Every parliamentary written question tabled by Richard Holden this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 361–380 of 760 · Cabinet Office
Pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 49055 on Government Departments: Equality, if he will publish the facility time framework.
A copy of the Facility Time Framework and its supporting guidance has been deposited in the House Library.
Whether the Cabinet Office Public Bodies Team has assessed the Ethics and Integrity Commission against the requirement that the creation of a new arm's-length body should only be considered as a last resort; and whether his Department has provided evidence that alternative delivery models are being considered.
Any proposals to create new public bodies will be considered by the government’s ongoing review of all ALBs, announced on 7 April. This review is part of the government’s plan to streamline the state by closing, merging or repatriating public bodies into departments unless their separate existence can be strongly justified.
Whether the (a) electricity, (b) gas and (b) water utilities of the Admiralty House residences are individually metered.
Utilities in Admiralty House residences are not individually metered.
Pursuant to the Answer of 10 April 2025 to Question HL6032 on Arm's Length Bodies, whether the Child Protection Authority for England will be a new public body.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Home Office, Minister Jess Phillips, announced on 8 April that the Government will establish a new Child Protection Authority which will be delivered from within the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. It is not currently planned to be an arm’s-length body.
What proportion of regulated public appointments have had substantive information published on who the members of the appointments advisory panel are since 4 July 2024.
The Governance Code on Public Appointments sets out guidance on the role and composition of Advisory Assessment Panels. The Code requires, for all regulated public appointment competitions, that there should be full transparency of the Advisory Assessment Panel. Departments generally publish such details via the public appointments digital service on gov.uk as part of the details of the adverts for individual roles.
Whether (a) Crown Representatives and (b) Health Crown Representatives are required to make declarations of political activity when they are appointed.
All Crown Representatives complete conflict of interest declarations on appointment and then every six months.
How many (a) Permanent Secretary and (b) Second Permanent Secretary roles are (i) being advertised through open and fair competition, (ii) have advertised but the recruitment is now closed and the appointment has not yet been made, (iii) are being advertised only internally and (iv) are unfilled with no recruitment process.
There are six Permanent Secretary roles currently being advertised through fair and open competition: five have closed and waiting final interviews, and one is live on CS Jobs. There is one Permanent Secretary level role that has been advertised internally only (Secret Intelligence Service). There is one Second Permanent Secretary role (DSIT) that is currently unfilled with no recruitment process underway.
How many civil service roles for the Mission Boards are unfilled.
Delivering the Missions is a task for the entire government. The Prime Minister has established five Mission Boards which bring together ministers from across government to drive progress on missions. They are chaired by the respective lead Secretaries of State, and attendance varies depending on the topic being discussed by the Board. As such, there are no unfilled civil service roles for the Mission Boards. Directors General (DGs) have been appointed as Senior Responsible Officers for each of the Missions. Relevant departments are responsible for resourcing the delivery of policies and programmes related to the Missions. The Cabinet Office’s Mission Delivery Unit works in partnership with the Missions to support delivery and drive progress.
What proportion of regulated public appointments are published on the Apply for a public appointment gov.uk page.
All regulated public appointments that are made through open competition are advertised on the public appointments Apply for a Public Appointment webpage on Gov.uk.
With reference to his Department's guidance entitled Civil Service Inclusive Practice privacy notice, published on 8 May 2025, how many civil servants are members of the Civil Service Inclusive Practice team; what its terms of reference are; and whether they receive Government funding.
The Civil Service Inclusive Practice Team (CSIP) is part of the Cabinet Office Government People Group (GPG). GPG provides a central support function for people based issues for the Civil Service.There are currently circa 13 full time equivalent employees in the team, all of whom are carrying out their primary paid role within the Civil Service. As such, CSIP do not receive any other Government funding nor do they have Terms of Reference.
Whether the Government learning framework includes training on equality, diversity and inclusion.
Like any employer, we offer a range of learning and development opportunities to give staff the skills they need to succeed in their roles, but courses must be assessed for value for money, and clear justifications must be provided for procuring learning and development activity. The Government Learning Frameworks catalogue of training courses and L&D services is available online at the Prospectus Online. This includes the Civil Service Expectations course, which is recommended to all Civil Servants as an introduction to the Civil Service code and values, the Equality Act 2010, and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. There are other courses that contain elements of equality, diversity or inclusion, but to identify all courses that make reference to these topics would come at a disproportionate cost.
When (a) vacancies were announced for the members of the House of Lords Appointments Commission and (b) the application process (i) closed and (ii) was cancelled; what the status is of the competition; and how many members are vacant.
The campaign to recruit up to two independent members to the Commission went live on 3 January 2025 and closed on 3 February 2025. Ministers are currently considering the next steps in this campaign and it remains open.
With reference to the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament's press release of 1 May 2025, whether he plans to update the Committee's Memorandum of Understanding.
The Deputy National Security Adviser wrote to the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) on 23 May 2024 welcoming the Committee’s views on the Memorandum of Understanding between the ISC and the Prime Minister, as required in the National Security Act 2023.We will consider any response the Committee shares and provide a further update in due course.
Whether the records of the (a) Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals, (b) Royal Visits Committee and (c) Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures are reviewed for permanent preservation under section 3 of the Public Records Act 1958; and whether their transfer to the National Archives is governed by an Operational Selection Policy agreed with the Keeper of Public Records in each case.
The Cabinet Office's Records Selection policy, which has been agreed with The National Archives, has been published on the Cabinet Office website. (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/679108aeb1e4f5cbd3a34dfd/Cabinet_Office_Records_Selection_Policy.pdf)This sets out the criteria for selecting Cabinet Office records for permanent preservation.
If he will publish guidance provided to members of the Advisory Committee for Business Appointments.
The Business Appointment Rules and the Committee’s guidance on how it applies the Business Appointment Rules are available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/business-appointment-rules.
Whether the utility bills for the Ministerial residences in Admiralty House are individually metered.
The Admiralty House residences are currently individually metered for gas utilities only. However, the gas supply to the residences has been stopped following the removal of all gas appliances. Although not metered individually, water and electricity usage continues to be managed centrally and costs approved as necessary for the residences.
Pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2025 to Question 48962 on Civil Service: Redundancy Pay, for what reason he decided to close the consultation to reform the Civil Service Compensation Scheme; when the decision was made; and whether he plans to publish a formal response to the consultation.
The consultation began in 2017. As the previous administration did not manage to make progress on this after 7 years of an open consultation, a decision was taken in March 2025 to close the consultation to reform the Civil Service Compensation Scheme on the basis that the process was no longer viable. We will continue to monitor the impact of the existing scheme terms and cost impacts.
Whether he plans to take steps to improve the Display Energy Certificate rating for 10 Downing Street.
Across the Cabinet Office Estate, which includes 10 Downing Street, steps are always being taken to maximise energy efficiency.
Pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2024 to Question 18399, on Media: Meetings, if he will take steps to amend Annex C of the guidance entitled Senior Officials’ business expenses, hospitality received and meetings with external organisations and individuals, published on 2 April 2024, to provide guidance on how social media organisations should be categorised.
The Government keeps the guidance on senior officials' business expenses, hospitality received and meetings with external organisations and individuals under review. However, there are no current plans to amend the guidance to include details on how social media organisations should be categorised.
With reference to the press release entitled UK Resilience Academy to help secure Britain’s future with generational upgrade in emergency training, published on 28 April 2025, on what statutory basis the academy will operate; and what form of arm’s length body it will be.
The UK Resilience Academy (UKRA) is part of the Cabinet Office National Security Secretariat. It is not an Arms Length Body.