The Infected Blood Compensation Scheme is subject to further engagement with a group of key representatives from the infected blood community. This will be led by the interim chair of the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, Sir Robert Francis KC. Additionally, the Government has committed to utilise the provision in the Victims and Prisoners Bill to ensure there is representation of the Infected Blood community on the Infected Blood Compensation Authority’s committees and subcommittees.

Accountability to Parliament and to the public is one of the core values of this government. That is why within the Cabinet Office we have taken significant steps to ensure that ministers and civil servants act with integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level. For example, each of 244 major government projects in the Government Major Projects Programme now has a publicly named senior responsible officer accountable for project delivery. Departments and agencies are required to publish in their Annual Reports and Accounts public performance updates against their priority outcomes, ensuring that public scrutiny of departmental delivery is embedded across Whitehall.The accountability of arm’s length bodies has been sharpened up by the public bodies reviews programme and by updating the arm’s length body sponsorship code of good practice.

It is important that the Scheme recognises the immense suffering endured by people whose lives and families have been impacted by infected blood. Affected persons will be eligible for compensation in their own right where their case is linked to that of a person eligible under the compensation scheme. This includes affected partners; children; parents; siblings; and other friends and family members who cared for loved ones with an infection without reward or remuneration. Where a person has multiple family members who have been infected, multiple injury awards will be made to reflect the scale of their loss.

The Victims and Prisoners Bill includes provisions which place a statutory duty on the Government to make interim payments of £100,000 to estates of the deceased infected people who were registered with existing or former support schemes before 17 April 2024 for deaths not yet recognised.

Cabinet Office successfully accomplished Disability Confident (DC) level 3 leader status in February 2024. We have been Disability Confident in Level 3 for the last 4 years. We continue to work closely with the Business Disability forum that validated our DC and are working through our recommendations in all areas.

Cabinet Office takes a departmental approach to Disability Confidence to embed core areas across the department. Some examples of officials supporting this are the Workplace Adjustments Team and the Recruitment Team. All colleagues involved in the end to end process of recruitment campaigns undertake activities that support the scheme such as Vacancy Managers, HR Business Partners and Civil Service Resourcing colleagues.

The effectiveness of that work in supporting the scheme in both recruitment and retention was postively reflected in the feedback as part of the assessment in the Disability Confident Scheme. The re-accreditation of Disability Confidence Level 3 Leader status demonstrates the effectiveness of all the work we do in the department.

All areas received positive feedback and also some recommendations to support the development of those areas. We will be working through the recommendations from the validator to continue to be a leader in Disability Confident.

All individuals who hold UK National Security Clearance (NSV) are vetted to a consistent standard based on central policy set by the Cabinet Office. The level of clearance required is assessed by the sponsoring department or organisation subject to the particular role and responsibilities and access to sensitive assets required for the post.

The statement I made on 21st May to Parliament provided clarity on the Government response to the Inquiry’s second interim report. The Scheme responds directly to and is in line with the recommendations made by the Infected Blood Inquiry in its second interim report, which considered the earlier study into compensation by Sir Robert Francis KC.

Lessons at 10 aims to bring education to life, encourage a love for learning, and inspire children from across the UK, with any school being able to take part. Over 50 schools have taken part in the last year. Schools can apply through an application available on the Prime Minister’s Office page on the gov.uk website.

Strengthening national resilience is a key priority for the Government.

The Deputy Prime Minister delivered the first Annual Statement to Parliament on risk and resilience in December 2023. Since then, in February he has convened the UK Resilience Forum to garner insight from key stakeholders from across the resilience system and drive a whole of society approach. He will do so again in July.

The Government has already taken significant steps to implement the Resilience Framework, including publishing the most transparent ever National Risk Register, an updated list of Lead Government Departments for the risks it sets out and testing Emergency Alerts.

The Minister’s official role is the Minister without Portfolio, a role which has a large scope across government. The Minister supports the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for the Cabinet Office, to identify where our public sector delivery is inhibited by bureaucracy and inefficiencies. The Minister’s overarching aim is to ensure efficiency and value for money for the taxpayer.

Further information on the Minister without Portfolio’s role can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/people/esther-mcvey.

As part of broad civil contingencies duties, all local authorities are expected to assess the risks of emergencies and have plans in place to respond to a range of scenarios.

In extreme emergency circumstances, discretionary funding may be made available where the expenditure of local authorities is more than could be reasonably expected to cover, such as severe weather events.

The Minister’s official role is the Minister without Portfolio, a role which has a large scope across government. The Minister supports the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for the Cabinet Office, to identify where our public sector delivery is inhibited by bureaucracy and inefficiencies. The Minister’s overarching aim is to ensure efficiency and value for money for the taxpayer.

Further information on the Minister without Portfolio’s role can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/people/esther-mcvey.

The review of Shared Services Connected Ltd is being led by the Government Security Group in the Cabinet Office. The timelines for this review are still being determined as part of the commissioning process.

There should be no external EDI spend in the Civil Service unless cleared and authorised by Ministers.

The contract with High Fliers Ltd. is due to expire on 31 August 2024. We do not intend to terminate it early.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon. Lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 07/05 is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon. Lady’s Parliamentary Questions of 07/05 is attached.

The Prime Minister’s announcement of longer term reductions in Civil Service numbers is a reiteration of the policy announced by the Chancellor in October 2023. The longer term reductions will build on the shorter term headcount cap put in place through to March 2025, and the detail of how individual organisations will be affected by the return to pre-pandemic numbers will form a key part of the next comprehensive spending review.

Research into workplace practices across all sectors was undertaken which confirmed the clear benefits of face to face, workplace based collaborative working, which led to agreement across government for such an approach. That's why I set out the expectation for staff to be in the office at least 60% of the time, and I believe that our senior civil servants need to set an example as leaders.

There are significant benefits from spending time working together in person, either within teams, with colleagues from the same department or – in Government hubs – with colleagues from other departments. These include collaboration, innovation and fostering a sense of community. We know that in particular junior colleagues benefit from having time face to face with senior leaders and that those early in their careers find working face to face with their peers and managers makes them more effective more quickly.