Written questions by Dewhirst.

Whether appointments to the National Wealth Fund will be included in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair will be classified as a significant appointment.

All ministerial public appointments will follow the principles of the Governance Code on public appointments. There are no current plans to recruit a new Chair of the National Wealth Fund. The current recruitment round for a new CEO is exempt from the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments regulation as it is an executive position.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists in regulating lobbying by foreign-based firms.

Under the provisions of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists is required to maintain the UK Register of Consultant Lobbyists. Under the legislation, which was introduced by the then Government in 2013, all registrants must be UK VAT registered. As such, the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists does not regulate foreign based consultant lobbyist firms.

With reference to the Answer of 18 September 2024 to Question HL835 on Government Departments: Remote Working, what steps his Department is taking to monitor compliance with the attendance requirement for locations outside of London.

Line Managers are expected to be aware of, and ensure compliance with, the minimum 60% expectation for their direct reports. This approach is the same both in and outside of London.

If he will ensure that the National Security Adviser gives evidence to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.

The Government welcomes the important work of the JCNSS to scrutinise the national security decision making. I refer the Honourable Member to the letter sent by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 24 February 2025, to the Chair of the JCNSS, which has been published here https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/46888/documents/241917/default/.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2024 to Question 5035 on Civil Servants: Muslims, how many hours of network time his Department allocates to that network; and who the senior sponsors are that have been appointed.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Staff Network time allocation is agreed between networks and departments as the employer. The majority of staff time spent on diversity staff networks is voluntary and unpaid. The Cabinet Office doesn’t allocate any hours of network time to the Civil Service Muslim Network. The current senior sponsor for the Civil Service Muslim Network is the Director of Civil Service Employee Engagement & People Performance, Government People Group.

How many full-time civil servants in his Department work a four day working week using compressed hours.

Compressed working arrangements are agreed and recorded at a team level. The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

How many photographers are employed by Government Departments.

Departments may employ photographers in order to support government’s priorities, enable effective operation of public services and improve people’s lives. The Cabinet Office Communications team employs two Digital Media Officers who support government work in Departments and undertake photography as a small part of their duties. There are also 2 full time, dedicated photographers in the No10 team. Although they are funded by the Cabinet Office, their work is managed by No10.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 6416 on Cabinet Office: Building, who owns 36 Whitehall; for what reasons the building is unused; and whether he has considered re-occupying the building.

36 Whitehall is not in use and there are no current plans to bring it back into use. Its return to use is regularly reviewed. There are no plans to dispose of the property.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 25452 on Cabinet Office: Staff, how many staff were attached to the Skills Match Hub on 1 February 2025.

At any point in time, there is likely to be a small number of individuals who have been displaced due to restructures within their business units or, for example, have returned from a loan from another department and their role no longer exists. The exact number changes on a day-to-day basis.

What the name is of the division of the Cabinet Office formerly known as the clearing house.

Matters relating to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 sit with the Freedom of Information Policy Team in the Cabinet Office. Further information about the role Cabinet Office plays in ensuring compliance with the Freedom of Information Act across government is published here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-and-freedom-of-information

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 34456 on Information Rights User Group, whether the decision not to hold a meeting of the Group since April 2024 was made by (a) Ministers and (b) officials.

As was the case under the previous administration, the timing of meetings of the Group have been organised on an ad hoc basis. The Government will set out its plans for the Information Rights User Group in due course.

With reference to the Procurement Policy Note 002: Social Value Model, published in February 2025, what estimate he has made of the regulatory cost to the public sector of such contract compliance requirements of the new measures on trade unions and fair work.

Central government uses the same tool for assessing social value that has been used since 2021, where central government buyers select evaluation criteria from the options available in the social value model. We have made updates to the social value model, to streamline it, align it with the government’s missions and ensure suppliers’ commitments are targeted to need. Any new criteria in the social value model must only be used where they are proportionate and relevant to the contract to prevent creating burdens.

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Mass cancellation of government credit cards in crackdown on wasteful spend, published on 18 March 2025, if he will require Departments to publish Government Procurement Card spending above £0.

All central Government departments are required to publish Government Procurement Card transactions of £500 and over in line with the guidance available to all government departments on gov.uk at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e8b402686650c18ce2cb541/Procurement_Cards_-_Pan_Government_Policy_V4_06042020.pdf. Departments can elect to publish transactions under £500 if they so wish.

What guidance has been issued to civil servants on how Diversity and Inclusion considerations should be embedded in all decision-making and delivery.

The Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy provides a framework for departments about how Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) should be embedded in the Civil Service. The EDI Expenditure Guidance and the Guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality for Civil Servants also provide guidance on specific aspects of EDI. None of this guidance has changed since the General Election. Departmental EDI guidance for individual civil servants will be held in departments.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question HL5388 on Government Departments: Assets, if he will place in the Library a copy of each department’s most recent Strategic Asset Management Plan.

The government has previously published summaries of departments’ yearly Strategic Asset Management Plans (SAMPs). These are available on the UK government's website (GOV.UK) at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/departmental-strategic-asset-management-plan-executive-summaries

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2025 to Question 37807 on Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and House of Lords Appointments Commission, what the existing Memorandum of Understanding or equivalent document is between Cabinet Office and HOLAC.

There is no existing Memorandum of Understanding between HOLAC and the Cabinet Office. As with all independent advisory bodies, the Government keeps its arrangements with HOLAC under review. HOLAC has published on its website its Code of Practice and other information detailing the way in which it carries out its advisory role.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2025 to Question 36677 on Senior Civil Servants: Performance Appraisal, whether he plans to make changes to facilitate the dismissal of under-performing civil servants.

In line with the newly announced changes to Senior Civil Service Performance management, this Government will require that Permanent Secretaries identify the lowest performing members of their senior workforce and take action to address this within 6 months. In addition to expanding the tools available to ensure that those with the right skills can deliver to the highest standard and drive a productive and efficient Civil Service, we will hold Heads of Departments accountable for the management of underperformance.

Innovation and Technology, what guidance his Department has issued on the use of third-party AI tools in relation to topics with a security classification; and what assessment he has made of whether such AI tools transfer information outside of government further to their terms and conditions.

The AI Playbook for the UK Government acknowledges the use of third-party AI tools, offering high-level guidance on commercial, legal, and security aspects. Principle 8 advises consulting Commercial colleagues on procurement (p. 39) to ensure that expectations around responsible and ethical AI use are the same for in-house and third-party systems. The legal section (p. 61) covers intellectual property considerations when using third-party tools, while the security section (p. 74) examines risks and opportunities in third-party tools and embedded AI solutions.As with any third-party tool, departments are required to undertake necessary risk assessments, including data protection impact assessment (DPIA) when using third-party AI tools. The DPIA process is designed to identify different types of sensitive data to be processed in different phases of use, including inputs and outputs. The AI Playbook outlines a section on data protection, which covers the importance of undertaking DPIAs for risk mitigation. The DPIA process would identify data governance risk areas, which would be covered in the terms and conditions of the suppliers' contract. Breaches of contractual clauses are legally binding. Security classifications are derived from the Government Security Classifications Policy (GSCP), and that the principles set out in the GSCP must also be adhered to for use of all tools.

What the length of time before an email in his Department's inbox is subject to automatic deletion; whether such deleted emails remain searchable on the Server; and whether (a) manually deleted and (b) auto-deleted emails remain held for the purposes of (i) public inquiries, (ii) subject access requests and (iii) Freedom of Information Act requests.

Emails sent to or received by a minister’s mailbox are retained permanently as an official record, and remain available for public inquiries, subject access or freedom of information requests. Individual emails may be reviewed at a future date for their historical relevance before transfer to The National Archives, but they are not subject to automatic deletion. The mailboxes of permanent secretaries are similarly preserved, and those of senior staff (grade SCS PB2 and above) are retained for a period of seven years after they leave their post. After seven years the contents are reviewed and records of historic value selected for permanent preservation. Unless there is a reason to retain them for a public or other inquiry, or to respond to litigation, all other staff mailboxes are destroyed twelve months after they leave Cabinet Office’s employment.

Whether his Department has used AI software to help respond to (a) Freedom of Information Act requests and (b) written parliamentary questions.

All FOI requests and written parliamentary questions are considered on a case by case basis. In the Cabinet Office, AI software is not currently used to respond to FOI requests or written parliamentary questions. AI software may be used in the future, as appropriate, to support certain elements of these processes.