Written questions by Holden.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 7754 on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, whether a public sector equalities duty assessment was made when appointing the five mission delivery board civil service roles.

The appointment of Directors General (DGs) as Mission Senior Responsible Officers was undertaken as part of the standard management of roles within the DG workforce.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 43463 on Prime Minister: Email, whether emails which are automatically removed after 90 days that have not otherwise been saved for long-term storage are still considered to be held under (a) the Freedom of Information regime and (b) Subject Access Request regime.

As under previous administrations, guidance set out by the Information Commissioner’s Office is followed here: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/foi/freedom-of-information-and-environmental-information-regulations/determining-whether-we-hold-information/

Media and Sport, with reference to Disney+ making available the 'uncut' version of The Abyss, what steps is she taking to ensure that streaming services ensure their content is not in breach of UK law.

I refer the Rt. Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 29 April 2025 to Question UIN 47833.

With reference to his Department's data entitled Cabinet Office: spend data over £25,000 - March 2025, published on 24 April 2025, what the expenditure with Tullo Marshall Waren Ltd was for.

Tullo Marshall Warren Ltd operates as part of the Unlimited Group. The Cabinet Office appointed Pablo Unlimited (Unlimited Group) as a standby agency through a competitive tender process under the Campaign Solutions 2 Framework. The agency delivers end-to-end campaign solutions to support public service campaigns.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 42606 on Civil Servants: Remote Working, how figures are collated for overall workforce attendance in offices other than the departmental HQ; and whether such figures are reviewed centrally.

Central data on Civil Service Headquarters (HQ) occupancy is collected and published quarterly on GOV.UK for all HQ buildings of Whitehall Departments, Office for Scotland, Office for Wales and Northern Ireland Office. Until May 2024 Departments provided data to the Cabinet Office on the average number of employees working in their departmental HQ buildings only, for each week. This moved to quarterly publishing from June 2024 with no change to the methodology of reporting.Departments manage their own arrangements for monitoring workforce attendance. No other information on occupancy data or workforce attendance is gathered centrally.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2025 to Question 41270 on MI6: Stonewall, for what reason the Secret Intelligence Service has a membership.

The Secret Intelligence Service does not comment publicly on internal policy decisions.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what guidance his Department has issued to ambassadors on (a) declaring and (b) reporting their interests.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has established comprehensive policies and procedures to ensure transparency and accountability among its ambassadors. These guidelines are designed to mitigate conflicts of interest and maintain high ethical standards. Ambassadors are required to declare any personal or business interests that may influence their judgement in performing their duties. They must also report any gifts and hospitality they receive. The FCDO maintains an internal register for these declarations, which is regularly reviewed to uphold the integrity of the diplomatic service.

Whether appointments to the Ethics and Integrity Commission will be included in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair will be classified as a significant appointment.

We are restoring confidence in government and the highest standards in public life. This government is committed to establishing the right structures to do so and have already taken steps to improve probity and transparency, including through introducing a new Ministerial Code with emphasises the principles of public life, by strengthening the Terms of Reference for the Independent Adviser, and by introducing a new monthly Register of Gifts and Hospitality.

What the assumed cost of an hour of staff time is for assessing the disproportionate cost threshold for written parliamentary questions; what the assumed hourly cost was of responding to (a) written parliamentary questions and (b) freedom of information requests in each year since 2000; and what methodology his Department uses to estimate these costs.

As was the case under the previous administration, the methodology for assessing the disproportionate cost threshold for written parliamentary questions is available in the Guide to Parliamentary Work, at paragraphs 218-220: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/673372f9c10bb403d96bf2f8/Guide_to_Parliamentary_Work.pdf In respect of Freedom of Information requests, 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.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 41642 on Office for National Statistics (ONS): Industrial Disputes, what the mandated return to the office is; what the previous office attendance rate was in each ONS building; and what the expected office attendance rate is in those buildings.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 9 May is attached.

What estimate he has made of the number of redundancies arising from the abolition of NHS England.

Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead the formation of a new joint centre.The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job. We will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, driving productivity up, and getting waiting times down. As part of these changes, we intend to reduce the headcount across the Department and NHS England, with further details to become available as we take the programme forward.These changes are no reflection of the tireless work carried out by talented professionals across the health sector. These changes are about forming a more agile and efficient system, in the interests of patients and the public.

How many staff by headcount are currently assigned to the Office for Value for Money; and what is the annual budget for the business unit.

The Office for Value for Money is a small, time-limited organisation based in HM Treasury. In addition to its independent Chair, the OVfM comprises a team of c.15 officials, including secondees from the National Audit Office (NAO), the Government Commercial Function, and the Evaluation Task Force. Its budget will be published and outturn data will be made available with HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support global health initiatives.

The UK has long been a champion of global health, and we are one of the largest donors to global health multilaterals worldwide. From our WHO partnership, helping to save over 40 million lives, to our investment in Gavi to support them to immunise 300 million children, and in the Global Fund to save over 1.2 million lives, our dedication and commitment to combating global health challenges is clear. And through the Pandemic Accord, we will help safeguard lives, livelihoods and economic stability in this country and globally from future pandemics.

What information his Department holds on the total cost in staff time for Cabinet Office all-staff calls since 4 July.

As was the case under the previous administration, all-staff calls are organised to share updates on key policies, projects and priorities and allow staff to raise questions directly with leadership. Typically the calls last for around 45 minutes and around 2500 civil servants attend.

Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 45908 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Cultural Heritage, which pieces of work have been (a) installed and (b) deinstalled in each (i) Embassy, (ii) High Commission and (iii) Residence since 4 July 2024.

I invite the Rt Hon Member to search any information he requires on the artworks and their locations on the Government Art Collection website.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 46285 on Ethics and Integrity Commission, when he will establish the Commission; and whether it will be placed on a statutory basis.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to PQ UIN 46285 on 28 April 2025.

How many roles in his Department were (a) externally advertised and (b) subject to open competition since 30 May 2024; and how many senior civil servants have been appointed without external advertisement and open competition in that time.

Substantive appointments and promotions to or within Senior Civil Service (SCS) grades at Cabinet Office have to be through fair and open competition. Between 30 May 2024 and 30 April 2025, the Cabinet Office advertised 19 SCS roles through fair and open competition, of which 12 were advertised externally. SCS roles can also be appointed outside of fair and open competition through routes that include temporary promotions, level moves, secondments and identifying roles for returners.

What official internal communications (a) his Department, (b) the Civil Service's diversity networks, (c) the Civil Service People Group and (d) the Office for Equality and Opportunity have sent civil servants in the Cabinet Office in relation to the Supreme Court ruling of [2025] UKSC 16, 16 April 2025 since that judgement was published.

The Cabinet Office issued an intranet update on 30 April 2025 confirming a review of relevant policies, guidance and workplace facilities to ensure legal compliance.No communications have been issued by the Government People Group. Any messaging issued by volunteer diversity networks to their members are not official Civil Service communications

Innovation and Technology, what information his Department holds on the number of Departments that use the Redbox AI chatbot.

Redbox is available in DSIT, the Prime Minister's Office and the Cabinet Office. The Department for Business and Trade also runs its own instance of Redbox.

Representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 44585 on Winston Churchill: Artworks, which Members’ offices removed the portrait of Churchill; and whether the decision was requested by the hon. Member.

Artworks are removed from offices during dissolution and the General Election to mitigate risk to the collection during this busy period and to ensure availability of suitable works to meet Member requests for office hangs upon their election.Between June and October 2024, the Heritage Collections team moved over 1100 artworks to facilitate dissolution works and election changes. This included seven portraits of Churchill: four from offices of Members, or their staff, who were not returned at the election; two from Members who were returned at the election; and one for conservation. Those removals were not, therefore, requested by the Members who had previously been allocated those offices. One of those works has subsequently been requested for another Member’s office; the other five remain available for Members to request.