Written questions by Holden.

How many lecterns are (a) held by Downing Street and (b) on loan from Downing Street to other public bodies.

Downing Street holds 7 lecterns, all of which were inherited from previous governments.

With reference to the transparency data entitled Data on responses to correspondence from MPs and Peers, updated on 23 May 2024, for what reason there are different target response times for different Departments.

As outlined in the Guide to Handling Correspondence, all Government departments and agencies must aim to respond to correspondence within 20 working days. Government departments and agencies can set their own more ambitious deadlines if they want to do so.

If she will publish the minutes of meetings that she has had with each trade union since 5 July 2025.

The department assumes that there is an error in the question, and the right hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay means 5 July 2024. The details of all my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s external meetings are routinely published on GOV.UK.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Defra: spending over £500, January 2025, published on 21 March 2025, what Natural England purchased from Sumup Event Bar Spar in January 2025.

The expenditure detailed relates to a Christmas meal hospitality event held to recognise the contributions of volunteers at Fenn’s, Whixall, and Bettisfield Mosses National Nature Reserve. The total cost of £1,462.50 was processed for payment in January 2025, and it was attended by 65 volunteers invited to a celebratory event to thank them for their volunteering over the previous year. This is a total spend of approximately £22 per attendant. This National Nature Reserve has the most volunteers (over 100 registered volunteers) for any Natural England National Nature Reserve in the West Midlands . The volunteers contribute to many aspects of the running of the National Nature Reserve. These include: Outreach / Engagement /Education - Leading guided walks, Giving talks, assisting with School/College groups, helping with public events, and ensuring that those with disabilities can still enjoy natureAssisting with practical works including habitat management, maintenance & access worksResearch / surveys / monitoring – carrying out & assisting with research projects, carrying out surveys / monitoring (inc. species & hydrology) The volunteers in 2024/25 contributed over 6,000 hours to the National Nature Reserve. The Cabinet Office has recently announced measures to cut down on this kind of expenditure. This is to correct the lack of respect for public money by the previous government, which allowed this type of spend to be entirely unchecked and unmonitored, including for the time that he was a minister in that department. The policy detail can be found here:Government-branded merchandise and away days banned - GOV.UK

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Defra: spending over £500, January 2025, published on 21 March 2025, what Natural England purchased from Amazon Marketplace on 30 January 2025.

The expenditure detailed relates to the purchase of equipment for public use (binoculars and a spotting scope) for a project at Goss Moor. The connecting people with nature project enables the public a closer view and experience of wildlife on the National Nature Reserves, it is funded through the national health and environment budget. The scope was necessary to be inclusive for people who would struggle to hold the binoculars for health reasons. The total amount of £625.42, including VAT, was processed for payment in February 2025. This transaction is in line with our standard financial procedures, and the expenditure was reviewed and approved accordingly. The Cabinet Office has recently announced measures to cut down on this kind of expenditure. This is to correct the lack of respect for public money by the previous government, which allowed this type of spend to be entirely unchecked and unmonitored, including for the time that he was a minister in that department. The policy detail can be found here:Government-branded merchandise and away days banned - GOV.UK

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Defra: spending over £500, January 2025, published on 21 March 2025, what the Environment Agency purchased in the 95 transactions to Calders in January 2025.

In January 2025 the 95 transactions to Calders by the Environment Agency relate to its corporate contract for the provision of external meeting rooms and conference facilities. The dates in January relate to payment date and the provision of meeting rooms in these cases covered dates in October, November and December 2024. The Cabinet Office has recently announced measures to cut down on this kind of expenditure. This is to correct the lack of respect for public money by the previous government, which allowed this type of spend to be entirely unchecked and unmonitored, including for the time that he was a minister in that department. The policy detail can be found here: Government-branded merchandise and away days banned - GOV.UK

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Defra: spending over £500, January 2025, published on 21 March 2025, what the Environment Agency purchased from VAT: GB 695449381 on 14 January 2025.

On 14 January 2025, the Environment Agency purchased training for qualifying staff who hold a professional qualification provided by the Institute of Asset Management. The training was provided by Asset Management Consulting Limited, described on the publication as VAT: GB 695449381. The description comes from the supplier. The Cabinet Office has recently announced measures to ensure public expenditure offers maximum value to the taxpayer. This is to correct the lack of respect for public money by the previous government, which allowed this type of spend to be entirely unchecked and unmonitored, including for the time that he was a minister in that department. The policy detail can be found here:Government-branded merchandise and away days banned - GOV.UK

With reference to the guidance entitled Having honours taken away (forfeiture), published on 27 December 2017, whether political views may be grounds for the removal of an honour.

Honours can be revoked if an individual is deemed to have brought the honours system into disrepute. Each case is considered on its own merits, but holding a particular political viewpoint would not be grounds for forfeiture.

How many pricing reviews of contracts managed by his Department the Crown Commercial Service has undertaken due to changes to employer’s National Insurance contributions in April 2025; and if he will make an estimate of the number of pricing reviews that will be required for this reason.

Most Crown Commercial Service (CCS) commercial agreements use the public sector contract which does not permit increases in the framework rates for employer national insurance contributions as these are classed as General Change in Law. Where the framework contract allows for framework rates to be reviewed, any request by a supplier to do so would be considered by CCS on a case-by-case basis.

Whether (a) Permanent Secretaries and (b) Second Permanent Secretaries are employed on fixed term contracts.

The majority of Permanent Secretaries (First and Second) are permanent civil servants, on permanent contracts. Exceptionally, fixed term contracts may be offered to external candidates, for example in the case of specialist roles. When appointed to a Permanent Secretary role, Permanent Secretaries (First and Second) are appointed on fixed term tenures, typically for five years. Where appropriate, and with the Prime Minister and relevant Minister’s approval, tenure may be extended.

With reference to his Department's guidance entitled Public Bodies Handbook – Part 2: The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies, whether his Department's public bodies team assessed Great British Railways against the requirement that the creation of a new arm's length body should only be considered as a last resort; whether the Department for Transport provided evidence that alternative delivery models were considered; and which of the three tests in Chapter 2 of that guidance Great British Railways met.

The Department for Transport is currently working through the approval process to establish Great British Railways as an Arm’s Length Body. The completion of business cases as part of this process considers viable delivery mechanisms and the three tests.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2024 to Question 4697 on Civil Servants: Incentives, at what point in the year Cabinet Office civil servants are typically given such incentive payments of shopping vouchers; whether such vouchers can be used for paying utility bills; and how much his Department has spent on Love2Shop Gift Cards since 5 July 2024.

In-year vouchers can be given at any point in the year. The vouchers cannot be directly redeemed for utility bills, but have a wide range of retail outlets where they can be spent. The Cabinet Office does not use Love2Shop vouchers.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 37318 on Animal Experiments: Animal Welfare, how many animals were bred for use in procedures licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 but deemed surplus and disposed of without being used for scientific purposes in the last full calendar year for which data is available.

The most recent statistics in this category were published in 2017, when 1.81 million non-genetically altered (non-GA) animals were bred for scientific procedures but were killed or died without being used in regulated procedures. These statistics can be found here:Additional statistics on breeding and genotyping of animals for scientific procedures, Great Britain, 2017

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 14354 on Civil Servants: Pay, what the budget for civil service pay is (a) including and (b) excluding National insurance employer contributions in (i) 2024-25 and (ii) 2025-26.

Departments are responsible for pay, terms and conditions of civil servants, within the parameters set out in the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance, this includes setting budgets for annual increases for its own workforce. Salary data for the Civil Service is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics, an Accredited Official Statistics release. Civil Service Statistics 2025 is due to be published on 30 July 2025. For 2025/26, departmental pay awards have not yet been made and the 2025/26 Pay Remit Guidance will be published in due course.

What guidance his Department has issued on delivering efficiency savings through reducing spending on external public relations.

The Government regularly evaluates the effectiveness of all communication activities to ensure they are delivering and providing the best value for money for taxpayers. An example of this is the recent comprehensive communications Spending Review that delivered savings of £85 million in 2024-25 and up to £96 million in 2025-26.

Whether he has issued guidance to (a) the civil service and (b) arm’s length bodies on paying back severance payments if civil servants made redundant rejoin the (a) civil service, (b) NHS and (c) wider public sector.

Whilst the NHS and some wider public sector organisations will have their own arrangements, any individual who leaves under the terms of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, and later returns to the same organisation, or another one that uses the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, within six months, must pay back a proportionate amount of their compensation.

With reference to the Answer of 17 February 2025 to Question HL4631 on Cabinet Office: Standards, if he will publish that template.

His Majesty's Government can confirm that:As was the case under the previous administration, the template is intended solely for internal departmental use and will not be released publicly.

Pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2024 to Question 15471 on Office for Equality and Opportunity: Gender and Sexuality, whether the Civil Service People Group formally recognises any (a) genders, (b) sexual orientations and (c) gender identities.

Data collection on gender identities, genders or sexual orientation is delegated to departments.

Whether the Government plans to lay a new Official Statistics Order to designate the Fair Work Agency’s statistical outputs as official statistics.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 31st March is attached.

Pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2025 to Question 20702 on Foreign Investment in UK: National Security, if he will publish mitigation measures taken as a result of final orders issued in the last year with the 2024-2025 NSI annual report.

The Government publishes notices of final orders made on GOV.UK - this includes cases that are blocked, unwound, or cleared subject to conditions. The notices include a high level summary of what mitigation measures are imposed on the parties.