Written questions by Holden.

Whether staff are permitted to hold more than one government pass with different (a) names, (b) photographs and (c) genders.

Civil Servants are only allowed to hold 1 Government Pass (Common Civil Service Pass or GovPass) at any time. In 2020, under the previous administration, an exemption was introduced, which allows for individuals to apply for a second pass to reflect their identity if it is deemed that current arrangements are unsupportive. This arrangement was intended to support gender fluid members of staff or those who are transitioning.

If he will provide details of (a) gifts, (b) donations, (c) donations in kind and (d) hospitality that Ministers in the Department including Downing Street, have accepted that have since been paid back to the original donor by the relevant Minister under the (i) Ministerial and (ii) Parliamentary reporting regimes.

All gifts and hospitality that are received in a ministerial capacity are declared on the Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality in line with ministers’ obligations under the Ministerial Code.The Parliamentary codes of conduct are a matter for Parliament and questions should be directed to the individual member concerned or the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025 to Question 25671 on Delivery Unit, on what dates each of the stocktakes have taken place.

I refer the honourable gentlemen to the answer given to PQ25671.

What proportionate reduction in spending will be required in each (a) Department and (b) arm’s length bodies in (i) 2024-25, (ii) 2025-26, and (iii) 2026-27.

The Cabinet Office does not hold details about the spending plans of other government departments. Plans can be found in HM Treasury’s Estimate publications and fiscal statement documentation. Departments, including the Cabinet Office, publish forward plans in the annual reports and accounts. The Prime Minister has announced that the Government is committed to cutting bureaucracy across the state, in order to focus government on the priorities of working people and shift money to the frontline. As part of this, the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the arms-length body NHS England. The Government has also announced the first zero-based review of government spending in 17 years, with departments expected to go line-by-line to find savings and efficiencies, including in bodies and agencies that they sponsor.

Pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2025 to Question 27913 on 10 Downing Street: Shops, whether the goods manufactured in China and sold in the Downing Street Gift Shop are produced in Xinjiang.

None of the products sold in the Downing Street gift shop are produced in Xinjiang.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 21066, how many full time equivalent staff work in each of those established business units.

The information you requested can be found from the quarterly transparency publication on Cabinet Office structure which can be found via the following link: Organogram of Staff Roles & Salaries - data.gov.uk

Whether the (a) Government Property Agency and (b) Crown Commercial Service plan to recognise any diversity and inclusion (a) days and (b) weeks in 2025.

As in previous years, the Government Property Agency and the Crown Commercial Service engage with staff networks and other relevant stakeholders on any plans for diversity and inclusion days.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2024 to Question 7344 on Civil Servants: Pay, what the estimated salary cost for 2025 was projected to be in (a) March 2025 and (b) June 2024.

The Cabinet Office does not routinely produce salary cost projections for future years across the Civil Service. Pay and reward matters are delegated to individual departments for grades below the Senior Civil Service. The Prime Minister has announced that the Government is committed to cutting bureaucracy across the state, in order to focus government on the priorities of working people and shift money to the frontline.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2024 to Question 19065 on Migration, what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of levels of net migration in each year between 2024-25 and 2029-30; and how those estimates are calculated.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 19th March is attached.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2025 to Question 25448 on 48 Group, whether Minsters are permitted to attend meetings of the 48 Group.

I refer the Hon. member to the answer to UIN 22184 of 14 January.

What guidance his Department has issued on (a) the rules surrounding the communication of market sensitive information to the media and the public and (b) how the Market Abuse Regulation applies to government departments.

As part of their work, officials may handle commercial or market sensitive information, which may be in scope of the UK Market Abuse Regulation, in which case they should familiarise themselves with their obligations under the law.As the relevant authority, the Financial Conduct Authority publish best practice guidance for government departments, industry regulators and public bodies to help them comply with the relevant obligations under the UK Market Abuse Regulations: https://www.fca.org.uk/markets/best-practice-note-identifying-controlling-and-disclosing-inside-information.

What the average salary cost of a civil servant was in each year between 2009 and 2024.

Information on both the mean and median salary of civil servants is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics. The annual publications from 2006 to 2024 with accompanying data tables containing mean and median salary measures can be found at the link below. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics#annual-statistics

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 24247 on Public Appointments, on how many occasions Ministers have rejected Advisory Assessment Panel advice and asked that a competition is re-run since 5 July 2024; and for which appointments.

The public appointments digital system, run by the Cabinet Office, enables departments to effectively and consistently manage their public appointment campaigns. It shows the current stage of a campaign and the outcome when completed. However, the system does not record if a campaign has been re-run, and where campaigns are re-run, the Cabinet Office does not collect the reasons for this. That would be a matter for individual sponsor departments and their ministers as part of the normal day-to-day management of the recruitment campaigns they run.

What estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the change in headcount of the public sector since June 2024.

Employment in the public sector was estimated at 6.14 million in December 2024. This is an increase of 50,000 (0.8%) since June 2024. This trend is due in part to the conversion of some local authority schools (classified in local government) becoming academies (classified in central government), with an estimated 17,000 (2.4%) people in employment converting during this period. Without these conversions, there would be an estimated employment increase of 8,000 (0.4%) in local government between June and December 2024. Within central government, the NHS is the single biggest contributor to the increase, with employment up 24,000 (1.2%) between June and December 2024.

How many transactions under review under the National Security and Investment Act remain under review beyond the 30-working-day statutory deadline.

The Government publishes information on the operation of the National Security and Investment Act in the NSIA Annual Report. The most recent report, covering the 2023/24 reporting period, can be found on GOV.UK. Of the 847 notifications reviewed by the Government in this period, 810 (96%) were told within 30 days that no further action would be taken. The other 37 (4%) were called in for further assessment.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2024 to Question 18401 on Government People Group: Civil Service, what is the (a) remit and (b) function of the 836 staff in the Government People Group; and what the annual staffing cost of the non fast streamers in that group was in the 2024-25 was in that financial year.

The remit and function of Government People Group (GPG) is set out on gov.uk. The annual staffing cost of all Civil Servants employed by GPG is estimated to be £49.5m for 2023/24, the last full financial year for which data is available. This excludes the payroll costs for all Fast Streamers currently employed on centrally managed Fast Stream programmes.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025 to Question 24882 on Tulip Siddiq, how many staff work in the (a) Independent Adviser’s secretariat and (b) Propriety and Ethics directorate excluding that secretariat.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer of 17 September 2024 (UIN 4672), which sets out the responsibilities of the Propriety and Ethics Directorate. There are currently 20.47 FTE working on propriety and ethics functions within the directorate. Within that headcount, 2 FTE staff currently work in the Independent Adviser's Secretariat.

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2024 to Question 14099 on Permanent Secretaries: Recruitment, what his planned timetable is for the implementation of those recommendations.

I refer the honourable gentleman to my previous response for PQ 14099.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2024 to Question 17764 on Civil Servants: Remote Working, what the (a) author, (b) title, (c) publication and (d) publication date was of each of the studies on remote working reviewed by his Department.

I refer the honourable gentleman to the response given to the previous question PQ 8429.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 21391 on Cabinet Office: Christmas, if he will publish the guidance on away days, staff days and celebrations.

An internal awayday, staff days and celebrations policy was introduced in September 2023, under the previous administration. The previous administration did not publish this policy externally, and as with many internal staff policies, there are no current plans to publish it. The policy seeks to provide a framework that delivers benefits of collaborative ways of working whilst prioritising and demonstrating value for money to the taxpayer. This policy is separate from the official hospitality policy. The policy states that staff must exercise care when spending taxpayers’ money and ensure that value for money can be clearly evidenced. The public rightly expects to see civil servants setting modest standards for all expenditure, especially for internal meetings and events. Budgets holders must demonstrate a clear business justification, value for money and that they have sufficient budget. Approval from the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is also required in some instances. All public servants are bound by the Civil Service Code, Management Code and must operate within the guidance of Managing Public Money.