.

For the last financial year, the total cost to DSIT of payments associated with settlement agreements is set out in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dsit-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025Where relevant, this includes special severance payments that have associated settlement agreements.

Innovation and Technology, what the average number of working days lost to sickness absence per full-time equivalent member of staff was in (a) the Department and (b) its executive agencies in the last year; and how many formal performance warnings were issued to staff whose absence exceeded departmental triggers.

Sickness absence data for the Civil Service, including departmental breakdowns, are published annually and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absenceThe requested data on formal warnings are not held centrally in a reportable format.

Innovation and Technology, how many and what proportion of staff in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year.

The table below sets out, by grade, the number of staff in DSIT recorded as having been assessed as ‘Exceeding’ – the highest performance rating for SCS and DSIT delegated grade staff – at the end of the most recent full reporting year (31 March 2025). It also lists what percentage this represents of the total number of staff at each grade.This data relates to DSIT staff excluding Government Digital Service as they did not formally transfer into the Department until June 2025. GradeExceedingGrand TotalExceeding % of GradeAO<=30<=30-EO<=3078-HEO5431817%SEO8540621%G64717727%G715661026%FASTSTREAM<=30<=30<=30SCS<=30162-DSIT Total384177222%*Numbers of 30 or fewer employees have been redacted.

How many households have been assessed as qualifying for each exemption from the household benefit cap in each of the last 12 months.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

How many households are exempt from the household benefit cap because they meet the earnings rule.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Communities and Local Government, what the total cost was for (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff from his Department in the last year.

Any payments made in each Financial Year relating to settlement agreements, which includes special severance payments associated with settlement agreements where relevant, will be published in the relevant Annual Report and Accounts.For the last financial year, these are published at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mhclg-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025A further update will be provided as part of the next set of published accounts for 2025-26.

Communities and Local Government, what the average number of working days lost to sickness absence per full-time equivalent member of staff was in (a) the Department and (b) its executive agencies in the last year; and how many formal performance warnings were issued to staff whose absence exceeded departmental triggers.

Sickness absence data for the Civil Service, including departmental breakdowns is published annually, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence. The department is not responsible for collecting or maintaining performance data for staff in its executive agencies. We do hold information on the number of formal performance warnings issued to staff within the core department; however, producing the requested information for both the core department and its executive agencies, and in the format specified, would incur disproportionate time and cost.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2025 to Question 96808 on Department for Business and Trade: Career Development, how many and what proportion of Senior Civil Servants were rated in each of the box rating categories (a) exceeding, (b) high performing, (c) achieving and (d) partially met in the last year.

The last complete performance year for SCS ran between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025. The proportion of ratings against each performance rating (Exceeding, High Performing, Achieving and Partially Met) are detailed below.Rating%Number of SCS Exceeding14%38High Performing23%63Achieving57%160Partially Met6%17

Communities and Local Government, how many disciplinary cases were concluded against civil servants in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's agencies broken down by (i) outcome and (ii) whether the primary allegation related to (A) performance and (B) conduct in the last twelve months.

The department is not responsible for collecting or maintaining data on disciplinary action for staff in its executive agencies. We do hold information on concluded disciplinary cases within the core department; however, producing the requested information for both the core department and its executive agencies, and in the format specified, would incur disproportionate time and cost.

How many households received benefit payments above the level of the household benefit cap in each of the last 12 months.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

How many households received more than £1,835 per month in benefits in the last period for which data is available.

The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is an annual report that provides facts and figures about the incomes and living circumstances of households and families in the UK. The FRS uses a nationally representative sample of UK households and includes data on benefit receipt, at both individual and family levels. The latest FRS is available for 2023/24 and, in the ‘Income and state support data tables’, Table 2.14a shows the number of benefit units in the UK by the total amount of annual state support received for that financial year, plus the two preceding years. This data is also available in the ‘FRS Family 2’ table in the ‘Family (Benefit Unit) Dataset’ on Stat-Xplore. Please read the notes which accompany these tables. You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required. In addition there is also the FRS Stat-Xplore User Guide.