Written questions by Wood.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that cross-departmental dependencies are identified and managed in relation to the Plan; and if he will publish a comprehensive risk register outlining how delivery delays in one department might impact mission efforts in another or the overall timeline of mission delivery.

Missions are a new way of doing government. The core aim of the missions is to break down silos between departments to achieve specific, long-term outcomes. The Prime Minister has established 5 designated mission boards which bring together Ministers from across government, with the core aim to break down silos between departments to achieve specific, long-term outcomes that drive tangible change for the public.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, what guidance his Department has issued to ensure cross-departmental alignment.

Missions are a new way of doing government. The core aim of the missions is to break down silos between departments to achieve specific, long-term outcomes. The Prime Minister has established 5 designated mission boards which bring together Ministers from across government that drive tangible change for the public.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure transparency in tracking the progress of the Plan for Change milestones; and if he will make it his policy to publish a cross-government performance dashboard with regularly updated data.

In the Plan for Change we published graphs and links to the statistics on the outcomes for the milestones. The statistical annex published on gov.uk on the Plan for Change – Milestones for mission-led government provides further detail.

With reference to the document entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, if his Department will take steps to publish a consolidated annual report on the Government’s performance against the Plan for Change including (a) auditable metrics for each milestone and (b) clear explanations for (i) delays and (ii) revisions to milestones.

The Plan for Change sets out clear and transparent milestones, and our plan to achieve them. These milestones will allow the public to track our progress and hold the government to account for their delivery.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, if his Department will commission an independent review of the (a) reliability and (b) robustness of the (i) targets and (ii) metrics used in the plan.

The Plan for Change sets out clear and transparent milestones, and our plan to achieve them. These milestones will allow the public to track our progress and hold the government to account for their delivery.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, whether his Department plans to have an independent audit of the plan's performance metrics.

The Plan for Change sets out clear and transparent milestones, and our plan to achieve them. These milestones will allow the public to track our progress and hold the government to account for their delivery.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, if he will make it his policy to publish minutes of cross-departmental delivery board meetings to monitor the implementation of the plan’s milestones.

I refer to The Right Hon. Member to the answer I gave to PQ7447 on 14 October 2024.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, whether the Government has implemented a formal reporting framework to hold individual (a) Secretaries of State and (b) Director Generals accountable for the delivery of cross-departmental Plan for Change milestones.

The Plan for Change sets out clear, ambitious milestones for change that we aim to reach by the end of this Parliament. The Prime Minister meets regularly with the Secretaries of State in charge in order to hold them to account for the delivery of the Government’s priorities. Each of the five missions has a Director General as the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO).

With reference to the document entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, what plans his Department has to publish guidance for Departments on using consistent (a) definitions, (b) methodologies and (c) data sources when measuring progress toward the Plan for Change milestones.

In the Plan for Change we published graphs and links to the statistics on the milestones. The statistical annex in the Plan for Change – Milestones for mission-led government provides further detail and has been published on gov.uk. These link to various different statistics which have well established definitions and methodologies.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Plan for Change, published on 5 December 2024, CP1210, what steps the Government is taking to prevent duplication of efforts across departments involved in delivering the Plan; and if the Government will publish departmental roles and responsibilities for each mission area.

Mission-led government is about breaking down silos between departments in the delivery of the Plan for Change. Each mission has a Secretary of State who takes responsibility for coordinating the activity of other relevant departments, including by chairing the mission board.

For which public appointments the Prime Minister is directly responsible.

The Prime Minister is directly responsible for public appointments to 61 bodies and offices across government departments. Individual appointments made by the Prime Minister are publicly announced at the time of appointment.

Whether the Government records the details of meetings Ministers have at party conferences.

Ministers’ meetings with external organisations at party conferences will generally be in a political capacity so there is no need to normally declare these, unless a senior media figure was also present. Annex D of the Ministerial Transparency Guidance, which is published on GOV.UK, states that ministers’ meetings with external organisations at party conferences will generally be in a political capacity so there is no need to normally declare these, unless a senior media figure was also present. However, if ministers exceptionally hold meetings in the margins of Party conferences in an official ministerial capacity, then these should be recorded and published in the normal way.

What the potential cost to the public purse was of (a) alcohol and (b) meat-based food at the recent Diwali reception in No 10 Downing Street.

The cost of hospitality in 10 Downing Street is published in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.

With reference to section 6b of the Special Adviser Model Contract, last updated on 29 July 2024, how many special advisers have had their contracts terminated during their probationary period because they did not pass security vetting since 5 July 2024.

All special adviser appointments are made in line with the terms of the Model Contract for Special Advisers. It is longstanding practice not to comment on HR matters.

Whether special advisers in 10 Downing Street have met representatives of Anacta since the general election.

In line with longstanding process, relevant meetings are declared in the Special Advisor transparency publications.

With reference to the new Ministerial Code, published in November 2024, what assessment he had made of the potential impact of the duty for ministers to comply with international law on (a) protections for UK steel, (b) prisoner voting and (c) rulings of the International Criminal Court.

Government ministers have always had an overarching duty to comply with the law, including international law.

With reference to the new Ministerial Code, published in November 2024, for what reason a duty on ministers to comply with international law is included.

Government ministers have always had an overarching duty to comply with the law, including international law.

What weight is given to the Prime Minister's views through his Principal Private Secretary on the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals.

The Prime Minister’s Principal Private Secretary is a member of the committee, and their views carry equal weight to all other committee members.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office; for what reason painting GAC 0/34 was removed from 10 Downing Street.

The painting referenced GAC 0/34 was removed from 11 Downing Street for restoration work.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 6077 on Public Appointments, if the Prime Minister will list each individual Direct Ministerial Appointment which was signed off by 10 Downing Street according to records held by the No. 10 public appointments team since 5 July 2024.

I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 14 October 2024, Official Report, PQ 6091.