Written questions by Holden.

What estimate his Department has made of the current service cost of civil service pensions in the (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26 financial year.

The current service cost for 2023-24 was £6,274,256,000 and is included in the published annual report and accounts found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-superannuation-annual-account-2023-to-2024The current service cost for 2024-25 is not yet finalised and will be disclosed in the annual report and account due to be published by December 2025.The current service cost for 2025-26 will not be available until the end of the financial year and will follow the same publication process as 2024-25.

Whether the guidance entitled Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance has been updated since 4 July 2024; and whether any other further guidance related to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion expenditure has been published since that date.

The controls outlined in the Civil Service Equality Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance which was published on 14 May 2024 remain in place and no additional guidance has been published since then.

Whether civil servants who defer taking their Civil Service pension after the normal retirement age for that pension receive (a) a higher pension and (b) an actuarial enhancement; whether any unclaimed pension from normal retirement age is subsequently payable as a lump sum when the person retires and claims the pension; how the policy varies by Civil Service pension type; and what approach is applied to people who have more than one type of Civil Service pension.

Civil servants may have benefits under several schemes, depending on their length of service. There are four closed (or legacy) schemes (Classic, Classic Plus, Premium and Nuvos) The fifth scheme (alpha) is the only defined benefit scheme open to civil servants at this time.Civil Servants who defer taking their Civil Service pension after normal retirement age for the pension from which they are claiming benefits would receive:Classic, Classic Plus & Premium Pension schemes: This group does not receive a higher pension or actuarial enhancement. Pension will be backpaid to normal retirement age without interest added.Nuvos and alpha Pension schemes: This group would receive actuarial enhancement for late payment and this would apply to any lump sums taken at the time.For Civil servants who are members of more than one scheme, each pension is dealt with separately and in line with the scheme rules.

Which business units in 10 Downing Street use the AI Redbox tool; and whether submissions to the Prime Minister are written using AI tools.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer of 23 January 2025, Official Report, PQ 24138

Whether (a) electricity, (b) gas and (c) water in the (i) 10 and (ii) 11 Downing Street residences are individually metered.

The No. 10 Downing Street and No. 11 Downing Street residences are not individually metered for any listed utility.

Pursuant to the answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 43230 on Prime Minister: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, whether his Department is (a) stopping future transactions being made on the Downing Street cards and (b) stopping the procurement of additional cards for Downing Street.

All areas of the Cabinet Office have significantly reduced the number of cards held and strict processes are in place for new applications.

How are aggregate disproportionate cost thresholds reviewed for (a) written Parliamentary Questions and (b) Freedom of Information Act requests; how often do these reviews take place; and on what dates have changes been made since 2000.

The Guide to Parliamentary Work, which is published online and available here, sets out that there is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The current disproportionate cost threshold is £850; the limit does not apply to oral questions. The threshold is pegged at 140% of the Freedom of Information Act cost limit, currently £600, to the nearest £50. Where a change in the FOI cost limit occurs, the Cabinet Office will make a written statement to advise Parliament of the new disproportionate cost threshold. Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows public authorities to refuse to deal with any requests where they estimate that responding to the request would exceed the “appropriate limit”, known as the “cost limit”. If a public authority calculates that responding to a request will take it over the appropriate limit it is not obliged to provide a substantive response. The cost limit is calculated at a flat rate of £25 per hour and since 2004 has been set at £600 for central government departments and £450 for other public authorities.

What (a) discussions and (b) correspondence staff in 10 Downing Street have had with (i) Tony Blair and (ii) the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change on (A) identity cards and (B) climate change since July 2024.

Relevant meetings are declared in transparency publications.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2024 to Question 13326, on Government Departments: Flags, if he will publish a list of the flags purchased by the Government Property Agency since 4 July 2024; how much each cost; and the purpose for which each flag was bought.

Since 4th July 2024 the Government Property Agency has purchased two flags: Pride Flag - Darlington - Purchased for flying during events - Cost: £674.17Flag of Ukraine - London - Purchased to show solidarity with Ukraine - Cost: £104.60 All costs include supplier fees and exclude VAT. There have been no changes to the range of flags held by the department since the election.

With reference to the Civil Service Commission's publication entitled How Departments are doing on fair and open recruitment: what the Commission’s audits found, published in April 2025, in which departments audits found errors on the management of appointments by exception.

The Civil Service Commission is operationally independent of the Government. The Commission reports on its audit activity each year in its Annual Report but does not publish individual departmental audits. The Commission additionally published a review into appointments by exception in November 2024.

What the assumed cost of an hour of staff time is for assessing the disproportionate cost threshold for written parliamentary questions; what the assumed hourly cost was of responding to (a) written parliamentary questions and (b) freedom of information requests in each year since 2000; and what methodology his Department uses to estimate these costs.

As was the case under the previous administration, the methodology for assessing the disproportionate cost threshold for written parliamentary questions is available in the Guide to Parliamentary Work, at paragraphs 218-220: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/673372f9c10bb403d96bf2f8/Guide_to_Parliamentary_Work.pdf In respect of Freedom of Information requests, Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows public authorities to refuse to deal with any requests where they estimate that responding to the request would exceed the “appropriate limit”, known as the “cost limit”. If a public authority calculates that responding to a request will take it over the appropriate limit it is not obliged to provide a substantive response. The cost limit is calculated at a flat rate of £25 per hour and since 2004 has been set at £600 for central government departments and £450 for other public authorities.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 41642 on Office for National Statistics (ONS): Industrial Disputes, what the mandated return to the office is; what the previous office attendance rate was in each ONS building; and what the expected office attendance rate is in those buildings.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 9 May is attached.

Whether appointments to the Ethics and Integrity Commission will be included in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair will be classified as a significant appointment.

We are restoring confidence in government and the highest standards in public life. This government is committed to establishing the right structures to do so and have already taken steps to improve probity and transparency, including through introducing a new Ministerial Code with emphasises the principles of public life, by strengthening the Terms of Reference for the Independent Adviser, and by introducing a new monthly Register of Gifts and Hospitality.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 42606 on Civil Servants: Remote Working, how figures are collated for overall workforce attendance in offices other than the departmental HQ; and whether such figures are reviewed centrally.

Central data on Civil Service Headquarters (HQ) occupancy is collected and published quarterly on GOV.UK for all HQ buildings of Whitehall Departments, Office for Scotland, Office for Wales and Northern Ireland Office. Until May 2024 Departments provided data to the Cabinet Office on the average number of employees working in their departmental HQ buildings only, for each week. This moved to quarterly publishing from June 2024 with no change to the methodology of reporting.Departments manage their own arrangements for monitoring workforce attendance. No other information on occupancy data or workforce attendance is gathered centrally.

With reference to his Department's data entitled Cabinet Office: spend data over £25,000 - March 2025, published on 24 April 2025, what the expenditure with Tullo Marshall Waren Ltd was for.

Tullo Marshall Warren Ltd operates as part of the Unlimited Group. The Cabinet Office appointed Pablo Unlimited (Unlimited Group) as a standby agency through a competitive tender process under the Campaign Solutions 2 Framework. The agency delivers end-to-end campaign solutions to support public service campaigns.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 43463 on Prime Minister: Email, whether emails which are automatically removed after 90 days that have not otherwise been saved for long-term storage are still considered to be held under (a) the Freedom of Information regime and (b) Subject Access Request regime.

As under previous administrations, guidance set out by the Information Commissioner’s Office is followed here: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/foi/freedom-of-information-and-environmental-information-regulations/determining-whether-we-hold-information/

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 7754 on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, whether a public sector equalities duty assessment was made when appointing the five mission delivery board civil service roles.

The appointment of Directors General (DGs) as Mission Senior Responsible Officers was undertaken as part of the standard management of roles within the DG workforce.

How many roles in his Department were (a) externally advertised and (b) subject to open competition since 30 May 2024; and how many senior civil servants have been appointed without external advertisement and open competition in that time.

Substantive appointments and promotions to or within Senior Civil Service (SCS) grades at Cabinet Office have to be through fair and open competition. Between 30 May 2024 and 30 April 2025, the Cabinet Office advertised 19 SCS roles through fair and open competition, of which 12 were advertised externally. SCS roles can also be appointed outside of fair and open competition through routes that include temporary promotions, level moves, secondments and identifying roles for returners.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 46285 on Ethics and Integrity Commission, when he will establish the Commission; and whether it will be placed on a statutory basis.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to PQ UIN 46285 on 28 April 2025.

What information his Department holds on the total cost in staff time for Cabinet Office all-staff calls since 4 July.

As was the case under the previous administration, all-staff calls are organised to share updates on key policies, projects and priorities and allow staff to raise questions directly with leadership. Typically the calls last for around 45 minutes and around 2500 civil servants attend.