Written questions by Holden.

Pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2024 to Question 14635 on Prime Minister: Official Gifts, if he will list the gifts and hospitality received by the Prime Minister within the remit of the Ministerial Code regime that was subsequently repaid or returned, broken down by (a) the nature of each gift or hospitality donated, (b) value, (c) donor, (d) date accepted and (e) date returned or reimbursed since 4 July 2024, excluding gifts where the Prime Minister made a payment to the department to purchase the gift.

Any hospitality or gifts received by Ministers in their ministerial capacity is declared in accordance with the Ministerial Code. The Cabinet Office publishes details of ministers’ hospitality and gifts on a monthly basis. Hospitality and gifts received by ministers in a non-ministerial capacity are published on the parliamentary registers in line with the parliamentary codes of conduct.

What (a) restoration, (b) renovation and (c) building works are currently taking place at No. (i) 10, (ii) 11 and (iii) 12 Downing Street.

A repair project is underway to preserve the integrity of this Grade 1 listed building. This followed a survey in December 2023 which indicated that work must be completed for safety reasons, with the work commencing in January 2024. Repair of exterior window frames will be undertaken at the same time.

Whether his Department has agreed a data protection agreement between the Cabinet Office and the Labour Party.

Discussions on a data protection agreement between the Cabinet Office and the Labour Party are in progress.

Pursuant to the Answer of (a) 26 November 2024 to Question 14635 on Prime Minister: Official Gifts and (b) 21 January 2025 to Question 24487 on Members' Interests, where the Register of Members’ Financial Interests lists repaid or returned gifts and hospitality received by the Prime Minister.

Any hospitality or gifts received by Ministers in their ministerial capacity is declared in accordance with the Ministerial Code. The Cabinet Office publishes details of ministers’ hospitality and gifts on a monthly basis. Hospitality and gifts received by ministers in a non-ministerial capacity are published on the parliamentary registers in line with the parliamentary codes of conduct.

When 10 Downing Street cleaners are due to strike; and whether temporary cover will be organised for the Prime Minister’s (a) offices and (b) residence during the strike action.

The PCS trade union is in dispute with ISS and G4S. As is longstanding practice, the Government does not provide an ongoing commentary on industrial disputes.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of ending the vetting transformation programme on (a) national security and (b) staff recruitment delays.

The security of our people, assets and information is a Government priority.The Vetting Transformation Programme (VTP) was first announced in October 2020. The programme was subject of a number of reviews and audits under the previous administration, including by the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) and Cabinet Office Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) Hub. These reviews concluded that there were weaknesses in governance and stakeholder engagement. As a result, the programme was closed in September 2024.In its place, this Government is undertaking a range of initiatives to modernise and improve vetting services, delivered through three core workstreams:1. Rationalising Policy and Process - Government Security Group (GSG) and UK Security Vetting are working with departments to standardise and centralise decision making.2. Enhancing Digital and Cyber Security - UKSV are currently in the process of migrating the National Security Vetting System (NSVS) platform to the cloud to enhance the reliability of the current service and bring capabilities in line with industry best practice.3. Increasing Assurance - GSG and UKSV are moving to an approach of continuous improvement across the assurance offered by vetting investigations.In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2024 to Question 4669 on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, whether his policy on collation of data for Senior Civil Service appointments has changed since July 2024.

The policy on collation of data for senior civil service appointments across government remains the same as when the Rt Hon member was in Cabinet Office.

If he will take steps to amend paragraph 8.13 of the Ministerial Code, published on 6 November 2024, to provide guidance on whether meetings with social media organisations should be published on a quarterly basis.

Details of ministers’ and senior officials’ official meetings with external individuals and organisations, including with social media organisations, are already published on a quarterly basis. Data for the period of July to September 2024 was published by departments on the 30th January 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2024 to Question 9833 on Cabinet Office: Ministers’ Private Offices, in whose Ministerial offices are the five new standing mirrors located; and what the cost was of the coasters.

Ministerial offices are routinely refurbished after Parliament is dissolved and generally before new ministers are appointed or occupy their offices. There are mirrors located in several offices across the Cabinet Office. New standing mirrors - costing £37 each - were located in offices now occupied by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Leader of the House of Commons, the Minister without Portfolio, and the two Parliamentary Secretaries in Cabinet Office. The coasters purchased for ministerial private offices cost £7.99 per set.

How many civil servants in his Department have been disciplined for (a) plagiarism and (b) making false statements on a CV when applying for a job in the latest 12 month period for which figures are available.

The Cabinet Office has no record of any civil servants in the Department being disciplined in the latest 12 month period for plagiarism or making false statements on a CV when applying for a job.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024, to Question 13759 on Business: Meetings, if he will take steps to publish supplementary guidance to the Ministerial Code on how Ministers should record meetings with business representatives who have paid money to the political party to which they belong to facilitate a meeting.

Details of ministers' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of external individuals and organisations in attendance. Updated guidance on ministers' meetings was published to GOV.UK on 30 January 2025 at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministers-overseas-travel-and-meetings-publication-guidance/ministers-overseas-travel-and-meetings-publication-guidance.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 November to Question 6094 on Cabinet Office: Civil Servants, for what reason does the Government not publish details of appointments below SCS2 grade.

Approval is required from the Civil Service Commission for any appointment by exception at SCS2 or above. A list of such appointments by exception (SCS2 and above) are published and updated regularly on the Commission’s website. Aggregated data is published on details of appointments by exception below SCS2 grade. There has been no change to these arrangements since the Rt Hon member was a minister in the department.

With reference to page 176 of the National Risk Register 2025 and page 180 of the National Risk Register 2023, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016 and (b) Employment Rights Bill on the risk metrics for the National Risk Register 2025 edition.

All risks in the National Risk Register, which is the public-facing version of the internal, classified National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) are kept under review to ensure that they are the most appropriate scenarios to inform emergency preparedness and resilience activity.

If he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his Department’s policies of the recent Employment Tribunal settlement between Mrs Eleanor Frances versus the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.

As a Civil Service Department, the Cabinet Office’s policy in this area is aligned with the Government People Group’s Civil Service model policy. As such, the Cabinet Office policy will be revised in due course to reflect planned updates to the model policy and guidance, which is currently under review.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2024 to Question 6093 on Civil Servants: Recruitment, what is the process by which a Minister can request a department (a) appoint and (b) consider appointing a specific individual to the Civil Service without open and fair competition.

The Commission’s Recruitment Principles allow for specific time-limited ‘Exceptions’ to the legal requirement to recruit on merit on the basis of a fair and open competition. Appointment by exception must be either to meet the needs of the government or to enable the Civil Service to participate in a government employment initiative. In such instances, ministers are important stakeholders in the appointment process. Ministers can also, with agreement from the Civil Service Commission, bring in experts and specialist talent without competition - for up to two years – to meet an urgent business need. In most cases, departments determine the case for an Exception themselves. The Civil Service Commission audits departmental use of exceptions as part of its audit programme. The Commission’s approval is however required for: Any appointment by Exception at Senior Civil Service Pay Band 2Any extension or variation of any fixed-term appointment previously agreed by the Commission at Senior Civil Service Pay Band 2 or aboveThe use of an Exception within 12 months of an earlier Exception for the same individualAny fixed-term appointment by Exception in excess of two years

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2025 to Question 21401 on Public Bodies: Finance, if he will list specific hyperlinks for where this information is published on gov.uk.

The Cabinet Office does not hold a central list of where sponsoring departments publish information regarding public bodies reviews and efficiency savings. Sponsoring departments determine the format, contents, and publishing location of this information.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 August 2024 to Question 1667 on Prime Minister: Special Advisers, whether special advisers who (a) are part of a trade union and (b) not part of a trade union are permitted to go on strike.

Special advisers are employees of their appointing minister's department and as such have the same legal rights as other employees.

With reference to his Department's guidance entitled The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies, published on 15 March 2018, which of the three tests in Chapter 2 the Industrial Strategy Council meets.

The Department for Business and Trade is currently working through the approval process to establish the Industrial Strategy Council as an Arm’s Length Body.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question HL3924 on Brexit, what steps he is taking in response to each of those active infringement proceedings.

We are committed to the full and faithful implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement and fulfilling our international obligations. Disputes are a normal part of a mature relationship with international partners. It is not appropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

Pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2024 to Question 8126 on Trade Union Officials: Facilities Agreements, for what reason the public sector trade union facility time data was not published before the end of 2024; and when that data will be published.

The latest public sector trade union facility time data for the year 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 has been published on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/public-sector-trade-union-facility-time-data)