Written questions by Holden.

Pursuant to the answer of 30 July 2024, to Question 1261, on Senior Civil Servants, if he will publish a breakdown by (a) department and (b) job title of senior civil service jobs (i) offered and (ii) appointed since 30 July 2024, including indicating where a Civil Service recruitment principles exception was applied.

Information on Senior Civil Service appointments is not collated centrally. Departments can run campaigns outside of the central recruitment services through their own Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) or processes, or make appointments from existing reserve lists. Therefore, we are unable to provide a full response. Appointments by exception at SCS2 or above must be approved by the Civil Service Commission, details of which are published on the commission’s website.

Whether he plans to issue new guidance on the proportion of the civil service jobs advertised to the public.

In May 2022 the then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster wrote to cabinet ministers outlining all Senior Civil Service (SCS) jobs must be advertised externally to the public unless an exemption is approved. This continues to be the policy. As under the previous Government, for appointments below SCS level, departments have the authority to determine how they recruit in line with the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. Again, this continues to be the policy.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 29005 on Risk Assessment, whether the National Security Risk Assessment on industrial action has changed in light of the expected (a) repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016 and (b) the passage of the Employment Rights Bill.

All risks in 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 and to reflect the risk landscape. The National Risk Register, which reflects the NSRA, was last updated in January 2025 and will be updated regularly to reflect changes to the risk landscape.

Whether the (a) Cabinet Office Commercial team and (b) any other public body holds information on which Ministers and officials have used the Commercial Air Transport Contract to have helicopter travel provided; and which body holds information on the (i) individual flights cost and (ii) total cost to the public purse.

The Cabinet Office Commercial team is responsible for managing and operating the Central Cabinet Office Corporate Travel Agency Contract, which includes provisions for the booking of aviation assets. This contract has not been used for helicopter travel by this Government.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25851 on Intelligence Services: Unpaid Work, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the eligibility criteria for the 2025 M15 and SIS internship schemes; and if he will request the Security Services make internship opportunities available to people from white British backgrounds.

In recent years, UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) has run a number of internships and placement schemes. They are designed to provide insight about what it is like to work in UKIC to individuals who have particular skills and expertise, want to work in a particular area and/or are from demographics and backgrounds under-represented across Government. Any internship participant wishing to subsequently apply for employment with UKIC or the Civil Service is required to take part in a fair and open competition, in the normal way, with selection based on merit.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 29026 on Trade Union Officials: Facilities Agreements, what his planned timetable is for publishing facility time data for 2024-25; and what month will be used as a baseline for the data.

Self-reported public-sector trade union facility time data, collected under the Facility Time Regulations, will be published in line with our standard timelines for this data set and the timelines under the previous administration.The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 explain what is included in the published data set as well as the period this data set covers.

What steps has his Department taken to improve the speed of reviews conducted under the powers of the National Security and Investment Act since 5 July 2024.

The Government always seeks to conclude reviews under the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act as swiftly as possible. Reviews under the NSI Act are subject to statutory timelines. The Act is also kept under regular review to ensure it is operating as efficiently as possible.

Pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25456 on Senior Civil Servants: Training, how many people attended each conference.

148 people attended the conference on 23 July 2024 and 263 people attended the conference on 10 October 2024.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2025 to Question 28586 on HMS Achilles, for what reason the Committee chose to recommend to the Sovereign the name of HMS Achilles.

The name HMS Achilles was considered in light of the forthcoming VE and VJ Day anniversaries and given its WWII battle honours at the River Plate and Okinawa. The name also has a very fine heritage outside of WWII, having been borne by six ships previously and having earned battle honours including Trafalgar.

Whether the Prime Minister has responded to correspondence from Baroness Carr following Prime Minister’s Questions on 12 February 2025.

The Lord Chancellor issued a response on 19 February 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2025 to Question 21403 on Cabinet Office: Pay, what the monetary gross paybill is, excluding pension contributions and National Insurance in aggregate for staff in the (a) Women’s Equality Unit, (b) Race Disparity Unit and (c) Disability Unit.

The salaries of the Senior Civil Servants responsible for the Women’s Equality Unit, Race Disparity Unit and Disability Unit and salary cost of their reports was published in January as part of Cabinet Office transparency reporting and can be found under the Organogram for Senior staff. https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/ff76be1f-4f37-4bef-beb7-32b259413be1/organogram-cabinet-office

With reference to the document entitled The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies, published on 15 March 2018, and in the context of the proposed abolition of NHS England, whether his Department will consider the case for creating the National Care Service against the requirement that the creation of a new arms-length body should only be considered as a last resort.

It is for the relevant Minister to decide if policy within their portfolio should be delivered through the creation of a new public body. Departments seeking to establish an Arm’s Length Bodies must submit three business cases as part of the approval process, as outlined in ‘The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies’. Once the the Cabinet Office receives a business case for a proposed new body there is a detailed process to ensure there is sufficient due diligence to establish a clear rationale for a proposed body.

Whether he plans to lay a new Official Statistics Order to designate the National Data Library’s statistical outputs as official statistics.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 24th March is attached.

If he will publish the contract between OCS and his Department.

On 22 August 2023, following contract award, the OCS (formerly Atalian Servest Limited) Contract was published on Contracts Finder. It can be accessed using the link below. https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/d27d862b-a997-44e4-a8d4-49eb871cb512?origin=SearchResults&p=1

On what date Sir Alex Chisholm was given permission by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments to take up a role with Boston Consulting Group.

Sir Alex Chisholm was provided with his final advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments on 30 October 2024. The advice was published on ACOBA’s page on GOV.UK on 12 March 2025, and is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67b318fe7c070e71525f5801/ACOBA_advice-_Alex_Chisholm-_BCG.pdf

Whether staff are permitted to hold more than one government pass with different (a) names, (b) photographs and (c) genders.

Civil Servants are only allowed to hold 1 Government Pass (Common Civil Service Pass or GovPass) at any time. In 2020, under the previous administration, an exemption was introduced, which allows for individuals to apply for a second pass to reflect their identity if it is deemed that current arrangements are unsupportive. This arrangement was intended to support gender fluid members of staff or those who are transitioning.

Pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2025 to Question 27913 on 10 Downing Street: Shops, whether the goods manufactured in China and sold in the Downing Street Gift Shop are produced in Xinjiang.

None of the products sold in the Downing Street gift shop are produced in Xinjiang.

What proportionate reduction in spending will be required in each (a) Department and (b) arm’s length bodies in (i) 2024-25, (ii) 2025-26, and (iii) 2026-27.

The Cabinet Office does not hold details about the spending plans of other government departments. Plans can be found in HM Treasury’s Estimate publications and fiscal statement documentation. Departments, including the Cabinet Office, publish forward plans in the annual reports and accounts. The Prime Minister has announced that the Government is committed to cutting bureaucracy across the state, in order to focus government on the priorities of working people and shift money to the frontline. As part of this, the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the arms-length body NHS England. The Government has also announced the first zero-based review of government spending in 17 years, with departments expected to go line-by-line to find savings and efficiencies, including in bodies and agencies that they sponsor.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025 to Question 25671 on Delivery Unit, on what dates each of the stocktakes have taken place.

I refer the honourable gentlemen to the answer given to PQ25671.

If he will provide details of (a) gifts, (b) donations, (c) donations in kind and (d) hospitality that Ministers in the Department including Downing Street, have accepted that have since been paid back to the original donor by the relevant Minister under the (i) Ministerial and (ii) Parliamentary reporting regimes.

All gifts and hospitality that are received in a ministerial capacity are declared on the Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality in line with ministers’ obligations under the Ministerial Code.The Parliamentary codes of conduct are a matter for Parliament and questions should be directed to the individual member concerned or the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.