Written questions by Holden.

With reference to the Answer of 19 November 2024 to Question HL2339, on Cabinet Office: TikTok, how many staff are assigned to the New Media Unit; whether it includes special advisers; and whether it is based inside (a) 10 Downing Street and (b) the Cabinet Office.

The New Media Unit will initially draw expertise through departmental staff loans and will sit within the Cabinet Office with oversight from the Prime Minister's Office.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 14712 on Honours: Public Appointments, if he will list the assessment panel members for each of those competitions (a) before they closed and (b) after they re-opened.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 14712 on Honours: Public Appointments, the assessment panel members for each of the competitions mentioned (a) before they closed and (b) after they re-opened are as follows: (i) Community and Voluntary Service:Panel before the advert closed: The Rt Hon Nick Hurd - Chair, Community and Voluntary Service Honours Committee; Meenal Sachdev - Co-Founder of Connect India (independent panel member); Alison Bennett - (then) Deputy Director, Honours and Appointments Secretariat, Cabinet Office.Panel after advert re-opened: The Rt Hon Nick Hurd - Chair, Community and Voluntary Service Honours Committee; Vijay Krishnarayan - former Director, Commonwealth Foundation (independent panel member); Official from the Honours and Memorialisation Secretariats, Cabinet Office. (ii) Parliamentary and Political Service:Panel before the advert closed: Lord Sherbourne - Chair, Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee; Natascha Engel - former MP (independent panel member); Alison Bennett - (then) Deputy Director, Honours and Appointments Secretariat.Panel after advert re-opened: Lord Sherbourne - Chair, Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee; Natascha Engel - former MP (independent panel member); Clare Brunton OBE - Deputy Director, Honours and MemorialisationSecretariats. (iii) Diversity and Outreach (formerly called Representation and Outreach):Panel before advert closed: Sir Chris Wormald KCB - (then) Chair, Main Honours Committee, Mary Mcleod - CEO, Business in the Community; Alison Bennett - (then) Deputy Director, Honours and Appointments Secretariat, Cabinet Office.Panel after advert reopened: Sir Chris Wormald KCB - (then) Chair, Main Honours Committee (this was what was advertised - he will now be replaced by Dame Tamara Finkelstein as the new Chair, Main Honours Committee); Official from the Honours and Memorialisation Secretariats. The independent panel member has not yet been confirmed. As is longstanding practice, officials in the delegated grades (i.e. who are not Senior Civil Servants) are not normally named publicly.

Whether his Department has issued recent guidance on the appointment of consultant lobbyists as non-executive directors of Government Departments.

There has been no change to the guidance or rules relating to the appointment of non-executive directors of Government Departments since the General Election.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 November 2024 to Question 10698 on Ministers: Official Residences, who was allocated Admiralty House on a time limited basis.

Between 9 September 2024 and 4 November 2024 one of the flats in Admiralty House was allocated to the Secretary of State for Defence, on a limited time basis.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 December 2024 to Question 20828 on the National Security Adviser, whether the new National Security Adviser (a) attends, (b) chairs and (c) otherwise participates in any Cabinet (i) committees and (ii) subcommittees; whether he has any role in the (A) preparation, (B) drafting, (C) clearance and (D) approval of (1) agenda items, (2) minutes and (3) other documentation related to Cabinet (a) committee and (b) subcommittee meetings; and for what reason he was appointed as a special adviser rather than as a civil servant.

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees, their attendance, and how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly. The appointment of special advisers is at the discretion of the Prime Minister in compliance with the relevant codes.

If she will publish all internal equality impact assessments produced for measures included in the Autumn Budget 2024 and lay copies of them in the House of Commons library.

HM Treasury carefully considers the impact of its decisions on those sharing protected characteristics in line with both our legal obligations and our strong commitment to breaking down barriers to opportunity.In the interests of transparency, HM Treasury and HMRC also publishes summaries of equality impacts for tax measures being legislated for in the Finance Bill in tax information and impact notes (TIINs).

If he will issue new guidance to (a) the civil service and (b) public bodies to prevent practices which limit (i) recruitment and (ii) internships on the basis of protected characteristics.

Individual departments are responsible for recruitment decisions and they are required to meet all obligations of relevant legislation, including the Equality Act 2010. If a department wants to restrict an internship programme to a specific group or groups, it would be expected to ensure on a case by case basis that it complies with the relevant legislation. As a result, as was the case under the previous administration, no central guidance is provided on this matter.

Whether he plans to include appointments to the Fair Work Agency in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair appointment will be classified as a significant appointment.

The Employment Rights Bill is the first stage of Fair Work Agency implementation, and we will publish further details around the establishment of the FWA in due course. We will make the FWA Chair appointment in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments, as regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

What estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions on the Duchy of Lancaster.

Information about the Duchy of Lancaster's accounts will be published by the Duchy in the usual way.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he considers the International Criminal Court to be a foreign court.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an international court based in the Netherlands. The UK is a State Party to the Rome Statute, the international treaty which established the ICC, and is one of the founding members. The ICC Act 2001 gives effect to the UK's obligations under the Rome Statute. We respect the independence of the ICC, which is the primary institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern.

Communities and Local Government, how many grey belt planning applications have been submitted since 12 December 2024.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government annually publish statistics showing the extent of England’s Green Belt, including changes resulting from land being released from, or added to, the Green Belt. These statistics can be found on gov.uk here. The next statistical release will be published in autumn 2025.In addition, the department publishes statistics on land use change, including estimates of new residential addresses created in Green Belt and other categories of land. The department also publishes statistics every three months on the number of planning applications made, decided, and granted in England, down to local authority level.

Whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have had meetings with representatives of the British Society for Genetic Medicine in the last 30 years.

In the last 30 years, officials in the Department of Health and, later, the Department of Health and Social Care, have had meetings with representatives of the British Society for Genetic Medicine. As far as can be determined, ministers have also had meetings with representatives of the British Society for Genetic Medicine.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question HL2771 on Civil Servants: Recruitment, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of crown servant internships not being open those of white British backgrounds on community relations, in the context of Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.

Individual departments are responsible for recruitment decisions and they are required to meet all obligations of relevant legislation, including the Equality Act 2010. If a department wants to restrict an internship programme to a specific group or groups, it would be expected to ensure that it complies with the relevant legislation. As each case will be unique, a generic assessment would not be appropriate. This approach has not changed since when the Rt Hon member was a minister in the department.

Pursuant to the answer of 27 December 2024 to Question 20832 on Special Advisers: Pay, if he will ensure that the list of special advisers is published by 31 March 2025.

I refer the Rt Hon Member to my response to PQ 20832 and PQ 22188.

If he will publish of the questionnaire form that incoming Ministers are asked to provide to the Propriety and Ethics Team.

The established process for the declaration and management of ministers’ private interests is set out in Part B Chapter 3 of the Ministerial Code. Details of the categories ministers are asked to declare their interests in can be found in the List of Ministers’ Interests, along with more information on the interests process. The last list was published in November 2024 and is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67407bad53373262c0d825f6/List_of_Ministers__Interests.pdf

Pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2025 to Question 19414 on Non-departmental Public Bodies, how many non-departmental public bodies the Government plans to (a) open and (b) close.

As said in my previous answer of 8 January 2025, Cabinet Office maintains records and oversight of formally established Arm’s Length Bodies, including NDPBs. Individual departments are responsible for any proposals to open or close NDPBs.

What her Department’s definition of a tax break is.

‘Tax breaks’ are commonly understood to be policies that mean taxpayers either pay less tax through exemptions or deductions, or get tax back through credits or repaid in another way.

Pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 21387 on Rachel Reeves: Self-assessment, for what reason she does not plan to publish her tax return.

I refer the hon member to the answer given on the 7 January 2025 to UIN 21387.

Pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2025 to Question 19415 on Ed Miliband, whether the Rt Hon Member for Islington North (a) made an application for and (b) received a severance payment.

Ministers and certain office-holders are entitled to a severance payment when they leave office under the Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991. As set out in the Act, to be eligible to receive the payment ministers and office-holders must be under the age of 65 when they leave office. Under this provision, the Rt Hon Member for Islington North was not eligible to receive a severance payment when he left the role of Leader of the Opposition in 2020.

Whether Baroness Casey made a declaration of political activity following her appointment as Lead Non-Executive Director.

Baroness Casey followed the published process for declaring any interests.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-executive-board-member-declaration-of-interests-process/non-executive-board-member-declaration-of-interests-process#contextInterests will be published in due course on the department’s website.