Every parliamentary written question tabled by Richard Holden this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 2,221–2,240 of 2,912 · this parliament
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, if he will place in the Library a copy of the 39 departmental audits.
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.
What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the EU's Security Action for Europe procurement programme of the effectiveness of the UK’s defence procurement; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 programme.
This is a critical moment for the security of Europe. We welcome European efforts to increase defence spending, through the ReArm initiative and proposed Security Action for Europe (SAFE) mechanism. This must be a whole-of-Europe effort, in alignment with NATO, which remains the cornerstone of European security. We share many of the same priorities to those identified by our European allies and continue to work with the European Union to ensure defence industrial initiatives maximise our offer of support to Ukraine. It is in our shared interest for SAFE to allow EU Member States to partner with the UK, recognising the vital role the UK’s defence industry plays for European security.
If she will review the practices of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on disclosing information under (a) FOI and (b) parliamentary question.
I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the response provided to his question 24243.As I have previously said, I encourage Hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself.
With reference to chapter three of the Ministerial Code, published in November 2024, whether any further guidance has been provided by (a) his Department and (b) HMRC on paying tax on (i) gifts and (ii) hospitality.
The Ministerial Code outlines that "if a minister wishes to retain a gift, they will be liable for any tax it may attract." The decision to accept a gift or hospitality is fundamentally a matter of personal judgement for ministers, who must determine how to act and conduct themselves in accordance with the Code. Ministers can seek advice from their Permanent Secretary or HMRC if required.
If he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of changes to the write-round process introduced since July 2024.
It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister, on advice of the Cabinet Secretary, to determine the proceedings of Cabinet and its committees, including decisions reached via correspondence. The principle of collective responsibility requires that the privacy of ministerial discussions at Cabinet and its committees be maintained, and it is a long-standing precedent that details of these proceedings are not disclosed publicly.
Which ethnic groups are eligible to apply to the Civil Service Early Diversity Internship Programme.
The Early Diversity Internship Programme ceased recruitment in 2023. The Civil Service Fast Stream offers a Summer Internship Programme which is open to all young people.
What changes have been made to the write-round process in relation to allowing the Chair of the Sub-Committee to obtain clearance without a substantive response from the members of the Sub-Committee since 4 July 2025.
It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister, on advice of the Cabinet Secretary, to determine the proceedings of Cabinet and its committees, including decisions reached via correspondence. The principle of collective responsibility requires that the privacy of ministerial discussions at Cabinet and its committees be maintained, and it is a long-standing precedent that details of these proceedings are not disclosed publicly.
Pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 39113 on Armed Forces: Equality, when he took the decision to (a) pause and (b) cancel the review into armed forces equality, diversity and inclusion.
Following the announcement of the General Election on 22 May 2024, a decision was taken to pause work on the Secretary of State’s review of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy. On 4 September 2024 direction was given that the Review would not be staffed to Ministers as it was commissioned by the previous Government and did not align with the new Government’s priorities for the Department.
Pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 41077 on Civil Service: Equality, what his planned timetable is for the publication of EDI exemptions data; how this will be published; and whether each Department will publish its own data.
Details of external EDI expenditure will be reported by the Cabinet Office in due course, as per the EDI Expenditure Guidance requirements.
With reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for School Standards of 28 April 2025, Official Report, column 7, if she will make an estimate of the proportionate pay rise that could be provided to teachers with the additional £400 million of funding.
On 18 March, the department published the Schools’ Costs Technical Note, which forecast the headroom in schools’ budgets in the 2025/26 financial year, and set out what pay rise, for both teachers and support staff, would be affordable on that basis.
Pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 43474 on Business: Regulation, whether the target to reduce the cost of compliance will be net of the cost of regulation on (a) business and (b) the voluntary sector; and whether it will include local government regulation.
As the Prime Minister has committed to, the government will cut the administrative costs of regulation to business by 25% by the end of this Parliament. We will publish the approach to measuring these administrative costs in due course.
Pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2025 to Question 43474 on Business: Regulation, whether the target to reduce the cost of compliance includes the costs of assimilated EU law.
Assimilated law, formerly retained EU law, is domestic law. It was created by the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EUWA) and came into effect at the end of the United Kingdom’s post-Brexit transition period, on 31 December 2020. The government’s target to cut the administrative cost of regulation includes the administrative costs of assimilated law.
Whether he has made an estimate of expenditure by the armed forces on equality, diversity and inclusion.
Ministry of Defence accounts are published annually and made public; there are no plans to provide a further breakdown of the data to include, among other things, an estimate of expenditure relating to equality, diversity and inclusion.
What estimate he has made of the actual attendance of civil servants in the office as a proportion of assigned workforce to each government building.
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. The latest data for the period January to March 2025 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-hq-occupancy-data. No other central information on occupancy data is gathered.
Pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 41271 on Government Departments: Equality, whether trade union diversity networks are eligible for trade union facility time.
Departments are responsible for deciding whether to grant facility time for individual trade union members or trade union representatives. Departments should refer to the Facility Time Framework to inform their decision.
Whether she has made an assessment of Network Rail's compliance with his Department's guidance entitled Rules on lobbying for Non-Departmental Public Bodies.
As a Non-Departmental Public Body, Network Rail is subject to Cabinet Office rules which prohibit attendance at party conferences and the use of consultancies for lobbying activities. I have received assurances from Network Rail that they adhere to the guidelines.
What recent progress her Department has made on setting up the child protection authority.
The government has committed to consulting on a roadmap to establish a Child Protection Authority for England by the end of 2025. The design and delivery of this Authority requires consultation, including with child protection experts and victim groups, to ensure it has the right constitution and powers to make a tangible difference to child protection practice. It is important, and right, that we take the time needed to work through the details before introducing a Child Protection Authority. Following consultation, we will set out the functions of the Child Protection Authority and a clear delivery timetable.
What estimate her Department has made of the proportion of the cost of the increase in employers National Insurance contributions that will be met by (a) additional support from her Department and (b) schools in (i) Essex and (ii) England.
The government has agreed that public sector employers will receive support in recognition of the increase in their National Insurance contributions (NICs) from April 2025.Schools have autonomy over their budgets in order to respond to the needs of their pupils. The NICs grant announced on 18 March was designed to distribute funding in a way that is close to how core funding for schools is allocated through the national funding formula, introduced under the last government. A long-standing principle of the funding system is that it is designed to distribute funding according to pupil need and not to match the precise spending of each individual institution, as their spending patterns, including NICs costs, will vary.The department is providing schools and high needs settings with over £930 million in the 2025/26 financial year to support them with their increased NICs costs. This support is additional to the £2.3 billion increase to core school funding announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. This means that the core schools budget, which includes the core revenue funding for schools and high needs, will total over £64.8 billion in 2025/26.The amount of public sector support for NICs is based on HM Treasury analysis of the proportion of employer NICs receipts paid by public sector organisations and allocated between departments based on headcount and wage/salary data.The department has distributed this funding in proportion to the need of the different sectors and phases of education at a national level for England. The department will continue to monitor cost pressures, as it usually does. The department’s most recent assessment, which included consideration of the impact of the change in NICs, was published in the ‘Schools’ Costs’ technical note on 18 March 2025 and can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67d974935bad4b1a7f01ed62/Schools_costs_technical_note_2024_to_2026.pdf.We have published a calculator tool for mainstream schools and academies to estimate their NICs grant funding for the 2025/26 financial year, with allocations being published shortly.
What recent estimate she has made of the proportion of school budgets spent on (a) teaching staff, (b) other staff and (c) non-staff costs.
School funding and costs varies on a school-by-school basis as each school operates in their own unique contexts. Each school has autonomy to allocate their budgets to best meet the needs of their pupils to ensure they have the best opportunities in life.On 18 March the department published the schools’ costs technical note, which projected, at the time of publication, the proportions of spend in previous years at a national level for the 2023/24 financial year. The data showed that, on average, 52% of schools’ spending was on teaching staff, 29% was on support staff and 20% was on non-staff costs. These percentages do not sum to 100% due to rounding.
Pursuant to the Answer of 12 April 2025 to Question HL6032 on Arm’s Length Bodies, whether the Public Sector Fraud Authority is in the process of being set up.
The government introduced the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill in January, giving us more tools to combat fraud, allowing the government to investigate fraud and recover public money.The Bill also provides the potential for the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) to become an arm’s-length statutory body in the future, providing flexibility as to how the government conducts their future counter fraud activities. It was assessed that it would be disproportionate to establish PSFA as one at this current time.On 6 April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a full review of all arm’s length bodies to ensure their existence can be strongly justified against key principles. Any future decision to set up any new ALBs would need to demonstrate alignment with these principles and follow the joint HMT and Cabinet Office approval process for new bodies.