Written questions by Hollinrake.

Pursuant to the Answer of 25 September 2025 to Question 74947 on Senior Civil Servants: Pay, when he plans to publish a high earner list.

Departments and their partner organisations are currently collecting the data for the next ‘high earner’ list. It will be published when the data set is complete and the personal information being released about individuals has been fully quality assured. As set out in my previous answer, salary information for the Senior Civil Service is already in the public domain.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 85200 on Admiralty House: Valuation, whether a valuation has been undertaken in relation to Downing Street, including the two Downing Street flats.

The Downing Street estate is held on the department’s fixed asset register for their service potential and are valued in line with their existing use value (EUV) as defined in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Red Book. Each property is revalued on a rotational basis on a five-year cycle commencing at the point of acquisition. A revaluation for the property as a whole was carried out in the 2022 to 2023 financial year. The flats are not valued individually.

Pursuant to the answer of 13 November 2025, to Question 86773, on Ministers: Council Tax, whether Ministers who occupy a Ministerial residence as a second home are given a permanent key to the property in order for the council tax to be paid for by the Cabinet Office.

The Government does not disclose the security arrangements at official residences.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish a copy of the model contract for Ambassadors and Heads of Mission.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office uses the Senior Civil Service template contract provided by the Cabinet Office as a basis for its contracts for Heads of Mission.

Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025, to Question 92612, whether Tim Allan is required to recuse himself from government policy or communications on matters relating to the clients of Strand Partners.

Before joining the government, Mr Allan sought and received advice on his interests. He has followed every element of the advice received. As a result of that advice, he resigned his directorship with Strand and ceased any involvement in its governance or operations. Mr Allan has recused himself from engagement with Strand Partners in relation to the firm’s business, and from involvement in any procurement relating to Strand Partners during his period of employment.

If he will publish the correspondence from the Permanent Secretary to his Department to the Hon Member for Thirsk & Malton of 24 November 2025.

There are no plans to publish this correspondence.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the written statement of 4 December 2025, HCWS1128, on Devolution Priority Programme, whether the Government consulted the Electoral Commission on the cancellation of the 2026 mayoral elections.

The Electoral Commission was not consulted by the Government regarding the timing of mayoral elections in 2026.The Commission’s view is that scheduled elections should only be postponed in exceptional circumstances. Voters must have a say on those that represent them at local government, and county council elections are still scheduled to take place in these areas in May 2026.The Commission will work with the Government to better understand its plans for the polls so that it can support voters, campaigners and administrators to prepare.

Who is responsible for paying the council tax surcharge on Chequers.

Chequers is owned by The Chequers Trust, and therefore payment of Council Tax is not a matter for the government.

Communities and Local Government, Pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2025, to Question 92034, on Electoral Register: Absent Voting, whether his department has had discussions with the Parliamentary Parties Panel on this issue.

An issue with the availability of information shared as part of the electoral register has been raised with the Government. As stated in the Answer of 26 November 2025 to Question 92034 on Absent Voting, the Government has no plans to make changes to the information which is shared as part of the electoral register.

Communities and Local Government, Further to the written statement of 4 December 2025, HCWS1128, on Devolution Priority Programme, what is the criteria that he will use to determine whether local council elections scheduled for 2026 are (a) held as currently scheduled, (b) postponed or (c) cancelled.

Our starting point is for all elections to go ahead unless there is strong justification otherwise.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of a pub vaping ban on the viability of local pubs which are designated as local community assets.

We plan to consult on making most indoor settings, that are subject to existing smoke-free legislation, vape-free. This would include inside pubs and other hospitality venues. Many businesses and enclosed public places, including pubs, already have voluntary schemes in place to prohibit vape usage inside their premises.An impact assessment will be prepared and published in advance of secondary legislation, which will consider the economic impacts of the proposed regulations.It is useful to note that the tobacco industry opposed previous indoor smoke-free legislation arguing that it would be disastrous for the hospitality industry. However, a year after implementing smoke-free places, 40% of businesses reported that the ban had a positive impact on their business, compared to only 3% reporting a negative impact. Office for National Statistics survey data shows that 69% of respondents visited pubs about as often as before, while 17% visited more often than before smoking restrictions.

Communities and Local Government, Further to the written statement of 4 December 2025, HCWS1128, on Devolution Priority Programme, whether the (a) Electoral Commission or (b) Labour Party were (1) consulted or (2) informed of the decision to cancel the scheduled mayoral elections in May 2026.

The Government has announced that it is minded to hold the inaugural mayoral elections for Sussex and Brighton, Hampshire and the Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Greater Essex in May 2028, with areas completing the local government reorganisation process before Mayors take office. This decision has been taken because devolution is strongest when it is built on strong foundations. The Government intends to establish Mayoral Strategic Authorities via secondary legislation for all the Devolution Priority Programme areas as soon as possible, subject to the councils’ consent.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to issue guidance to councils on protecting political free speech and freedom of association.

Local authorities are independent of central government. They must uphold their obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998 to ensure their actions are compatible with rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association. The Equality and Human Rights Commission provides guidance on these specific matters.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Prime Minister’s Office was consulted on the terms of the exit agreement for Lord Mandelson.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 25 November to question 91398.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2025 to Question 90311 on Prime Minister: Conflict of Interests, whether the Prime Minister has recused himself from policies on football following advice from the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards.

I refer to Hon Member to the answer of 2 December 2025, Official Report, PQ 92608.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2025, to Question 76604, on Water Charges: Social Tariffs, whether individual households can opt-out of water companies’ charging trials, or otherwise refuse consent to participate.

Companies can design their charges to provide benefits and incentives in a range of ways. Ofwat regulates charging trials by requiring companies to set fair charges for all customers, and ensure all trials are consistent with good practice principles.

Food and Rural Affairs, Pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2025, to Question 76604, on Water Charges: Social Tariffs, what is the estimated cost to other customers, (a) in aggregate and (b) cross-subsidy per non-qualifying average household, of the price of social tariffs in each year of the 2025-30 period, (1) across England and (2) across each water company, according information held by (i) his department and (ii) Ofwat.

Companies decide, in consultation with their customers and organisations representing customers, which household customers fund social tariffs and how much they pay. Several companies have committed to using funds from their own investors, shareholders or parent companies for their social tariffs and other financial support schemes (United Utilities, Dŵr Cymru, Yorkshire Water and SES Water).

With reference to the letter from the Permanent Secretary to the hon. Member for Thirsk & Malton, dated 24 November 2025, on what dates Tim Allan met Tom Baldwin since Mr Allan's appointment, and whether Government business was discussed.

The Special Adviser Code of Conduct sets out the categories of meetings, gifts and hospitality that are declared publicly. Any relevant meetings within this category will be published via this process in the normal way.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Q260 of the oral evidence given by her Department's Permanent Secretary to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 3 November 2025, HC385, if he will publish Lord Mandelson’s form.

As explained in the response to Question 91401 on 25 November, it has not been the policy under any government to publish the employment forms relating to individual members of staff.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on future VCT fundraising by reducing upfront VCT Income Tax relief from 30% to 20% from April 2026; and when her Department will publish that impact assessment.

At Budget, the government announced a comprehensive package of entrepreneurship tax measures designed to provide substantially enhanced support for scaling businesses across the UK. This includes doubling the maximum amount that a company can raise through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the Venture Capital Trust (VCT) scheme. These increases will lead to around £100 million per year of extra investment into the most successful scaling companies, supporting their further growth and development. The Government recognises that there may be other ways we could support companies to scale in the UK. We have therefore launched a Call for Evidence on tax policy support for investment in high-growth UK companies to gather views and evidence from founders, entrepreneurs, scaling companies and investors. This will assess the impact, accessibility, and generosity of existing schemes, and explore potential policy options to go-further. A Tax Information and Impact Note published at Budget outlines the policy rationale and impacts of these measures. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/enterprise-investment-scheme-eis-and-venture-capital-trusts-vct-changes/venture-capital-trusts-enterprise-investment-scheme-investment-limit-increase-and-restructureThe Policy Costings document contains further information on the costing methodology. This can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf