Written questions by Dewhirst.

Whether the Public Sector Fraud Authority has issued recent guidance to local billing authorities on council tax (a) avoidance and (b) evasion in relation to the second homes council tax premium.

Guidance in relation to the payment and billing of council tax is developed and issued by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to local authorities. However, the National Fraud Initiative (NFI), as part of the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA), works closely with local authorities to help them identify and prevent fraud. As part of this, the NFI is currently collaborating with local authorities to understand the fraud risks related to council tax second home premiums. The NFI will use that insight to inform options, such as a data matching pilot, to detect and prevent fraud in this area. This collaboration is also what has allowed the removal of fraudsters from social housing properties, ensuring they go to those families in genuine need, and cracking down on blue badge fraud - of which 22,000 fraudulent permits were cancelled in the last year alone.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 82673 on Government Departments: Social Media, how much has been spent on the two agencies for influencer work since July 2024.

There are no plans to publish specific financial details in the public domain.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 78429 on National Security: China, what information her Department holds on whether hostile activity by China is carried out from within the diplomatic buildings in the UK.

Upholding national security and keeping the public safe is the first duty of this Government. This principle underpins not only our relationship with China, but all our international relationships. However, it would not be appropriate to comment on any specific national security issue.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 82673 on Government Departments: Social Media, on which (a) topics and (b) programmes the two agencies have been commissioned to (i) select and (ii) pay appropriate influencers; and whether his Department holds information on which influencers have been hired.

Omni and Unlimited are contracted to Cabinet Office Government Communication Service. These agencies have supported GCS in delivering campaigns on the government's priorities and missions. Influencers have proven to be effective in reaching audiences that traditional marketing channels find hard to reach.

When the Cabinet Office Lieutenancy Policy team was established; how many staff it employs; and what the remit of that team is.

Responsibility for Lord-Lieutenant policy and appointments was incorporated in the Church Appointments Team in 2018. The equivalent of one full-time member of staff is employed on this work. The team is responsible for managing the appointments of Lord-Lieutenants and Vice Lord-Lieutenants for the United Kingdom, and Deputy Lieutenants in England and Wales. It also oversees expenses for Lieutenancies in England, handles complaints from the public, and addresses relevant policy issues.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2025 to Question 81876 on Government Departments: Advertising, whether the (a) Guido Fawkes blog, (b) Sunday Sport and (c) Politico have been assessed under the SAFE framework.

No SAFE framework assessment has been conducted on Guido Fawkes, Sunday Sport or Politico.

How many (a) CTC, (b) SC, (c) DV and (d) DV renewal cases are currently awaiting completion by UK Security Vetting.

United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) is currently meeting its agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) across each product type. UKSV KPIs are set and regularly reviewed in consultation with customer groups to ensure that demand is balanced with maintaining assurance in national security safeguards. In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.

If he will publish the (a) governance structure, (b) terms of reference for the (i) Senior Steering Group, (ii) Champions Network and (iii) Expert Advisory Group, (c) minutes, (d) declared interests and (e) any recorded conflicts of interest and information on how these were managed for One Big Thing 2024.

The following sets out the key individuals and groups that made up the governance structure for One Big Thing 2024, including their roles: Group/IndividualMembershipRoleSponsor for One Big Thing 2024Jo Shanmugalingam, 2nd Permanent Secretary, DfT (at the time)Responsible for advocacy/ championing One Big Thing 2024 and encouraging participation across the Civil Service.Senior Responsible Owner (SRO)Sapana Agrawal, Director for Civil Service Strategy UnitDay-to-day leadership of One Big Thing, responsible for ensuring the project meets its objectives.Senior Steering GroupSponsor, SRO, and other senior civil servants (SCS) with responsibility for relevant areas such as Civil Service Communications, Government People Group, and Government Digital Service.This group acted as a review and challenge function and assured that the design aligned with the needs of the Civil Service. It was responsible for signing off on the approach and products.Departmental ChampionsSCS departmental champions, nominated by permanent secretaries.Responsible for ensuring successful delivery and participation in their departments and feeding into overall initiative design and plan via monthly Champion Network meetings.Expert Advisory GroupInternal and external innovation expertsThis group provided advice to inform the design and development of the One Big Thing 2024 learning offer.Central working groupThe central project management team in the Cabinet Office’s Civil Service Strategy Unit and delivery partners.Day-to-day delivery across workstreams, including training products, comms and engagement, platform, data collection, and evaluation.No conflicts of interest were recorded. The Expert Advisory Group had representation from external experts from the private sector and academia. Their role was limited to providing subject matter expertise, with no decision-making/ sign-off authority or involvement with delivery. We are unable to publish the minutes of meetings, as requested, as the effective design of One Big Thing is reliant upon these being internal forums for free and frank discussions, with attendees often providing informal opinions or preliminary views.

Whether the Government Property Agency holds records on the costs of (a) works, (b) fittings and (c) fixtures to Ministerial residences in (i) Downing Street, (ii) Carlton Gardens and (iii) Admiralty House since 4 July 2024.

The Government Property Agency holds records on the costs of works, fittings and fixtures relating to ministerial residences of Admiralty House only. I refer the Honourable Member to 73315 which has since been corrected.

With reference to the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-25, HC1372, and pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 73315, on Deputy Prime Minister: Admiralty House, on what (a) page and (b) paragraph are the costs relating to the (i) maintenance and (ii) use of Admiralty House.

All costs relating to the Cabinet Office's annual expenditure are outlined from page 165 onwards, which includes spending by the Government Property Agency as an agency of the Cabinet Office. The report does not enter into granular building level accounts, as has been the case under successive administrations.I refer the Honourable Member to 73315 which has since been corrected.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 77118 on Lord Mandelson, if he will place in the Library a copy of the due diligence undertaken by his Department on Lord Mandelson before his appointment.

Due diligence was undertaken prior to the appointment of the former Ambassador to the United States, and was part of an established process to collate relevant information as part of the identification and selection of the appointee. In line with the practice across multiple administrations, the government does not publish such material. I refer the Hon. Member to the Cabinet Secretary’s letter of 30 October 2025 to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, which sets out the process and information contained in the due diligence report: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/50019/documents/269409/default/

Pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2025 to Question 73329 on NHS: Recruitment and with reference to the his Department's press release entitled NHS App overhaul will break down barriers to healthcare and reduce inequalities, published on 25 June 2025, if he will list the types of convictions that (a) will and (b) will not be eligible for the Widening Access Demonstrator programme.

The Department is unable to provide a list of convictions which would automatically prevent someone from being accepted on the Widening Access Demonstrator (WAD) programme as this depends on the role applied for, the nature and seriousness of the offence, and the safeguarding risks to patients and other colleagues. All National Health Service employers have well-established and robust employment checks in place, including Disclosure and Barring Service checks for eligible roles, to assess a person’s suitability and uphold the safety of patients and staff. Anyone seeking employment through the WAD programme is subject to these same rigorous processes.

With reference to section 3 of the Government Communication Service document entitled SAFE Framework: the 4 principles for HMG brand safety, updated on 12 May 2025, what methodology the Cabinet Office uses to determine if an (a) opinion or (b) statement could be perceived as offensive to protected groups.

Opinions and statements are assessed against relevant legislation and policy to assess suitability.

With reference to page 139 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, if he will provide a breakdown of the expenditure, including for individual fixtures and fittings, for the (a) refurbishment and (b) furnishing of the empty Downing Street flat; and if he will name which was empty flat.

As was the case under successive administrations, an itemised list is not routinely published.

Pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 81875 on Senior Civil Servants: resignations, if he will list the Permanent Secretaries that have received severance payments for which the latest information is available.

Pursuant to the previous answer, all details of any payments made to Permanent Secretaries are available in the appropriate Departmental Annual Report and Account for the financial year, or will be published in the annual reports for the upcoming financial year.

What recent assessment he has made of the gender pay gap for special advisers.

The gender pay gap for Special Advisers is published annually on GOV.UK as part of the Cabinet Office Gender Pay Gap Report. The next annual report, covering the most recent period, will be published in due course.

With reference to page 110 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, what was the business case for the increase in the number of hours of facility time compared to 2023-24.

In 2024-25, the Cabinet Office spend fell well below the recommended 0.1% maximum spend laid out in the facility time framework guidance. Trade Union representatives have a statutory right to be granted reasonable paid time off to undertake trade union duties and reasonable unpaid time to undertake trade union activities. The facility time guidance sets out the requirement to monitor and report on facility time spend in the Cabinet Office.

With reference to page 94 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, for what reason Alex Chisholm was given a £57,521 severance payment.

It is a longstanding policy not to comment on individuals. Details of any payments are published in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68fb37aec18f97edd2b63756/36.17_CO_ARA_24-25_00-Book_v16A_WEB.pdf Guidance on managing public money effectively is issued by HMT Treasury and it sets out rules and responsibilities, as well as best practice to achieve value for money. This guidance details the circumstances in which severance is payable. All special severance payments are approved by HMT.

For what reason the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, HC1372, was published in October.

The Cabinet Office Annual Report and Account 2024-25 was laid on 23 October 2025. Departments seek to lay their 2024-25 annual reports as soon as they are able to do so before the statutory deadline of 31 January 2026. This publication is in line with those of previous years, and comes earlier than the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Account 2023-24, published in December 2024.

With reference to page 58 of the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2024-25, published on 23 October 2025, if he will set out the types of personal data reported to the Information Commissioner's Office in each of the eight incidents; and if he will set what types of data were compromised in the Capita cyber-attack.

Please see below the data items as recorded on the notification forms to the Information Commissioner’s Office for the eight incidents referred to on page 58 of the Cabinet Office annual reports and accounts 2024-25: Incident 1 - Health, name, contact details, date of birthIncident 2 - Name, account numbers and sort codesIncident 3 - Names, addresses, dates of birth and medical informationIncident 4 - Name, date of birth, home address and brief medical historyIncident 5 - Names, work email addresses, job roles/gradeIncident 6 - Name, Address, National Insurance Number, economic and financial dataIncident 7 - Name, Address, National Insurance Number, economic and financial dataIncident 8 - Name, allegations of improper conduct In the majority of the above reported incidents either individual or very small numbers of data subjects were affected by the breach. Regarding the Capita incident, the types of personal data recorded in the Information Commissioner’s Office notification are as follows:NameContact detailsAccount numbers and sort codesHealth dataEconomic and financial data, e.g. credit card numbers, bank detailsCopies of official documents, e.g. driving licences