Every parliamentary written question tabled by Richard Holden this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 381–400 of 775 · Cabinet Office
What proportion of regulated public appointments are published on the Apply for a public appointment gov.uk page.
All regulated public appointments that are made through open competition are advertised on the public appointments Apply for a Public Appointment webpage on Gov.uk.
Whether the Government learning framework includes training on equality, diversity and inclusion.
Like any employer, we offer a range of learning and development opportunities to give staff the skills they need to succeed in their roles, but courses must be assessed for value for money, and clear justifications must be provided for procuring learning and development activity. The Government Learning Frameworks catalogue of training courses and L&D services is available online at the Prospectus Online. This includes the Civil Service Expectations course, which is recommended to all Civil Servants as an introduction to the Civil Service code and values, the Equality Act 2010, and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. There are other courses that contain elements of equality, diversity or inclusion, but to identify all courses that make reference to these topics would come at a disproportionate cost.
With reference to his Department's guidance entitled Civil Service Inclusive Practice privacy notice, published on 8 May 2025, how many civil servants are members of the Civil Service Inclusive Practice team; what its terms of reference are; and whether they receive Government funding.
The Civil Service Inclusive Practice Team (CSIP) is part of the Cabinet Office Government People Group (GPG). GPG provides a central support function for people based issues for the Civil Service.There are currently circa 13 full time equivalent employees in the team, all of whom are carrying out their primary paid role within the Civil Service. As such, CSIP do not receive any other Government funding nor do they have Terms of Reference.
With reference to the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament's press release of 1 May 2025, whether he plans to update the Committee's Memorandum of Understanding.
The Deputy National Security Adviser wrote to the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) on 23 May 2024 welcoming the Committee’s views on the Memorandum of Understanding between the ISC and the Prime Minister, as required in the National Security Act 2023.We will consider any response the Committee shares and provide a further update in due course.
When (a) vacancies were announced for the members of the House of Lords Appointments Commission and (b) the application process (i) closed and (ii) was cancelled; what the status is of the competition; and how many members are vacant.
The campaign to recruit up to two independent members to the Commission went live on 3 January 2025 and closed on 3 February 2025. Ministers are currently considering the next steps in this campaign and it remains open.
Whether the records of the (a) Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals, (b) Royal Visits Committee and (c) Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures are reviewed for permanent preservation under section 3 of the Public Records Act 1958; and whether their transfer to the National Archives is governed by an Operational Selection Policy agreed with the Keeper of Public Records in each case.
The Cabinet Office's Records Selection policy, which has been agreed with The National Archives, has been published on the Cabinet Office website. (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/679108aeb1e4f5cbd3a34dfd/Cabinet_Office_Records_Selection_Policy.pdf)This sets out the criteria for selecting Cabinet Office records for permanent preservation.
What estimate his Department has made of the current service cost of civil service pensions in the (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26 financial year.
The current service cost for 2023-24 was £6,274,256,000 and is included in the published annual report and accounts found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-superannuation-annual-account-2023-to-2024The current service cost for 2024-25 is not yet finalised and will be disclosed in the annual report and account due to be published by December 2025.The current service cost for 2025-26 will not be available until the end of the financial year and will follow the same publication process as 2024-25.
Whether he plans to take steps to improve the Display Energy Certificate rating for 10 Downing Street.
Across the Cabinet Office Estate, which includes 10 Downing Street, steps are always being taken to maximise energy efficiency.
Pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2024 to Question 18399, on Media: Meetings, if he will take steps to amend Annex C of the guidance entitled Senior Officials’ business expenses, hospitality received and meetings with external organisations and individuals, published on 2 April 2024, to provide guidance on how social media organisations should be categorised.
The Government keeps the guidance on senior officials' business expenses, hospitality received and meetings with external organisations and individuals under review. However, there are no current plans to amend the guidance to include details on how social media organisations should be categorised.
Pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2025 to Question 48962 on Civil Service: Redundancy Pay, for what reason he decided to close the consultation to reform the Civil Service Compensation Scheme; when the decision was made; and whether he plans to publish a formal response to the consultation.
The consultation began in 2017. As the previous administration did not manage to make progress on this after 7 years of an open consultation, a decision was taken in March 2025 to close the consultation to reform the Civil Service Compensation Scheme on the basis that the process was no longer viable. We will continue to monitor the impact of the existing scheme terms and cost impacts.
With reference to the press release entitled UK Resilience Academy to help secure Britain’s future with generational upgrade in emergency training, published on 28 April 2025, on what statutory basis the academy will operate; and what form of arm’s length body it will be.
The UK Resilience Academy (UKRA) is part of the Cabinet Office National Security Secretariat. It is not an Arms Length Body.
If he will publish guidance provided to members of the Advisory Committee for Business Appointments.
The Business Appointment Rules and the Committee’s guidance on how it applies the Business Appointment Rules are available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/business-appointment-rules.
Whether the utility bills for the Ministerial residences in Admiralty House are individually metered.
The Admiralty House residences are currently individually metered for gas utilities only. However, the gas supply to the residences has been stopped following the removal of all gas appliances. Although not metered individually, water and electricity usage continues to be managed centrally and costs approved as necessary for the residences.
Whether the guidance entitled Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance has been updated since 4 July 2024; and whether any other further guidance related to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion expenditure has been published since that date.
The controls outlined in the Civil Service Equality Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance which was published on 14 May 2024 remain in place and no additional guidance has been published since then.
Which business units in 10 Downing Street use the AI Redbox tool; and whether submissions to the Prime Minister are written using AI tools.
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer of 23 January 2025, Official Report, PQ 24138
Whether civil servants who defer taking their Civil Service pension after the normal retirement age for that pension receive (a) a higher pension and (b) an actuarial enhancement; whether any unclaimed pension from normal retirement age is subsequently payable as a lump sum when the person retires and claims the pension; how the policy varies by Civil Service pension type; and what approach is applied to people who have more than one type of Civil Service pension.
Civil servants may have benefits under several schemes, depending on their length of service. There are four closed (or legacy) schemes (Classic, Classic Plus, Premium and Nuvos) The fifth scheme (alpha) is the only defined benefit scheme open to civil servants at this time.Civil Servants who defer taking their Civil Service pension after normal retirement age for the pension from which they are claiming benefits would receive:Classic, Classic Plus & Premium Pension schemes: This group does not receive a higher pension or actuarial enhancement. Pension will be backpaid to normal retirement age without interest added.Nuvos and alpha Pension schemes: This group would receive actuarial enhancement for late payment and this would apply to any lump sums taken at the time.For Civil servants who are members of more than one scheme, each pension is dealt with separately and in line with the scheme rules.
Whether (a) electricity, (b) gas and (c) water in the (i) 10 and (ii) 11 Downing Street residences are individually metered.
The No. 10 Downing Street and No. 11 Downing Street residences are not individually metered for any listed utility.
Pursuant to the answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 43230 on Prime Minister: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, whether his Department is (a) stopping future transactions being made on the Downing Street cards and (b) stopping the procurement of additional cards for Downing Street.
All areas of the Cabinet Office have significantly reduced the number of cards held and strict processes are in place for new applications.
What (a) discussions and (b) correspondence staff in 10 Downing Street have had with (i) Tony Blair and (ii) the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change on (A) identity cards and (B) climate change since July 2024.
Relevant meetings are declared in transparency publications.
How are aggregate disproportionate cost thresholds reviewed for (a) written Parliamentary Questions and (b) Freedom of Information Act requests; how often do these reviews take place; and on what dates have changes been made since 2000.
The Guide to Parliamentary Work, which is published online and available here, sets out that there is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written question. The current disproportionate cost threshold is £850; the limit does not apply to oral questions. The threshold is pegged at 140% of the Freedom of Information Act cost limit, currently £600, to the nearest £50. Where a change in the FOI cost limit occurs, the Cabinet Office will make a written statement to advise Parliament of the new disproportionate cost threshold. Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows public authorities to refuse to deal with any requests where they estimate that responding to the request would exceed the “appropriate limit”, known as the “cost limit”. If a public authority calculates that responding to a request will take it over the appropriate limit it is not obliged to provide a substantive response. The cost limit is calculated at a flat rate of £25 per hour and since 2004 has been set at £600 for central government departments and £450 for other public authorities.