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 2,261–2,280 of 2,912 · this parliament
Whether he considered flying the NATO flag from 10 Downing Street on 4 April 2025.
NATO is the cornerstone of our defence, and the UK plays a leading role, having contributed to every NATO mission. To mark NATO Day, the NATO Flag was flown above the FCDO and above the MoD Main Building on 4th April 2025. The Union Flag and Ukrainian flag are flown in Downing Street as default.
Pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41252 on 10 Downing Street: Libraries, whether any Ministers have been asked to donate a book to the Prime Minister's Library since 5 July 2024.
No ministers have been asked to donate a book to the Prime Minister’s library. Ministers are focused on delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change.
With reference to his Department's publication entitled PPN 006: Taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans, updated on 17 April 2025, what estimate he has made of the cost to government procurement of requiring suppliers to deliver Net Zero Carbon Reduction Plans.
The update of 17th April provided no material change to the policy of the PPN, which was published under the previous administration. No assessment was made when the PPN was published in 2021.
Whether (a) rules and (b) processes for the extradition of dual nationals differ to UK nationals.
The rules and processes under UK Extradition law and practice apply equally irrespective of the nationality of the Requested Person.
Pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2024 to Question 13820 on Government Departments: Staff, if he will publish the transparency publication guidance referred to in the Answer.
The transparency publication guidance is a technical document, focusing on the procedures for completing the publication template. As it is not policy-related, and is intended for use by an internal audience, it would not be appropriate to publish it.
Pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2025 to Question 45018 on Special Advisers: Recruitment, whether the Prime Minister has set a maximum cap on the number of special advisers who can be appointed.
I refer the Rt Hon Member to PQ 45018. The Prime Minister in his Ministerial Code has set out the approach to appointing special advisers.
If the Government will make it his policy to fly the Middlesex Flag outside Downing Street on Middlesex Day 2025.
There are currently no plans to fly county flags above Downing Street.
If she will make an estimate of the average number of days for each write-round clearance to be approved by 10 Downing Street since 5 July 2024.
As under previous governments, it is a long-established precedent that information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet and its committees are not shared publicly.
Which hon. Members have been appointed as Mission Champion by the Government; and what guidance his Department has provided on whether Mission Champions should attend Ministerial meetings.
Mission Champions are a political appointment within the Parliamentary Labour Party; the Cabinet Office has not issued any specific guidance related to Mission Champions. The Ministerial Code sets out the standards of conduct expected of ministers and how they discharge their duties.
Representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2025 to Question 44588 on Parliament: Television, whether any public bodies pay subscription fees to receive a direct television feed of the UK Parliament.
No public bodies pay a subscription fee to Parliament for a direct television feed.
If he will list all of the (a) special representatives, (b) envoys and (c) special envoys in post on 25 April 2025, broken down by whether they are (i) special advisers, (ii) civil servants, (iii) public appointments and (iv) direct ministerial appointments.
The Cabinet Office did not have any special representatives, envoys or special envoys in post on 25 April 2025. Other government departments are responsible for their own appointments and representatives.
With reference to the press release entitled Regulator axed as red tape is slashed to boost growth, published on 11 March 2025, what the estimated reduction in staff numbers is from the merger of the Payment Services Regulator into the Financial Conduct Authority; what functions will cease; and whether staff will be required to move desks.
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has carried out important work to support the UK’s world leading payments sector. However, moving forward, the Government wishes to see a more streamlined regulatory environment with minimal overlap between regulators’ responsibilities. That is why the Government has announced its intentions to consolidate the PSR and its functions primarily within the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Government will consult on the detail of this proposal in the summer. However, the expectation is that most functions will move to the FCA, reflecting the close synergies between those organisations. Questions regarding the staffing of the FCA are matters for the regulator, which is independent from Government.
With reference to the letter from Lord Sharpe to the Chair of the Animals in Science Committee, published on 1 March 2024, whether the Home Office will issue a policy advice note to (a) discourage and (b) prohibit the use of the Forced Swim Test.
The letter from Lord Sharpe was issued under the previous Government. I can however, issue an update. The Home Office Regulator has reviewed all licences authorising the use of the Forced Swim Test (FST) under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The Regulator has subsequently liaised with licence holders where necessary to implement the recommendations of the Animals in Science Committee.The number of project licences that authorises the FST in Great Britain has decreased from nine on the 1 March 2024, to a current total of only four licences. All of these licences are due to expire by 2028.The Home Office Regulator will, through audit and regulatory processes, assure that relevant establishments apply robust scientific justification, ethical oversight and the 3Rs fully and consistently across all applicable licences.This Government has set a manifesto commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing” and will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods to animal testing later this year. This strategy supports the current scientific direction on reducing use of the FST (www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230021001434).
Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ensure that streaming services ensure their content is not in breach of UK law.
Ofcom regulates the content on UK-based streaming services through their on-demand programme services rules. Under regulations introduced through the Media Act 2024, the Government is giving Ofcom new powers to draft and enforce a Video-on-demand Code for designated services, which can include non-UK based streaming services. This will be similar to the Broadcasting Code, which sets appropriate standards for content on linear television, including rules on harmful and offensive material, accuracy, fairness, and privacy. In addition, the distribution of particular types of content can constitute a criminal offence.
Pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 29153 on Ministry of Justice: Equality, which company provided the EDI course; and what the title was of the course.
The “Creating inclusive Virtual Teams” course is procured through the Government Learning Framework provided via KPMG.
How many civil servants in her Department have been disciplined for (a) plagiarism and (b) making false statements on a CV when applying for a job in the latest 12 month period for which figures are available.
HM Treasury has not taken any formal disciplinary action against any of its civil servants for plagiarism or making factually incorrect statements in a CV or a job application in the last 12 months.
What diversity network time is available to staff at HM Revenue and Customs.
I refer the Right Hon. Member to the answer given by Lord Spencer Livermore in HL1114 which references the diversity network time available to staff at HM Revenue and Customs.
Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the Independent Pornography Review to help tackle the availability of violent online pornography.
The Online Safety Act requires services which publish or host user-generated pornographic content to prevent children from accessing it using highly effective age assurance. Extreme pornography is a priority offence under the Act, requiring services to proactively mitigate and remove this illegal content on their platforms.The government published the final report of the Independent Pornography Review on 27 February 2025 and issued an initial statement in response addressing the important issues it raised. It is right that the government takes time to understand this complex yet deeply important topic. A further update will be provided in due course.
Pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 32970 on Government Departments: Consultants, if she will list the outturn figures for the spending on consultancy in each of the financial years from 2017-18 to 2022-23.
Outturn figures for consultancy spending from the government’s Online System for Central Accounting and Reporting II (OSCAR II) are contained within datasets that are published as part of the OSCAR Annual Release. For financial years 2019-20 to 2022-23, these can be accessed via the November 2024 OSCAR annual release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oscar-ii-publishing-raw-data-from-the-database For financial year 2018-19, these can be accessed via the November 2023 OSCAR annual release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oscar-ii-publishing-raw-data-from-the-database For financial year 2017-18, these can be accessed via the November 2021 OSCAR annual release here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oscar-annual-release-november-2021 In compiling the baseline referenced in Question 32970, the estimate was calculated to exclude consultancy spending in previous years by the Devolved Governments, as they are responsible for their own consultancy budgets. Spending data is taken from the chart of accounts name “EXP – PURCHASE OF GOODS/SERVICES – CONSULTANCY”.
With reference to section 2, action 1 of his Department's policy paper entitled New approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth, published on 17 March 2025, what methodology his Department plans to use to measure the monetary cost of regulation; and whether this is a (a) gross cost and (b) net cost offset by the benefits of regulation.
The government has committed to cut the administrative costs of regulation to business by 25% by the end of this Parliament. To do this, we must determine the cumulative administrative costs of regulation that businesses face, which has not been done for 15 years. By focusing on reducing administrative costs, we will ensure that regulations achieve their policy objectives in the most efficient way possible with the lowest possible costs to business.My department is working with others across Whitehall to determine the best approach to do this and will provide further updates in due course.