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 2,421–2,440 of 2,912 · this parliament
Pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25456 on Senior Civil Servants: Training, how many people attended each conference.
148 people attended the conference on 23 July 2024 and 263 people attended the conference on 10 October 2024.
Pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2025 to Question 28586 on HMS Achilles, for what reason the Committee chose to recommend to the Sovereign the name of HMS Achilles.
The name HMS Achilles was considered in light of the forthcoming VE and VJ Day anniversaries and given its WWII battle honours at the River Plate and Okinawa. The name also has a very fine heritage outside of WWII, having been borne by six ships previously and having earned battle honours including Trafalgar.
Pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2025 to Question 21403 on Cabinet Office: Pay, what the monetary gross paybill is, excluding pension contributions and National Insurance in aggregate for staff in the (a) Women’s Equality Unit, (b) Race Disparity Unit and (c) Disability Unit.
The salaries of the Senior Civil Servants responsible for the Women’s Equality Unit, Race Disparity Unit and Disability Unit and salary cost of their reports was published in January as part of Cabinet Office transparency reporting and can be found under the Organogram for Senior staff. https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/ff76be1f-4f37-4bef-beb7-32b259413be1/organogram-cabinet-office
If he will publish the contract between OCS and his Department.
On 22 August 2023, following contract award, the OCS (formerly Atalian Servest Limited) Contract was published on Contracts Finder. It can be accessed using the link below. https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/d27d862b-a997-44e4-a8d4-49eb871cb512?origin=SearchResults&p=1
Whether the Prime Minister has responded to correspondence from Baroness Carr following Prime Minister’s Questions on 12 February 2025.
The Lord Chancellor issued a response on 19 February 2025.
With reference to the document entitled The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies, published on 15 March 2018, and in the context of the proposed abolition of NHS England, whether his Department will consider the case for creating the National Care Service against the requirement that the creation of a new arms-length body should only be considered as a last resort.
It is for the relevant Minister to decide if policy within their portfolio should be delivered through the creation of a new public body. Departments seeking to establish an Arm’s Length Bodies must submit three business cases as part of the approval process, as outlined in ‘The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies’. Once the the Cabinet Office receives a business case for a proposed new body there is a detailed process to ensure there is sufficient due diligence to establish a clear rationale for a proposed body.
Pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 29026 on Trade Union Officials: Facilities Agreements, what his planned timetable is for publishing facility time data for 2024-25; and what month will be used as a baseline for the data.
Self-reported public-sector trade union facility time data, collected under the Facility Time Regulations, will be published in line with our standard timelines for this data set and the timelines under the previous administration.The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 explain what is included in the published data set as well as the period this data set covers.
Whether he plans to lay a new Official Statistics Order to designate the National Data Library’s statistical outputs as official statistics.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 24th March is attached.
What steps has his Department taken to improve the speed of reviews conducted under the powers of the National Security and Investment Act since 5 July 2024.
The Government always seeks to conclude reviews under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act as swiftly as possible. Reviews under the NSI Act are subject to statutory timelines. The Act is also kept under regular review to ensure it is operating as efficiently as possible.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
On what date the minutes of her meeting with Katharine Birbalsingh were (a) written and (b) edited.
All Ministerial meetings related to government business have a private secretary present to take a readout of the conversation.In line with the Cabinet Office guidance on taking minutes, published under the previous administration, a readout is drafted during the meeting and edited in the following days, before a final note is shared for the record. The meeting with Katharine Birbalsingh followed this approach.
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 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.