Written questions by Holden.

What steps his Department is taking to expand the range of defibrillator manufacturers and suppliers available through Government procurement frameworks.

The Cabinet Office does not currently offer a commercial agreement for defibrillators. CCS (an agency of the Cabinet Office) agreements do not cover medical devices; departments procure these through their own routes. NHS Supply Chain operates a commercial agreement for defibrillation devices and related services and accessories for use by approved organisations. The Procurement Act 2023, introduced in February 2025, opens up frameworks to give greater flexibility to both buyers and suppliers, and provide more opportunity for innovation.

If he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the merger of Anglo American and Teck on national security.

The Government has powers under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021 to review and, where required, intervene in investments that may pose a risk to national security. The NSI Act both facilitates investment into sensitive sectors with appropriate safeguards where needed, and provides powers to act in the interests of national security where necessary and proportionate. Given national security and commercial considerations, the Government will not generally comment on specific acquisitions or the potential applicability of the NSI Act 2021. Acquisitions considered under the NSI Act are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and the Government will not hesitate to use its powers where necessary.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 71219 on Lobbying: Official Hospitality, if she will publish the relevant guidance on holding departmental receptions at the offices of consultant lobbying firms.

The Ministerial Code is published on GOV.UK. Guidance from the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists is published on the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists’ website.

How many child deaths were recorded where parental consanguinity was (a) identified and (b) not identified in England in each year since 2019.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 2nd September is attached.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 63336 on Disaster Relief and Emergencies: Equality, whether there is any other documentation with the Risk Vulnerability Tool.

Information about the Risk Vulnerability Tool (RVT), its purpose and availability to officials in UK and Devolved Governments was published as part of the Resilience Action Plan. Further information on the RVT methodology will be published as part of a Quality and Methodology Information report once the methodology has been finalised, as is usual for government statistics.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 64065 on National Security Adviser, for what reason the role of secretary to the National Security Council is fulfilled by the Deputy National Security Advisers; and what role the National Security Adviser has within the National Security Secretariat.

The NSA attends the National Security Council and provides advice to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on national security matters. The relevant Deputy NSA acts as Secretary to the National Security Council as this is a civil service function. The NSA oversees cross-government delivery of the National Security Strategy 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2025 to Question 63336 on Disaster Relief and Emergencies: Equality, for what reason sex and gender are collated as separate indicators.

Sex and gender reassignment are distinct protected characteristics and, as such, data relating to these characteristics may be collated separately.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 63327 on Cabinet Office: Directors, if he has considered making the Government Lead Non Executive a member of his Department's board.

A model has been established whereby Baroness Casey, who was appointed as Government Lead Non-Executive on 3 January 2025, will not sit on the Cabinet Office Board. Instead, she will maintain a roving brief across government supporting ministerial priorities and non-executive board members.

How many staff work in the New Media Unit; and what the annual budget for that unit is.

The New Media Unit currently has 19 FTE, of which 17 are permanent and 2 are loanees. Assuming the NMU is fully staffed with a consistent grade mix, throughout the financial year the annual salary costs currently would be circa £1.28 million.

When he plans to respond to Question 43120, tabled on 1 April 2025, on Honours: Forfeiture.

The answer to question 43120 was published on 1 September 2025.

For what reason page 38 of the document entitled Government Function: People, Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework, updated on 30 June 2025, refers to gender rather than sex.

The document entitled Government Function: People, Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework uses the term gender on the basis that this refers to the legally required business publication of Gender Pay Gap reporting as per the Equality Act 2010.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 64566 on Arms Length Bodies, whether exempted expenditure will be published in one location; how it will be published; and when it will be published.

Expenditure which is exempted under the requirements of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Expenditure Guidance must be reported to the Cabinet Office by departments and ALBs who employ civil servants. Reported expenditure is published annually.

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2025 to Question 62083 on House of Lords Appointments Commission, on what date the public appointments process opened; whether it has been extended; and whether any people who applied have been informed that they have not been appointed.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question 66291, which sets out when the campaign was launched and subsequently closed to applications. The Government announced on 19 August 2025 that, as a result of the campaign, Professor Adeeba Malik CBE DL had been appointed as an independent member of the House of Lords Appointments Commission with effect from 1 September 2025. All candidates who applied as part of this campaign have been notified of the outcome accordingly.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 66291 on House of Lords Appointments Commission, for what reason members of the Commission have not been appointed.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question 66291, which sets out when the campaign was launched and subsequently closed to applications. The Government announced on 19 August 2025 that, as a result of the campaign, Professor Adeeba Malik CBE DL had been appointed as an independent member of the House of Lords Appointments Commission with effect from 1 September 2025. All candidates who applied as part of this campaign have been notified of the outcome accordingly.

For what reason the Cabinet Secretary has delegated his attendance to the Main Honours Committee.

The Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service is responsible for the operation of the honours system, but as is customary, delegates this responsibility to another senior Permanent Secretary.

What guidance his Department provides on holding departmental receptions at the offices of consultant lobbying firms.

The Ministerial Code sets out guidance for Ministers on engaging with external stakeholders. Separate guidance relating to the regulation of consultant lobbying is published by the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists.

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2025 to Question HL8627 on Cabinet Office: Managers, which business units the 540 staff leaving are from.

The 540 refers to the number of applications that were approved and is subject to the individual's final acceptance. The voluntary exit process has not yet concluded, so we are unable to report on which business units individuals will be leaving from.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 65153 on Government Communications Service: Reviews, whether the Director of Government Communications is being recruited externally through open and fair competition; and what the salary range is.

The selection process for this role was open and fair competition, overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission, chaired by the First Civil Service Commissioner. The salary range is £170,000 – £200,000.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 63329 on Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, what the (a) title and (b) purpose of that training was.

The title of the training course was Team Facilitated Conversations.The purpose of the training was for the individual to gain the necessary skills and processes to resolve team conflicts across various sectors.

Whether the Public Appointments Commission has issued guidance on the declaration of significant political activity for regulated appointments.

The Commissioner for Public Appointments has not issued guidance on the publication of declarations of political activity. As set out in previous answers, rules on political activity by prospective or existing public appointees are already clearly set out within both the Governance Code on Public Appointments and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, and the process for declaring interests, including how they should be published by departments, is also set out in detail on Gov.uk.