Written questions by Holden.

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.

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 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.

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 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 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.

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.

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 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.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Succession Select AI tool published by his Department on 17 December 2024, whether the First Civil Service Commissioner was consulted about the use of AI for Civil Service appointments.

Succession Select is designed solely as a search tool to identify current Senior Civil Servant (SCS) whose career profiles match the requirements for senior digital roles. This tool is not a part of the SCS hiring process and is an efficiency tool to aid internal talent management and is not used to fill vacancies. As the tool is not part of the hiring process, consultation with the First Civil Service Commissioner was not required or needed.

Pursuant to the Answers of (a) 26 November 2024 to Question 14705 and (b) 21 October 2024 to Question 8434 on Prime Minister: Aviation, whether the Cabinet Office collates information on which flights (i) use Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and (ii) the proportion of SAF used.

The Cabinet Office records when Sustainable Aviation Fuel is used, and on which flights. The Government uses sustainable aviation fuel wherever possible.

With reference to the consultation entitled UK Green Taxonomy, published on 13 November 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of a green taxonomy on trends in the level of divestment in the defence sector.

The proposed green taxonomy aims to promote market integrity and transparency, and mobilise further investment to help the UK achieve its sustainability goals. This Government has been clear that we see no conflict between sustainable investment and investment in our world-leading defence sector, of which we are rightly proud. The Defence Industrial Strategy Statement of Intent, published in December 2024, identified the ‘crowding-in’ of private sector investment as critical to the Government’s agenda to grow our economy and strengthen our nation’s defences. The Trade Association ADS recently released their first defence Environment, Social and Governance Charter Report, highlighting the positive contribution that the defence industry is making to supporting our environment and our communities.

In what ways he plans to use funding previously allocated to the Vetting Transformation Programme to improve United Kingdom Security Vetting.

The funding for the Vetting Transformation Programme (VTP) was provided by United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) customers. Prior to the closure of the VTP, investments were made in digital system enhancements, resulting in increased assurance and improvement in the applicant user journey. Funding not used will be returned to UKSV customers.In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.

How many flights using Government (a) owned and (b) chartered planes the Prime Minister has taken in the United Kingdom since 4 July 2024.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to my answer of 6 March 2025, Official Report, PQ 34453.

How many business units are in his Department; what the names are of those business units; what their allocated full-time equivalent headcounts were for each month in 2024-25; and what their actual headcounts were for each month in 2024-25.

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

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2025 to Question 21390 on Armed Forces: Equality, whether the previous Government commissioned a review into equality, diversity and inclusion (a) policies and (b) spending in the armed forces that was separate to the review into the civil service.

In February 2024 the previous Government commissioned a review into equality, diversity and inclusion policies in the Armed Forces. This review did not extend to equality, diversity and inclusion spending in the Armed Forces, and was separate to the review into the Civil Service. Following the change in Government, staffing of this work to Ministers was paused, and the review was not published.

With reference to the transparency data entitled Rt hon. Sir Keir Starmer KCB KC MP and Rt hon. Rishi Sunak MP official charity receptions, July to September 2024, updated on 30 January 2025, if he will publish the (a) names and (b) organisations of people who attended the (a) business reception on 23 July, (b) missions receptions on 27 July and (c) London Fashion Week reception on 16 September.

As under previous administrations, details of official receptions are published in quarterly transparency returns on gov.uk.

With reference to his Department's press release on making the state more like a start up, published on 9 December 2024, what his target is for the number of secondments; and over what time period.

Secondments into the Civil Service from other sectors are encouraged as a means of bringing in individuals from outside the Civil Service to contribute to the work of Government by sharing critical capabilities and innovative thinking for a set period of time. All departments, functions, and professions have been encouraged to embed secondments as a key part of their resourcing strategies. The Test, Learn and Grow Programme, will use an inward secondment programme for public service delivery experts working near the frontline to help drive public service reform in their field. The scheme will be flexible in terms of duration and location, and specifically for those with experience relevant to the public service reform project. We do not have a specific target for the number of secondments over the course of the programme.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 29146 on Department for Work and Pensions: Equality, if she will list (a) each item of expenditure on (i) specific equality and diversity training needs and (ii) external memberships and (b) the titles of any training courses undertaken by her staff in relation to equality and diversity-related training in the 2023-24 financial year.

DWP is committed to being an inclusive employer with a workforce that is representative of the communities and customers we serve. To support with these commitments, we have invested a total of £69,198 in supporting our employees with specific equality and diversity related external memberships and training within the 2023-2024 financial year, the breakdown of which is below: DWP EDI Expenditure Breakdown (including external memberships and accreditations) FY 23/24 a:gender 22/23 funding contribution£19715BITC Race Membership£13000Employer for Carers membership£2500Membership Renewal for PurpleSpace£950Renewal of the Business Disability Forum Subscription 2023 – 2024£20500The Social Mobility Foundation Employer Index contribution£1000UK VAT - UK VAT£11533TOTAL£69198 In addition, the DWP Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) internal e-learning module is mandatory for all new starters during their induction and aims to increase important knowledge of the PSED legal duties incumbent on colleagues both at an individual level and DWP at a collective level. All new starters are also required to complete Civil Service Expectations training. This learning helps colleagues understand the behaviours expected of all Civil Servants and summarises the legislation that informs our work, policy and services for citizens. It is mandatory learning for all new Civil Servants at all grades. There are no associated costs for this training.