Written questions by Wood.

Who the members are of the Cabinet Office Sustainability Steering Group; when the group was established; how often it meets; and what its terms of reference are.

The Cabinet Office Sustainability Steering Group consists of the Head of Sustainability and Deputy Directors from Human Resources, Property, Procurement, Digital and Finance. The Group was formed in July 2024 and meets quarterly. The Terms of Reference for the Group are to focus on delivering the ESG sustainability strategy at a business unit level, including accountability for tracking individual function-level sustainability targets, oversight of sustainable initiatives, monitoring and reporting to the People & Operations Committee (POpsCo), setting the direction of the sustainability strategy, oversight of compliance with Greening Government Commitments (GGCs), Task-Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), Environment Principles Policy Statement (EPPS) and Green Book.

Who the Members were of his Department's Executive Committee in 2024-25; and how many meetings each member attended.

The following individuals were members of the Executive Committee (ExCo) at the conclusion of the Financial Year 2024-25. Cat Little, Permanent Secretary and Principal Accounting Officer (Chair)Madeleine Alessandri, Head of the Joint Intelligence OrganisationSarah Harrison, Chief Operating OfficerMatt Collins, Deputy National Security AdviserDarren Tierney, Director General, Propriety, Ethics & Constitution GroupFiona Ryland, Government Chief People OfficerVincent Devine, Government Chief Security OfficerAndrew Forzani, Government Chief Commercial OfficerSimon Baugh, Chief Executive, Government Communication ServiceEmma Churchill, Director General, Economic & Domestic SecretariatJonathan Black, Deputy National Security Adviser and Director General, European & Global IssuesKunal Patel, Deputy Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, No.10Caroline Patterson, Chief Financial OfficerRebecca Hedges, Acting Chief People OfficerElinor McDaniell, CO Strategy DirectorFleur Johnson, Strategy Director, National Security Secretariat Membership varied throughout this period, and also included the following individuals at various points. Gareth Rhys Williams, Chief Commercial OfficerMarco Salzedo and Clare Gibbs, Interim Representatives, Government Commercial FunctionKathryn Al-Shemmeri, CO Chief People OfficerTom Read, CEO, Government Digital ServiceDavid Foley, Director, Public BodiesRich Hornby, Chief Financial OfficerJean-Christophe Gray, DG Delivery UnitLaura Gilbert, Chief Data AnalystTim Barrow, Foreign Policy and National Security AdviserElizabeth Perelman, Director General, Public Sector Reform and Efficiency Collated attendance information is not held and providing it would incur a disproportionate cost.

Whether the Memorandum of Understanding between HMRC and the Cabinet Office on the exchange of information for honours probity checks, dated 21 March 2017, remains in force following the expiry period set out at paragraph 9.1 on page 6 of that document; and whether any updated or replacement Memorandum has been agreed between the departments.

In order to protect the integrity of the honours system, the Cabinet Office carries out probity checks with a number of government departments to ensure that honours recipients are in good standing. HMRC provides the Cabinet Office with a minimal disclosure of information in the form of a risk rating of low, medium and high without disclosing any underlying detail about the tax affairs of an individual being considered for an honour. As per the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding, which superseded the previous 2017 version, the Cabinet Office will only hold the information provided by HMRC for a maximum of 12 months following the publication of an honours list. The Cabinet Office therefore only has access to the HMRC rating during this timeframe. HMRC's risk rating reflects their view on an individual's tax behaviour. Cabinet Office takes this information into account, alongside information provided by other government departments, to inform the honours committees' recommendations.

With reference to page 139 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, what (a) works were undertaken and (b) items were purchased as part of the refurbishment of the Downing Street estate; and which Downing Street properties it relates to.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 27 October 2025, Official Report, PQ 85501.

How many investment proposals have been considered by the Cabinet Office Investment Committee since July 2024; how many were approved; how many were rejected or deferred; and what the total whole-life expenditure associated with those approvals was.

Since July 2024, the Investment Committee has considered a total of 39 business cases. All of these business cases were approved, subject to specific conditions. Spending approvals can specify a range of expected expenditure, and may be lower than the overall whole-life cost of the project. The cumulative approximate whole-life cost of these approved cases amounts to a maximum of £26.91 billion. This includes funding for the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

When the Nominations Committee was established for the 2025–26 reporting year; who its members are; who chairs it; and what its terms of reference are.

The Nominations Committee membership, including the chair, is made up of Cabinet Office Non-Executive Board Members. The draft terms of reference will be approved by the committee in its first meeting in early 2026 and are consistent with section 4.5 of the Corporate Governance in Central Government Departments Code of Good Practice.

With reference to page 31 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, what his evidential basis is for the statement that those services are widely known across government as providing an excellent service.

The services offered by the Cabinet Office functions have seen significant growth in usage, with income increasing by 77% over the last five years. Departments are not mandated to use all the services provided by the functions but opt to use them.In most cases, the functions have customer boards which provide robust oversight and feedback on how the services they provide are performing. On occasion, teams can also request customer feedback via surveys to ensure the services they are providing are meeting customer requirements.This feedback along with the continued increase in usage reflects the growing reputation of the functions for providing excellent services.

Further to page 24 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, if he will break down the compensation offers by category of claimant; and what proportion have been accepted and paid.

As of 23 September 2025, as referenced in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024-2025, 1,926 individuals, who are infected and registered with a support scheme, had received an offer. By this date, 1,507 individuals, constituting 78% of those with an offer, had accepted their offer and been paid. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) published their latest statistics on 20 November. As of 18 November, 2,777 individuals who are infected and registered with a support scheme have received an offer. 2,446, constituting 88% of those with an offer, have accepted their offer. The full compensation progress update can be found here: https://ibca.org.uk/statistics/compensation-progress-updates-20-november-2025. IBCA expects to open to further cohorts (those infected people not registered with a support scheme, the estates of deceased infected people, and affected people) in November and December.

With reference to the document entitled Memorandum of Understanding: accessing HMRC information to assist honours committees in making ​recommendations​​​​​ about awarding honours to individuals, published on 19 October 2023, whether his Department has disagreed with risk ratings supplied by HMRC for honours probity checks.

In order to protect the integrity of the honours system, the Cabinet Office carries out probity checks with a number of government departments to ensure that honours recipients are in good standing. HMRC provides the Cabinet Office with a minimal disclosure of information in the form of a risk rating of low, medium and high without disclosing any underlying detail about the tax affairs of an individual being considered for an honour. As per the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding, which superseded the previous 2017 version, the Cabinet Office will only hold the information provided by HMRC for a maximum of 12 months following the publication of an honours list. The Cabinet Office therefore only has access to the HMRC rating during this timeframe. HMRC's risk rating reflects their view on an individual's tax behaviour. Cabinet Office takes this information into account, alongside information provided by other government departments, to inform the honours committees' recommendations.

With reference to page 30 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, how the cross-government charges levied by his Department’s functional business units were calculated; and for what reason income rose to £1.29 billion in 2024–25.

Departmental income has steadily risen since 2020. This reflects an increase in the uptake of the Department’s services year on year. The Cabinet Office's functional income arises principally from the services it provides across government. Under this model, certain government functions are headquartered in the Cabinet Office and departments pay to access and use them. For instance, the GPA provides departments and ALBs with office space across the country. They have continued to onboard properties nationally, delivering a fully integrated property management service across government. Another primary source of income that the Department generates is in relation to the Government People Group who provides specialist human resource services to Government.

With reference to page 16 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, what proportion of the downward revision of the Resource AME was due to a recalculation of the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) was formed last year, began processing compensation claims within two months of receiving the legislative powers to do so. It has been set an unprecedented challenge and is working hard to meet the needs of all those it serves in delivering justice to victims. Of the £5.278bn downward revision of the Resource AME requirement, £5.118bn (97%) was related to the recalculation of the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme future payment provision. Estimating eligible claim volumes is challenging, relying on various assumptions which are refined on an ongoing basis. Changes in the overall provision stem from evolving assumptions and estimates, updates to regulations and other factors. Crucially, these estimates do not limit IBCA’s ability to make payments and everyone who is eligible and makes a claim will be paid in accordance with the legislation. As of 2 December, 2,867 people have received an offer of compensation, and over £1.7 billion has been paid.

With reference to the Integrated Security Fund Annual Report 2024–25, of 30 October 2025,what assessment he has been of whether including compulsory UN peacekeeping contributions within the ISF is consistent with the Fund’s stated purpose of supporting “agile and innovative” security programming.

The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) currently fulfils UK mandatory commitments to UN peacekeeping missions around the world. UN peacekeeping is critical in supporting global peace and security, including by preventing conflicts from escalating and creating space for political solutions.

How many times the Resilience and Security Committee met between April 2024 and March 2025; and what the attendance record of each member was.

It is a long-established precedent that information about Cabinet and its Committees, including the discussions that have taken place, how often they have met and attendance, is not normally shared publicly. The list of standing members of the National Security Council (Resilience) Committee can be accessed on GOV.UK.

With reference to the Integrated Security Fund Annual Report 2024–25, of 30 October 2025, for what reason the ISF’s non-ODA spend for Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2024–25 is recorded as negative.

As set out in the Integrated Security Fund (ISF) Annual Report, in the financial year 2024/25 funding which had previously been provided to the Afghan National Army Trust Fund (ANATF), was returned to the ISF following the change in context in Afghanistan in the financial year 2021/22. Therefore, the ISF’s non-ODA balance of spend in Afghanistan and Pakistan portfolio in financial year 2024/25 is recorded as negative £1.51m.

With reference to the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, if he will publish the terms of reference of the Staff Board.

The Staff Board serves in an advisory capacity to the Executive Committee and is not a mandatory component of the Corporate Governance Code. Its Terms of Reference are not subject to external publication.

With reference to pages 107 and 110 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, whether the facility time data published under the Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 includes Government Commercial Function and Fast Stream staff who were on the Cabinet Office payroll as at 31 March 2025.

The facility time data published under the Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 does include the Government Commercial Function and Fast Stream staff who were on the Cabinet Office payroll as at 31 March 2025

With reference to page 67 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, in which venues the away days took place; and at what cost.

The away days referenced in page 67 of the Cabinet Office Annual Report took place at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Lancaster House. As the Report states, the cost to the Cabinet Office totalled £5,288.40.

With reference to pages 111 to 114 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, for what reason his Department’s new strategic outcomes were adopted during the year while the Estimates remained based on previous departmental objectives.

The Cabinet Office’s strategic outcomes were updated following the election to ensure that these reflected the new government’s priorities. These changes were reported to the Public Administration and Parliamentary Affairs Committee on 19 March 2025. The financial reporting against these outcomes was updated at the earliest opportunity on HM Treasury systems and will be reported against in the 2025/26 Accounts.

With reference to page 107 of the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, published on 23 October 2025, how many staff were excluded from the Cabinet Office workforce figures as at 31 March 2025 as a result of the decision to omit Government Commercial and Fast Stream personnel from the Department’s data.

The statement on page 107 of the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2024-2025 only refers to the staff included in ‘Section 2.12 - Diversity and inclusion’ and does not refer to data provided in earlier sections on departmental headcount. These individuals are included in the departmental headcount on Page 99 under the 4,370 Cabinet Office staff recharged to other government departments.

Further to the Cabinet Office Annual report and accounts 2024-2025, HC1372, 23 October 2025, page 110, (a) how many total staff days were taken as paid special leave for volunteering in 2024–25 under the Cabinet Office volunteering policy, (b) what the estimated cost was to the Department and (c) how many officials participated.

Volunteering is a way in which the Cabinet Office supports and encourages its staff to develop both professionally and personally, by enabling them time to engage in activities and practical challenges which endeavor to have a positive impact in their local community. From 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025, there were collectively 191 reported days of volunteering leave taken by 105 individuals. The approximate salary cost of the days recorded for these individuals is £26,000 across the Cabinet Office. Cabinet Office staff are entitled to take up to five days of special paid leave per performance year (01 April - 31 March) for volunteering activity as part of their Personal Development Plan.