Written questions by Wood.

What the total cost was of the Civil Service paybill, by (a) salary costs, (b) National Insurance Contributions, (c) employer Pension Contributions, (d) severance costs and (e) total pay costs in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Salary data for the Civil Service is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics, an Accredited Official Statistics release. The most recent salary cost figures as at 31st March 2024 were provided in response to Peter Bedford MP’s question on 16th October 2024. The latest estimates of the total paybill with and without estimated employer National Insurance contributions were provided in response to Richard Holden MP’s question on 8th April 2025. Both Employer Pension contributions and severance costs are not published by the Cabinet Office. For 2024/25, departmental pay awards have been made within the controls of the 2024/25 Pay Remit Guidance. Information on total paybill costs may be published by individual departments, but there is no routine publication of the overall Civil Service paybill figure.

If he will include the policy areas that each Number 10 special adviser works on in the next published list of special advisers.

In line with the approach under previous administrations, the Government does not publish specific responsibilities of individual special advisers in the Annual Report on Special Advisers.

Pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2024 to Question 5306 on Special Advisers, if he will set out the (a) Minister and (b) senior civil servant in (i) Downing Street and (ii) each department that determines whether a special adviser's appointment is confirmed after the probationary period.

I refer the Hon. member to the answer to PQ 5306.

Whether appointments to the Border Security Command will be included in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair appointment will be classified as a significant appointment.

The Border Security Command was established on 5 July 2024. Martin Hewitt CBE QPM was appointed as Border Security Commander, as a Civil Servant, on 7 October 2024.The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will place the role of the Border Security Commander on a statutory footing, designating the postholder as a Civil Servant (Part 1, Chapter 1, Clause 1).

Whether the Prime Minister must approve updates to guidance referenced within the Ministerial Code.

The Ministerial Code refers to a range of duties, obligations and guidance. The Code is the Prime Minister’s document and he is responsible for deciding which duties, obligations and guidance it refers to.

With reference to Q45 of the oral evidence given by his Department's Permanent Secretary to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on 4 December 2024, HC 463, if he will list the employers in the civil service.

The UK civil service is made up of civil servants employed at over 100 Ministerial and Non-Ministerial Departments, Executive Agencies and Crown NDPBs. These are listed and published each quarter by Office for National Statistics at Table 9 of their quarterly public sector employment statistics available at the following web address:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymentreferencetable

With reference to paragraph 1.41 of the Civil Superannuation Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24, HC481, which employers are part of the Civil Service Scheme.

The requested information can be found in the attached document.

Pursuant to the written statement of 3 February 2025, HCWS408, on transparency data, if he will ensure that the gov.uk transparency data is published in accessible open data formats, including via public APIs.

Transparency data is published according to the standard and best practice guidance from the Government Digital Service and Central Digital and Data Office. Accessible open data formats are already used.

With reference to her Departments document entitled Response to call for input on single-sex spaces guidance, published on 17 December 2024, when she will publish new guidance; and whether (a) her Department and (b) the Equality and Human Rights Commission will consult on that guidance.

The Government is sharing with the EHRC all the submissions that met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance. It is vitally important that service providers understand the single-sex service exceptions in the Equality Act 2010 and feel confident using them. The Government has committed to ensuring that there is guidance in place which gives service providers assurance about the rights afforded by the Act and how to lawfully apply its single-sex exceptions. We will set out our next steps on this soon.

How many Departments hire official photographers as staff members.

Information on how many departments hire official photographers as staff members is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office. 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 30 January 2025 to Question 25674 on Prime Minister: Senior Civil Servants, if he will publish the Principal Private Secretary candidate pack.

Between 13 November and 1 December 2024 the candidate pack for the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister was published and available to download via the Civil Service Jobs website.

With reference to the Financial Conduct Authority's press release entitled Update on the FCA’s enforcement transparency proposals, published on 12 March 2025, whether she has had discussions with the (a) FCA and (b) PRA on their decision not to introduce rules to improve diversity and inclusion; and what are the expected legislative developments in this area mentioned in the press release.

Treasury Ministers and officials regularly meet with both the FCA and the PRA to discuss their work. As set out in the King’s Speech last July, the government is committed to making the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people and introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers. These measures will be part of the upcoming Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.

If he will list the monetary levels of the each of the special adviser pay bands.

Special adviser pay bands are published in the Annual Report on Special Advisers.The most recent publication which includes the payband for the previous administration is availbale at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/674844e62ac8a6da3072393a/Annual_Report_on_Special_Advisers_2024.docx.pdf The current special adviser paybands will be published as part of the 2025 annual report in the summer.

With reference to the guidance entitled Response to call for input on single-sex spaces guidance, published on 17 December 2024, if she will publish each of the non-confidential responses.

The Government is sharing with the EHRC all the submissions that met the criteria of the previous Government’s call for input on single-sex spaces guidance. It is vitally important that service providers understand the single-sex service exceptions in the Equality Act 2010 and feel confident using them. The Government has committed to ensuring that there is guidance in place which gives service providers assurance about the rights afforded by the Act and how to lawfully apply its single-sex exceptions. We will set out our next steps on this soon.

What steps (a) his Department, (b) the Office for Equality and Opportunity and (c) diversity networks linked to his Department are taking to support (i) asexual and (ii) aromantic civil servants.

There are no policies that exist in respect of asexual and/or aromantic staff specifically.

Innovation and Technology, what his timetable is for publishing the second part of the Independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender.

The government has now published the independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender commissioned by the previous Government.Professor Sullivan is entitled to publish further research in this area in her capacity as an academic and may choose to publish a further report in due course.

Whether his Department holds Civil Service People Survey 2024 data for 10 Downing Street staff.

Yes.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2024 to Question 16606 on Arden Strategies, if she will list each of the businesses that (a) attended the roundabout on 17 September 2024 and (b) have not been listed as attending that event in the transparency returns for the (i) Permanent Secretary and (ii) Director General.

A meeting was organised by the Chancellor’s International Investment Summit (IIS) Adviser on 17 September to gather business views on the Summit. Arden Strategies was one of several firms to attend. The Government engaged with a number of different businesses and trade bodies in the run up to the International Investment Summit to help coordinate meetings with key investors as part of the usual course of business. It also has an ongoing business engagement programme run by officials.The Chancellor’s IIS Adviser left HM Treasury on 30 October 2024. The government does not routinely provide commentary on attendees at individual meetings, except where required as part of each department’s quarterly transparency returns for meetings held by senior officials at Permanent Secretary and Director General levels, as published on gov.uk.

What guidance his Department has issued to other departments on spending controls overseen by Ministers.

The Cabinet Office has published guidance on spend controls here and will share updated guidance and information with departments if we make any changes to these controls. The most recent guidance issued to departments on spending controls was in relation to this government’s pledge to cut unnecessary spending on consultancy to save £1.2 billion by 2026. Guidance was shared directly with departments by the Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office and is summarised here. This government is committed to making sure spend controls do not add excessive bureaucracy, enable delivery and provide value for taxpayers’ money. For example, in January 2025 the use of the Get Approval to Spend digital service (hosted on GOV.UK) was mandated for digital spend, resulting in a single front door and case management system for the digital spend control.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 December 2024 to Question 19479 on Civil Servants: Disciplinary Proceedings, how many civil servants working in his Department have been suspended due to allegations of misconduct since in each year since 2020.

Suspensions are used to safeguard the organisation and are not an assumption of guilt. Suspension can be used for a range of reasons; including during security investigations, fraud investigations or misconduct. The table below shows the number of suspensions since 2020: YearNumber of suspensions202042021420222202372024720253