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1680364

registered interest
date	08/01/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Civil Service: Artificial Intelligence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of artificial intelligence on productivity in the Civil Service.
tabling member constituency	Bournemouth East
tabling member printed	Mr Tobias Ellwood
uin	8362
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2024 answer text <p>Government is accelerating AI adoption and seeking to deliver benefits at scale. In the Autumn Statement the Chancellor noted that there are significant opportunities presented by making greater use of AI across the public sector.</p><p> </p><p>On 20 November, the Deputy Prime Minister announced an investment of £5m and the creation of the new ‘Incubator for AI’ (i.AI), an elite team of technical experts at the heart of government, that will help departments to harness the potential of AI to improve lives and the delivery of public services.</p><p> </p><p>The Central Digital and Data Office, in the Cabinet Office, is undertaking analysis of its potential opportunities and impact on Civil Service productivity. This includes ongoing work to identify areas for automation of manual processes and uncover efficiency savings in the Civil Service and the wider public sector.</p><p> </p><p>I refer the Rt Hon Member for Bournemouth East to my answer on 22nd June 2023 (UIN 190884).</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 15/01/2024 17:42:16 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood

1680369

registered interest
date	08/01/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Peter Bone
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the former Deputy Leader of the House of Commons was awarded a payment on 27 September 2022, in the context of his age at the date he ceased to hold office.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	8377
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2024 answer text <p>I thank the Rt Hon Member for bringing this to my attention. The Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 sets out the entitlement for Ministers who leave office.</p><p>Such payments should not apply where a person has attained the age of sixty-five. If a former Minister was incorrectly given a severance payment, the relevant department will contact the individual to recover the over-payment.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart grouped question UIN 9462 9463 question first answered 25/01/2024 17:00:05 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart previous answer version 10527 answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

1680384

registered interest
date	08/01/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Cabinet Office: Employment Tribunals Service
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the employment tribunal claim listed on page 126 of his Department's annual report and accounts for 2022/23, HC 1464, whether that claim has been heard; and what the status is of the contingent liability arising from that claim.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	8389
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2024 answer text <p>The Employment Tribunal hearing started in October and the claimant withdrew the claim mid-way through the hearing. The contingent liability has subsequently fallen away.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 16/01/2024 16:36:30 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

1680420

registered interest
date	08/01/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Veterans
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Minister for Veterans' Affairs last met with the Parliamentary Under Secretary (Minister for Defence, People and Families) to discuss matters relating to veterans.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	8297
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2024 answer text <p>The Ministry of Defence and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs work collaboratively together to deliver for veterans, as demonstrated by the recent publication of the Government’s response to both the Independent Review of UK Government Welfare Services for Veterans and LGBT Veterans Independent Review.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>My officials and I continue to meet regularly with the Ministry of Defence to deliver shared priorities, including ramping up delivery of Veterans Cards to ex-service personnel across the country.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Plymouth, Moor View answering member printed Johnny Mercer question first answered 15/01/2024 11:35:50 answering member 4485 label Biography information for Johnny Mercer
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1680496

registered interest
date	08/01/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Queen Elizabeth House
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff were employed at Queen Elizabeth House in each UK Government department or arms-length body (a) full time, (b) part time, (c) on a consultancy basis and (d) as civil servants as of 8 January 2023.
tabling member constituency	Edinburgh North and Leith
tabling member printed	Deidre Brock
uin	8470
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/01/2024 answer text <p>The number of civil servants reported in post by government departments and executive agencies as at 31 March 2023 based in Queen Elizabeth House is presented in the table below. The postcode for Queen Elizabeth House, 1 Sibbald, Edinburgh is EH8 8FT.</p><p> </p><p>Information on consultants based or employed at Queen Elizabeth House is not centrally available.</p><p> </p><p>Table 1: Civil Servants whose postcode of government establishment or other workplace where employed or based is EH8 8FT, by civil service organisation and working pattern, as at 31 March 2023</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Civil Service Organisation</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Headcount of all civil servants in full-time role</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Headcount of all civil servants working in a part-time role</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total headcount of all civil servants</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Building Digital UK</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cabinet Office (excl. agencies)</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Central Civil Service Fast Stream</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Competition and Markets Authority</p></td><td><p>55</p></td><td><p>15</p></td><td><p>70</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (excl. agencies)</p></td><td><p>80</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>85</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (excl. agencies)</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (excl. agencies)</p></td><td><p>20</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Department for International Trade</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (excl. agencies)</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Department for Transport (excl. agencies)</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Department of Health and Social Care (excl. agencies)</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Government Actuary’s Department</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>15</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Government Commercial Organisation</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Health and Safety Executive</p></td><td><p>50</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>55</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>HM Revenue and Customs (excl. agencies)</p></td><td><p>1,825</p></td><td><p>395</p></td><td><p>2,220</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Home Office</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ministry of Justice (excl. agencies)</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland (incl. Office of the Advocate General for Scotland)</p></td><td><p>75</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p><del class="ministerial">15</del> <ins class="ministerial">80</ins><del class="ministerial"><br /></del></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Scottish Government (excl. agencies)</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>[s]</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Valuation Office Agency</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>10</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2,220</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>440</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2,655</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Source: Annual Civil Service Employment Statistics (ACSES), Cabinet Office<strong><br /></strong></p><p>[s] = confidential and suppressed due to small numbers of between 1 and 4.</p><p>Numbers are rounded to the nearest five.</p><p>Additional departments and their civil servants may be based/employed at Queen Elizabeth House but may not show in the data due to non-reporting of postcode information when reporting their locations information to Cabinet Office through ACSES.</p><p>The data in the table refers to civil service organisations and civil servants only. Data for non-civil service organisations are not available centrally.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 16/01/2024 12:03:26 question first ministerially corrected 16/01/2024 15:32:11 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen previous answer version 11377 answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4417 label Biography information for Deidre Brock

1679337

registered interest
date	05/01/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Capita Fire and Rescue: Workplace Pensions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the pensions of Capita Fire and Rescue workers; and what discussions he has had with (a) the Cabinet Office, (b) Capita Fire and Rescue, (c) MyCSP and (d) Unite the Union on that subject.
tabling member constituency	West Dunbartonshire
tabling member printed	Martin Docherty-Hughes
uin	7931
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2024 answer text <p>The Cabinet Office, acting as the Civil Service Pension Scheme Manager, has met on a number of occasions with representatives of Unite the Union (Unite), Capita Land Services and MyCSP to discuss issues surrounding Pensionable Pay for members of the Defence Fire and Rescue Services that were transferred to Capita Fire and Rescue. Work is currently ongoing towards resolving these issues.</p><p> </p><p>The Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) is supported by a robust governance model that includes audits carried out annually by the National Audit Office (NAO) and the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA). The scheme is also responsible for providing scheme accounts which are fully audited on an annual basis. Alongside this, the scheme is required to implement the legislation for pensions effectively and pay the correct benefits. I am comfortable that the administration of the pension scheme is adequate and robust and that there are effective policies and procedures in place to resolve issues impacting members.</p><p> </p><p>To support all employers in performing their duties required for the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme there are several different functions that employers can utilise:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Dedicated on-boarding team </strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Guidance and Notifications </strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Employer Training</strong></p></li></ul><p> </p><p>When an employer joins the CSPS, they must complete a legal document called an Admission Agreement (AA) and ensure that the parties comply with their obligations set out in it. The AA is signed in triplicate by the provider, the contracting authority and Cabinet Office. To ensure employers are meeting their requirements we:</p><p>Internally have:</p><ul><li><p>Interface Compliance Model - which reviews the monthly interface quality which is supplied from employers. Capita Fire and Rescue are working with the Scheme Administer to bring their interface up to date. Once this has been completed, a review of all pensions in payment will be completed to ensure that the members are receiving the correct benefits.</p></li><li><p>Annual Assurance Statement (AAS) - The purpose of the AAS is to assist the Cabinet Office’s Accounting Officer, to carry out their responsibilities to the Civil Service Pensions Scheme. It reminds employers of their fundamental roles and responsibilities in relation to the scheme and gives the opportunity to highlight any issues.</p></li><li><p>Employer Engagement Matrix - The Employer Engagement Matrix tracks employer performance and measures against set criteria which are either essential and desirable. This is to provide an overview of several different metrics to identify if employers falling down in their duties.</p></li></ul><p> </p><p>Externally we have:</p><ul><li><p>Annual audits carried out by both the Government Internal Audit Agency and the National Audit Office.</p></li><li><p>An independent external company (ITM) has recently carried out a data audit which identified no material concerns.</p></li></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen grouped question UIN 7932 7933 question first answered 15/01/2024 10:44:44 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4374 label Biography information for Martin Docherty-Hughes

1679339

registered interest
date	05/01/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Capita Fire and Rescue: Workplace Pensions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an independent auditor to assess adequacy of the Capita fire and rescue workers pension system.
tabling member constituency	West Dunbartonshire
tabling member printed	Martin Docherty-Hughes
uin	7932
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2024 answer text <p>The Cabinet Office, acting as the Civil Service Pension Scheme Manager, has met on a number of occasions with representatives of Unite the Union (Unite), Capita Land Services and MyCSP to discuss issues surrounding Pensionable Pay for members of the Defence Fire and Rescue Services that were transferred to Capita Fire and Rescue. Work is currently ongoing towards resolving these issues.</p><p> </p><p>The Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) is supported by a robust governance model that includes audits carried out annually by the National Audit Office (NAO) and the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA). The scheme is also responsible for providing scheme accounts which are fully audited on an annual basis. Alongside this, the scheme is required to implement the legislation for pensions effectively and pay the correct benefits. I am comfortable that the administration of the pension scheme is adequate and robust and that there are effective policies and procedures in place to resolve issues impacting members.</p><p> </p><p>To support all employers in performing their duties required for the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme there are several different functions that employers can utilise:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Dedicated on-boarding team </strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Guidance and Notifications </strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Employer Training</strong></p></li></ul><p> </p><p>When an employer joins the CSPS, they must complete a legal document called an Admission Agreement (AA) and ensure that the parties comply with their obligations set out in it. The AA is signed in triplicate by the provider, the contracting authority and Cabinet Office. To ensure employers are meeting their requirements we:</p><p>Internally have:</p><ul><li><p>Interface Compliance Model - which reviews the monthly interface quality which is supplied from employers. Capita Fire and Rescue are working with the Scheme Administer to bring their interface up to date. Once this has been completed, a review of all pensions in payment will be completed to ensure that the members are receiving the correct benefits.</p></li><li><p>Annual Assurance Statement (AAS) - The purpose of the AAS is to assist the Cabinet Office’s Accounting Officer, to carry out their responsibilities to the Civil Service Pensions Scheme. It reminds employers of their fundamental roles and responsibilities in relation to the scheme and gives the opportunity to highlight any issues.</p></li><li><p>Employer Engagement Matrix - The Employer Engagement Matrix tracks employer performance and measures against set criteria which are either essential and desirable. This is to provide an overview of several different metrics to identify if employers falling down in their duties.</p></li></ul><p> </p><p>Externally we have:</p><ul><li><p>Annual audits carried out by both the Government Internal Audit Agency and the National Audit Office.</p></li><li><p>An independent external company (ITM) has recently carried out a data audit which identified no material concerns.</p></li></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen grouped question UIN 7931 7933 question first answered 15/01/2024 10:44:44 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4374 label Biography information for Martin Docherty-Hughes

1679340

registered interest
date	05/01/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Capita Fire and Rescue: Workplace Pensions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the (a) performance, (b) functionality, and (c) coherence of the pension system for Capita fire and rescue workers.
tabling member constituency	West Dunbartonshire
tabling member printed	Martin Docherty-Hughes
uin	7933
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2024 answer text <p>The Cabinet Office, acting as the Civil Service Pension Scheme Manager, has met on a number of occasions with representatives of Unite the Union (Unite), Capita Land Services and MyCSP to discuss issues surrounding Pensionable Pay for members of the Defence Fire and Rescue Services that were transferred to Capita Fire and Rescue. Work is currently ongoing towards resolving these issues.</p><p> </p><p>The Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) is supported by a robust governance model that includes audits carried out annually by the National Audit Office (NAO) and the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA). The scheme is also responsible for providing scheme accounts which are fully audited on an annual basis. Alongside this, the scheme is required to implement the legislation for pensions effectively and pay the correct benefits. I am comfortable that the administration of the pension scheme is adequate and robust and that there are effective policies and procedures in place to resolve issues impacting members.</p><p> </p><p>To support all employers in performing their duties required for the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme there are several different functions that employers can utilise:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Dedicated on-boarding team </strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Guidance and Notifications </strong></p></li><li><p><strong>Employer Training</strong></p></li></ul><p> </p><p>When an employer joins the CSPS, they must complete a legal document called an Admission Agreement (AA) and ensure that the parties comply with their obligations set out in it. The AA is signed in triplicate by the provider, the contracting authority and Cabinet Office. To ensure employers are meeting their requirements we:</p><p>Internally have:</p><ul><li><p>Interface Compliance Model - which reviews the monthly interface quality which is supplied from employers. Capita Fire and Rescue are working with the Scheme Administer to bring their interface up to date. Once this has been completed, a review of all pensions in payment will be completed to ensure that the members are receiving the correct benefits.</p></li><li><p>Annual Assurance Statement (AAS) - The purpose of the AAS is to assist the Cabinet Office’s Accounting Officer, to carry out their responsibilities to the Civil Service Pensions Scheme. It reminds employers of their fundamental roles and responsibilities in relation to the scheme and gives the opportunity to highlight any issues.</p></li><li><p>Employer Engagement Matrix - The Employer Engagement Matrix tracks employer performance and measures against set criteria which are either essential and desirable. This is to provide an overview of several different metrics to identify if employers falling down in their duties.</p></li></ul><p> </p><p>Externally we have:</p><ul><li><p>Annual audits carried out by both the Government Internal Audit Agency and the National Audit Office.</p></li><li><p>An independent external company (ITM) has recently carried out a data audit which identified no material concerns.</p></li></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen grouped question UIN 7931 7932 question first answered 15/01/2024 10:44:43 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4374 label Biography information for Martin Docherty-Hughes

1679409

registered interest
date	05/01/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Dominic Cummings
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will publish a list of meetings he held with Dominic Cummings in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.
tabling member constituency	Rhondda
tabling member printed	Sir Chris Bryant
uin	7804
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2024 answer text <p>Since May 2010, the Government has published on <a href="http://gov.uk/" target="_blank">gov.uk</a> details of official government meetings with external organisations.</p><p> </p><p>In 2011, this was extended to include details of meetings with senior media executives, covering official government, social and political meetings.</p><p> </p><p>But otherwise, the Government does not record political meetings.</p><p> </p><p>I would observe that since 2016, the Labour Party has stopped publishing its own meeting data on shadow frontbench meetings with senior media executives, breaking a commitment made by the then Labour Party leader (the Rt Hon Member for Doncaster North) during the Leveson Inquiry. The Hon. Member may recall how previous data illustrated his engagement with Evgeny Lebedev (now Lord Lebedev). As a shadow DCMS spokesman, the Hon. Member may wish to raise this subsequent shyness with his Opposition colleagues.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 15/01/2024 17:37:12 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	1446 label Biography information for Sir Chris Bryant

1679577

registered interest
date	05/01/2024
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Cabinet Office: Public Relations
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent on press and public relations in each financial year since 2019-20.
tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
uin	8080
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/01/2024 answer text <p>Government departments rightly have an obligation to work with and support the media in their reporting.</p><p>Like any large organisation, they will employ staff to work with journalists, to help communicate their work and policies to the public.</p><p>This is primarily carried out by media relations staff employed by departments. Like all areas of government spending - costs are reviewed regularly to ensure value for money.</p><p>The Government Communications Service works with all central government organisations to ensure that, where taxpayers’ money is being spent on government communications, it is cost-effective and reflects best practices.</p><p>Cabinet Office spend on press and public relations since 2019-20 are below. These figures represent the departmental spend on the Cabinet Office press office (including pay and relevant contracts):</p><p><strong> </strong></p><ul><li><p>2019/20: £976,994.11</p></li><li><p>2020/21: £1,185,192.91</p></li><li><p>2021/22: £1,111,282.00</p></li><li><p>2022/23: £1,181,350.41</p></li></ul><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 15/01/2024 17:57:48 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney