Richard Holden MP: written questions
1068 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Government Art CollectionDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51457More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answers of 28 April 2025 and 4 December 2024 to Questions 47334 and 16604 on DCMS: Art Works and 11 Downing Street: Artworks, if she will publish the Government Art Collection (a)
Answer: I refer the Right Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 28 April 2025 to Question UIN 47334.
Answered 16 May 2025
Original Parliament recordOfficial Residences: UtilitiesCabinet OfficeTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51456More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) electricity, (b) gas and (c) water in the (i) 10 and (ii) 11 Downing Street residences are individually metered.
Answer: The No. 10 Downing Street and No. 11 Downing Street residences are not individually metered for any listed utility.
Answered 20 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCabinet Office: Artificial IntelligenceCabinet OfficeTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51455More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which business units in 10 Downing Street use the AI Redbox tool; and whether submissions to the Prime Minister are written using AI tools.
Answer: I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answer of 23 January 2025, Official Report, PQ 24138
Answered 20 May 2025
Original Parliament recordTony Blair and Tony Blair Institute for Global ChangeCabinet OfficeTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51454More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) discussions and (b) correspondence staff in 10 Downing Street have had with (i) Tony Blair and (ii) the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change on (A) identity cards and (B) climate change since July 202
Answer: Relevant meetings are declared in transparency publications.
Answered 27 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCivil Servants: Workplace PensionsCabinet OfficeTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51453More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether civil servants who defer taking their Civil Service pension after the normal retirement age for that pension receive (a) a higher pension and (b) an actuarial enhancement; whether any unclaimed pension f
Answer: Civil servants may have benefits under several schemes, depending on their length of service. There are four closed (or legacy) schemes (Classic, Classic Plus, Premium and Nuvos) The fifth scheme (alpha) is the only defined benefit scheme open to civil se...
Answered 20 May 2025
Original Parliament recordPrime Minister: Electronic Purchasing Card SolutionCabinet OfficeTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51452More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 43230 on Prime Minister: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, whether his Department is (a) stopping future transactions being made on the Downing Street cards
Answer: All areas of the Cabinet Office have significantly reduced the number of cards held and strict processes are in place for new applications.
Answered 21 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCivil Service: EqualityCabinet OfficeTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51451More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the guidance entitled Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance has been updated since 4 July 2024; and whether any other further guidance related to Diversity, Equality and In
Answer: The controls outlined in the Civil Service Equality Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance which was published on 14 May 2024 remain in place and no additional guidance has been published since then.
Answered 20 May 2025
Original Parliament recordFreedom of Information and Written Questions: CostsCabinet OfficeTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51450More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how are aggregate disproportionate cost thresholds reviewed for (a) written Parliamentary Questions and (b) Freedom of Information Act requests; how often do these reviews take place; and on what dates have chan
Answer: The Guide to Parliamentary Work, which is published online and available here, sets out that there is an advisory cost limit known as the disproportionate cost threshold which is the level above which departments can decide not to answer a written questio...
Answered 2 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordGovernment Departments: FlagsCabinet OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51165More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2024 to Question 13326, on Government Departments: Flags, if he will publish a list of the flags purchased by the Government Property Agency since 4 July 2024; how much each
Answer: Since 4th July 2024 the Government Property Agency has purchased two flags: Pride Flag - Darlington - Purchased for flying during events - Cost: £674.17Flag of Ukraine - London - Purchased to show solidarity with Ukraine - Cost: £104.60 All costs include ...
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS England: RedundancyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51164More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of redundancies arising from the abolition of NHS England.
Answer: Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead the formation of a new joint centre.The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut t...
Answered 23 May 2025
Original Parliament recordPrime Minister: EmailCabinet OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51163More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 43463 on Prime Minister: Email, whether emails which are automatically removed after 90 days that have not otherwise been saved for long-term storage are still
Answer: As under previous administrations, guidance set out by the Information Commissioner’s Office is followed here: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/foi/freedom-of-information-and-environmental-information-regulations/determining-whether-we-hold-informatio...
Answered 19 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCabinet Office: ExpenditureCabinet OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51161More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's data entitled Cabinet Office: spend data over £25,000 - March 2025, published on 24 April 2025, what the expenditure with Tullo Marshall Waren Ltd was for.
Answer: Tullo Marshall Warren Ltd operates as part of the Unlimited Group. The Cabinet Office appointed Pablo Unlimited (Unlimited Group) as a standby agency through a competitive tender process under the Campaign Solutions 2 Framework. The agency delivers end-to...
Answered 19 May 2025
Original Parliament recordOffice for National Statistics: Industrial DisputesCabinet OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51160More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 41642 on Office for National Statistics (ONS): Industrial Disputes, what the mandated return to the office is; what the previous office attendance rate was in e
Answer: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 9 May is attached.
Answered 19 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCivil Servants: Remote WorkingCabinet OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51159More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 42606 on Civil Servants: Remote Working, how figures are collated for overall workforce attendance in offices other than the departmental HQ; and whether such
Answer: Central data on Civil Service Headquarters (HQ) occupancy is collected and published quarterly on GOV.UK for all HQ buildings of Whitehall Departments, Office for Scotland, Office for Wales and Northern Ireland Office. Until May 2024 Departments provided ...
Answered 20 May 2025
Original Parliament recordMission Boards: Senior Civil ServantsCabinet OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51158More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 7754 on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, whether a public sector equalities duty assessment was made when appointing the five mission delivery board civil
Answer: The appointment of Directors General (DGs) as Mission Senior Responsible Officers was undertaken as part of the standard management of roles within the DG workforce.
Answered 19 May 2025
Original Parliament recordGovernment Departments: Public AppointmentsCabinet OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51157More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Civil Service Commission's publication entitled How Departments are doing on fair and open recruitment: what the Commission’s audits found, published in April 2025, in which departments aud
Answer: The Civil Service Commission is operationally independent of the Government. The Commission reports on its audit activity each year in its Annual Report but does not publish individual departmental audits. The Commission additionally published a review in...
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordMinisters: Official ResidencesForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51156More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2025 to Question 23482 on 11 Downing Street: Council Tax, whether he pays council tax on his official Ministerial residence in Carlton Ga
Answer: The Foreign Secretary pays the necessary council tax on 1 Carlton Gardens.
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordMI6: StonewallForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51155More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2025 to Question 41270 on MI6: Stonewall, for what reason the Secret Intelligence Service has a membership.
Answer: The Secret Intelligence Service does not comment publicly on internal policy decisions.
Answered 20 May 2025
Original Parliament recordChina: Diplomatic ServiceForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51154More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what guidance his Department has issued to ambassadors on (a) declaring and (b) reporting their interests.
Answer: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has established comprehensive policies and procedures to ensure transparency and accountability among its ambassadors. These guidelines are designed to mitigate conflicts of interest and maintain hig...
Answered 19 May 2025
Original Parliament recordChina: Foreign RelationsForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51153More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 20252 on Universities: China, what the terms of reference are of the audit of the UK’s interests with regards to China;
Answer: The China Audit will improve the UK's ability to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities China poses. The widespread consultation process, within and beyond government, has already informed the government's approach to and engagement wi...
Answered 15 May 2025
Original Parliament recordDisney Corporation: StreamingDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51152More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Disney+ making available the 'uncut' version of The Abyss, what steps is she taking to ensure that streaming services ensure their content is not in breach of UK law.
Answer: I refer the Rt. Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 29 April 2025 to Question UIN 47833.
Answered 19 May 2025
Original Parliament recordEthics and Integrity CommissionCabinet OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51151More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether appointments to the Ethics and Integrity Commission will be included in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair will be classified as a significant appointment.
Answer: We are restoring confidence in government and the highest standards in public life. This government is committed to establishing the right structures to do so and have already taken steps to improve probity and transparency, including through introducing ...
Answered 20 May 2025
Original Parliament recordFreedom of Information and Written Questions: CostsCabinet OfficeTabled 9 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51150More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the assumed cost of an hour of staff time is for assessing the disproportionate cost threshold for written parliamentary questions; what the assumed hourly cost was of responding to (a) written parliamentar
Answer: As was the case under the previous administration, the methodology for assessing the disproportionate cost threshold for written parliamentary questions is available in the Guide to Parliamentary Work, at paragraphs 218-220: https://assets.publishing.serv...
Answered 19 May 2025
Original Parliament recordDevelopment Aid: HealthForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 904094More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support global health initiatives.
Answer: The UK has long been a champion of global health, and we are one of the largest donors to global health multilaterals worldwide. From our WHO partnership, helping to save over 40 million lives, to our investment in Gavi to support them to immunise 300 mil...
Answered 13 May 2025
Original Parliament recordCabinet Office: StaffCabinet OfficeTabled 7 May 2025AnsweredUIN 50577More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the total cost in staff time for Cabinet Office all-staff calls since 4 July.
Answer: As was the case under the previous administration, all-staff calls are organised to share updates on key policies, projects and priorities and allow staff to raise questions directly with leadership. Typically the calls last for around 45 minutes and arou...
Answered 13 May 2025
Original Parliament record
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