Neil O'Brien MP: written questions

864 published records · newest first.

Written questions

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Performance AppraisalForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 17 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100980More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the total cost was of (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff in the last year.
Answer: For the last financial year, the total cost to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of payments associated with settlement agreements is set out in the Department's Annual Report and Accounts. Where relevant, this includes special severance pa...
Answered 9 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Career DevelopmentForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 17 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100978More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many and what proportion of staff were promoted (a) in-grade and (b) to a higher grade in the last year broken down by (i) performance marking in the previous year and (i
Answer: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office employs approximately 17,500 staff across hundreds of locations worldwide, many of which operate with locally managed HR arrangements and procedures. While we are able to say that around 15 per cent of thes...
Answered 9 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Sick LeaveForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 17 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100977More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the average number of working days lost to sickness absence per full-time equivalent member of staff was in (a) the Department and (b) its executive agencies in the last
Answer: I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 3 December to Question 94436.
Answered 9 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Cabinet Office: Disciplinary ProceedingsCabinet OfficeTabled 17 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100976More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many disciplinary cases were concluded against civil servants in (a) the Department and (b) its agencies broken down by (i) outcome and (ii) whether the primary allegation related to (A) performance and (B)
Answer: The Cabinet Office does not centrally hold detailed data on all discipline cases required to answer this question.Minor misconduct cases are managed within the line management chain and details are held at that level.Serious and gross misconduct cases are...
Answered 6 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Cabinet Office: Redundancy PayCabinet OfficeTabled 17 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100975More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total cost was of (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff in the last year.
Answer: For the last financial year, the total cost to the Cabinet Office of payments associated with settlement agreements is set out in Annual Report and Accounts. Please find attached link here Figures for 2025/26 are not yet available as the analysis has not ...
Answered 13 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Cabinet Office: Performance AppraisalCabinet OfficeTabled 17 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100974More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of staff in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year.
Answer: All CO staff members (in scope) are allocated a performance marking at both the mid (Oct) and end of year (April) points of the performance year as part of their performance reviews.The below table sets out what proportion of staff in each grade were awar...
Answered 13 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Cabinet Office: Career DevelopmentCabinet OfficeTabled 17 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100973More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of staff were promoted (a) in-grade and (b) to a higher grade in the last year broken down by (i) performance marking in the previous year and (ii) grade.
Answer: This data would be difficult to present, due to there being no definition of an in grade promotion and limited data on staff who go on promotion to another department. Collation and presentation of this data would require significant manual work and data ...
Answered 13 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Cabinet Office: Sick LeaveCabinet OfficeTabled 17 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100972More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average number of working days lost to sickness absence per full-time equivalent member of staff was in (a) the Department and (b) its executive agencies in the last year; and how many formal performanc
Answer: Sickness absence data for the Civil Service, including departmental breakdowns is published annually, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence The next update will be for the year ending 31st March 2025. Data on pe...
Answered 6 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Social Security BenefitsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100504More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households are exempt from the household benefit cap because they meet the earnings rule.
Answer: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Answered 30 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
Social Security BenefitsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100503More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households have been assessed as qualifying for each exemption from the household benefit cap in each of the last 12 months.
Answer: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Answered 30 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
Social Security BenefitsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100502More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households received more than £1,835 per month in benefits in the last period for which data is available.
Answer: The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is an annual report that provides facts and figures about the incomes and living circumstances of households and families in the UK. The FRS uses a nationally representative sample of UK households and includes data on be...
Answered 30 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
Social Security BenefitsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100501More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households received benefit payments above the level of the household benefit cap in each of the last 12 months.
Answer: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Answered 5 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Social Security BenefitsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100500More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households left the benefit cap by reason of being in receipt of an exempting benefit and where the exempting benefit was receiving Universal Credit with limited capability for work and work-re
Answer: The Department publishes Official Statistics on the number of households in Great Britain on Housing Benefit or Universal Credit that have flowed off the benefit cap, including outcome at off-flow, which are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore and are curr...
Answered 8 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Social Security BenefitsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100499More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households left the benefit cap by reason of being in receipt of an exempting benefit and where the exempting benefit was PIP during each of the following periods: the quarter to August 2025, t
Answer: The Department publishes Official Statistics on the number of households in Great Britain on Housing Benefit or Universal Credit that have flowed off the benefit cap, including outcome at off-flow, which are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore and are curr...
Answered 8 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Social Security BenefitsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100498More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households left the benefit cap by reason of being in receipt of an exempting benefit during each of the following periods: the quarter to August 2025, the quarter to May 2025, the quarter to F
Answer: The Department publishes Official Statistics on the number of households in Great Britain on Housing Benefit or Universal Credit that have flowed off the benefit cap, including outcome at off-flow, which are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore and are curr...
Answered 8 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Disciplinary ProceedingsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100474More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many disciplinary cases were concluded against civil servants in (a) his Department and (b) his Department's agencies broken down by (i) outcome and (ii) whether the primary
Answer: The department is not responsible for collecting or maintaining data on disciplinary action for staff in its executive agencies. We do hold information on concluded disciplinary cases within the core department; however, producing the requested informatio...
Answered 23 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Redundancy PayMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100472More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the total cost was for (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff from his Department in the last year.
Answer: Any payments made in each Financial Year relating to settlement agreements, which includes special severance payments associated with settlement agreements where relevant, will be published in the relevant Annual Report and Accounts.For the last financial...
Answered 23 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Performance AppraisalMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100471More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of his Department's staff in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year.
Answer: The department operates a rating-less system for Performance & Development and as such the information requested is not available.
Answered 22 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Career DevelopmentMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100470More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of staff in his Department were promoted (a) in-grade and (b) to a higher grade in the last year broken down by (i) performance marking in the previo
Answer: The information is not held centrally in the format requested and could only be provided at a disproportionate time and cost.
Answered 22 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Sick LeaveMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100469More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average number of working days lost to sickness absence per full-time equivalent member of staff was in (a) the Department and (b) its executive agencies in the last yea
Answer: Sickness absence data for the Civil Service, including departmental breakdowns is published annually, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence. The department is not responsible for collecting or maintaining perfor...
Answered 5 Jan 2026
Original Parliament record
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Disciplinary ProceedingsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100468More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, in the past twelve months, how many disciplinary cases were concluded against civil servants in (a) the Department and (b) its agencies broken down by (i) outcome and (ii) whether the p
Answer: Data on the number of Disciplinary/Conduct cases and Performance cases which have concluded and had an outcome recorded in DSIT and its 4 Executive Agencies in the 12 months to December 2025 are provided in the table below.Figures reflect only cases where...
Answered 22 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Redundancy PayDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100467More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the total cost was of (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff in the last year.
Answer: For the last financial year, the total cost to DSIT of payments associated with settlement agreements is set out in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dsit-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025Where r...
Answered 22 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Performance AppraisalDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100466More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many and what proportion of staff in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year.
Answer: The table below sets out, by grade, the number of staff in DSIT recorded as having been assessed as ‘Exceeding’ – the highest performance rating for SCS and DSIT delegated grade staff – at the end of the most recent full reporting year (31 March 2025). It...
Answered 22 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Career DevelopmentDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100465More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many and what proportion of staff were promoted (a) in-grade and (b) to a higher grade in the last year broken down by (i) performance marking in the previous year and (ii) grade.
Answer: The latest data held centrally are set out in the Table below.They refer to DSIT staff who were promoted to higher grade within the Department during the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 and who were DSIT employees throughout that year.The data exclud...
Answered 22 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Sick LeaveDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 16 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 100464More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the average number of working days lost to sickness absence per full-time equivalent member of staff was in (a) the Department and (b) its executive agencies in the last year; and
Answer: Sickness absence data for the Civil Service, including departmental breakdowns, are published annually and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absenceThe requested data on formal warnings are not held centrally in a repo...
Answered 22 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record

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