Written questions by Dewhirst.

Whether the Second Permanent Secretary, European Union and International Economic Affairs has made a declaration of political activity; and if he publish the declared interests of the Second Permanent Secretary.

There are established processes in place to declare and manage interests in the Civil Service, which were followed during the Second Permanent Secretary's appointment.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2024 to Question 18216 on Senior Civil Servants: Training, where the two SCS Leadership Conferences took place; and what the cost was of each event.

The two SCS Leadership Conferences were delivered as part of a wider leadership development programme. The SCS Conference (Summer 2024) took place at the DeVere Grand Connaught Room, London. The venue hire and catering for this event cost £12,520.42. The SCS Conference (Autumn 2024) took place at The Royal Horseguards Hotel, & One Whitehall Place, London. The venue hire and catering for this event cost £11,250.00.

What oversight his Department provides towards the Government's progress on the Places for Growth targets; and whether his Department produces RAG ratings for each Department based on their performance in meeting those targets.

Places for Growth is overseen by the Places for Growth Portfolio Oversight Board, led by Beth Russell, the Second Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury. Departments provide updates on their commitments to relocate roles, including relocation data. This information is published on gov.uk.

If he will make it his policy to reduce the size of the Government Communications Service as part of the Spending Review Phase 2.

The Government Communications Service constantly assesses all teams to ensure they are delivering value for money and operating in the most effective and efficient way possible. Decisions on the outcome of Spending Review Phase 2 will be announced in the normal way.

Pursuant to the answer of 27 November 2024, to Question 15236, on Cabinet Office: Staff, how many individuals are registered with the Skills Match Hub; what grades those individuals hold; what the average time is for an individual to spend in the hub before being redeployed; how many individuals have been redeployed since 4 July 2024; what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time individuals spend in the hub; and how many individuals have been without a substantive post for more than six months.

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. The grades of the individuals range from Executive Officer to SCS2. The average time for an individual to spend in the hub is fluid. Whilst these individuals are attached to the Skills Match Hub, they remain in their business units and are managed by their line managers to ensure they continue to receive meaningful work and are appropriately supported, while they work through the redeployment process. The department is increasing emphasis and priority on more swiftly matching displaced people to new vacancies before any formal recruitment is undertaken. As was the case under the previous administration, any new vacancies in Cabinet Office cannot be advertised until the role has been reviewed first by the Skills Match Hub for a possible match to anyone registered. If there are no suitable candidates registered, the vacancy can then be advertised.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2024 to Question 13808 on 9 Downing Street: Media, what (a) alterations and (b) other works have taken place in the media room since November 2024; what the cost of those works was; which contractors were used; and which Department authorised the cost of these works.

A one-off refresh of the facility was undertaken in December 2024. This has restored the room back to its original politically neutral state. The cost of these works will be published in due course in Cabinet Office transparency returns. The works were carried out by OCS, and authorised by the Cabinet Office.

If he will make an assessment of the (a) efficiency and (b) effectiveness of the propriety and ethics team.

All teams within the Cabinet Office are subject to the department's performance management processes.

Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2024 to Question 8803 on Cabinet Office: Software, whether additional work under existing contracts has been awarded to Fujitsu since 4 July 2024.

Details of central government contracts where the contract value is above £12,000 are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search As with any service, during the life of the contract there may be periods when suppliers are required to perform more work, as allowed under the contract, and periods when they do less. The ability of the authorities to vary the amount of work is detailed in each specific contract. If there is significant additional work required, which exceeds what is allowed under the contract, that is also published on Contracts Finder, in line with the publication requirements.In January 2024, Fujitsu said it would withdraw from bidding for contracts for new work with new Government customers until the Post Office Horizon inquiry concludes – it would only bid for work with existing Government customers where it already has a contract with them, or where there is an agreed need for Fujitsu’s skills and capabilities.Fujitsu's bid approach is detailed in this letter, deposited in Parliament. For more details, please see here.

If he will ask the Office for National Statistics to make an assessment of the potential impact of the purchase of the Wylfa power station site by Great British Nuclear on the public sector classification of the borrowing for that nuclear programme.

Great British Nuclear purchased the Wylfa site in 2024, which is recorded as an asset on the Government's balance sheet. As part of its SMR competition, GBN is negotiating with four shortlisted companies, with final decisions to be taken in the spring. No decisions have yet been taken on projects or sites.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many farm visits he has made since his appointment; and where those farms were located.

Since the Secretary of State’s appointment, he has visited: the Great Yorkshire Agriculture Show on 10 July 2024a farm in Essex on 25 September 2024a farm in Oxford on 8 January 2025a farm in Gloucestershire on 7 March 2025a farm in Herefordshire on 7 March 2025. As well as visiting 3 farms, he has spoken at 3 farming conferences, and has had 5 meetings with the NFU, 3 with the CLA and, 7 with other organisations and farming representatives.

Whether guidance has been issued to Government Departments on the difference between (a) positive action and (b) positive discrimination in recruitment processes.

Under the previous administration, guidance for employers was published in regards to positive action in the workplace which highlights the difference between positive action and positive discrimination.It is the responsibility of each department to ensure their recruitment practices align fully with all relevant legislation, including the Equality Act 2010. Managers and vacancy holders are accountable to their HR Director for ensuring that vacancies are filled in accordance with departmental processes and legislation. HR Directors are responsible for assurance of the process.

How many staff are employed in the Policy Profession Unit; what the headcount allocation for that Unit is; what grades each civil servant who works in the Unit is; and how many of these are (a) policy professionals and (b) administrative support staff.

The Policy Profession Unit is the central unit supporting policy professionals across the UK civil service. The Unit holds the competency framework for the profession and supports policy professionals to build, maintain and grow their professional capability. The Unit also supports departments in reviewing the environment in which policy is made. Other examples of projects and initiatives the Unit runs are the new Government Policy Fast Stream, which launched in autumn 2024, the annual Policy Festival, with invited speakers from inside and outside government, and the Policy Awards, which aim to recognise high-quality contributions by individuals and teams across the civil service.The Unit is hosted by the department, as the Permanent Secretary is the Deputy Head of the Government Policy Profession, although the Unit works across government with all departments, agencies and devolved governments.The following table shows:How many staff are employed in the Policy Profession Unit on both a temporary and a permanent basis.The headcount for the Unit (there are currently 8 vacant posts).The grade mix of staff in the Unit.The profession mix of staff in the Unit. GradeCurrent Full Time Equivalent (FTE)Total FTEExecutive Officer6.26.2Higher Executive Officer89Senior Executive Officer812Grade 710.813.8Grade 633SCS 1 (Deputy Director)22Total38.046.0 (headcount) The table below shows the primary government profession for each member of the Policy Profession Unit. Four of these staff provide administrative support across the Unit:Government professionNumber of staffPolicy Profession21Human Resources7Communications6Operational Delivery1Government Science & Engineering1Analysis Function1Knowledge & Information Management1Total38

Pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2024, to Question 17676, on Ministers: Official Cars, if the Chancellor’s car travel arrangements are at public expense.

We do not comment on the specific arrangements in place for the Chancellor for security reasons.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 14108 on Arm’s Length Bodies, on what statutory basis Permanent Secretaries rather than Ministers approve framework agreements.

Permanent Secretaries are appointed as Accounting Officers for their departments by the Treasury under section 5 of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000. They are directly responsible to Parliament for ensuring that their department's use of public resources are regular and in line with parliamentary expectations. This includes compliance with the wider framework of authorities, which include the various rules and guidance set out in Managing Public Money. As part of these requirements, Accounting Officers are required to have appropriate structures and systems in place to ensure effective governance of the public bodies that they sponsor. These include the Accounting Officer System Statement, and the need for a framework document for each public body sponsored. As such, in general, the requirement for a framework document is not statutory, but does form part of the Accounting Officer’s duties, meaning that the Accounting Officer is responsible for ensuring that a framework document is in place. Framework documents, while not legal documents, set out the terms of the relationship between the arms-length body and the sponsor, including the sponsorship processes by which public bodies align with and deliver on public policy objectives set by Ministers and, in some cases, legislation. They codify a combination of policy decisions made by ministers, parliamentary expectations and general principles of good governance. The processes for approval are not set out in statute, and can vary from department to department, and from arms-length body to arms-length body.

What steps his Department has taken to safeguard British semiconductor firms from hostile foreign involvement; and how many transactions in that sector have been referred to his Department under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 since 5 July 2024.

The National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021 gives the Government powers to scrutinise and potentially intervene in acquisitions of control over entities and assets in or linked to the UK that may pose national security risks. All areas of the economy are within scope, and qualifying acquisitions of entities in 17 areas of the economy - of which semiconductors are typically covered by both the Advanced Materials and Computing Hardware areas - must be notified to and receive approval from the Government. The Government publishes annual reports to provide information about the transactions that it has been notified about and those it subsequently called in for a national security assessment. The period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 will be covered in the next annual report, which will be published later this year.

With reference to paragraph 60 of the Government response to the 17th Report of Session 2022-23 of the House of Lords Constitution Committee, Permanent Secretaries: their appointment and removal, HL 258, published on 20 October 2023, what recent progress his Department has made on preparing guidance on best practice; whether that guidance will apply to civil servants in the devolved administrations on areas relating to reserved matters; and when he plans to publish that guidance.

I refer to the answer to PQ 14099.

With reference to the Security and Intelligence Agencies Financial Statement 2023-24, for what reason the net cash requirement for the Security and Intelligence Agencies was £419.85 million lower than the estimate; and what assessment he has made of the impact of this underspend on the delivery of planned programmes.

As has been the policy of successive governments, the government does not comment on matters relating to the intelligence agencies. The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament scrutinises the policies, expenditure, administration and operations of the intelligence agencies on behalf of Parliament.

With reference to the Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance, published on 14 May 2024, who is responsible for authorising external equality, diversity and inclusion expenditure in his Department.

The Cabinet Office complies with the Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure guidance published on 14 May 2024, where approval of any external spend is signed off by a Minster or delegated to the Permanent Secretary.

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2024 to Question 14113 on the Permanent Secretary Remuneration Committee, whether decisions on Permanent Secretary remuneration are subject to ministerial (a) review and (b) approval.

The Prime Minister makes the final decisions on Permanent Secretary remuneration following recommendations made by the Permanent Secretary Remuneration Committee.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2024 to Question 18218 on Ministers: Convictions, whether the established process for appointing Ministers involves the Cabinet Office Ethics and Propriety Team asking if an appointee has previous criminal convictions.

Appointees have a declaration of interests conversation with the Propriety and Ethics Team on appointment, the details of which are confidential. All ministers are expected to adhere to the high standards of conduct set out in the Ministerial Code.