To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 August 2026 to Question 14862 on Elections: Scotland, if she will place the internal reminder guidance given to departments on Parliamentary by-elections in Scotland in the Library.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 August 2026 to Question 14862 on Elections: Scotland, if she will place the internal reminder guidance given to departments on Parliamentary by-elections in Scotland in the Library.

Lords question for short debate on what steps they intend to take to strengthen impartiality in the civil service and the delivery of public services.

Lords question for short debate on what steps they intend to take to strengthen impartiality in the civil service and the delivery of public services.

My Lords, I begin by thanking all noble Lords who are due to speak, as I will not have an opportunity to thank them later; I promise to take careful note of everything that is said today.

There is much evidence of polarisation across the country in recent years. This is...

My Lords, I begin by thanking all noble Lords who are due to speak, as I will not have an opportunity to thank them later; I promise to take careful note of everything that is said today.

There is much evidence of polarisation across the country in recent years. This is...

My Lords, I am indebted to the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, for securing this important debate. For full disclosure, I worked with civil servants as an elected Member of Parliament and special adviser in DExEU between 2016 and 2018 and found the private office I worked with exceptional and exemplary....

My Lords, I am indebted to the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, for securing this important debate. For full disclosure, I worked with civil servants as an elected Member of Parliament and special adviser in DExEU between 2016 and 2018 and found the private office I worked with exceptional and exemplary....

My Lords, it will not surprise your Lordships that the subject of my noble friend’s debate caught my eye. As my noble friend Lady Falkner has recognised, the new Cabinet Secretary has initiated a review, at the centre of which

are the subjects in her Motion—that is, political impartiality and...

My Lords, it will not surprise your Lordships that the subject of my noble friend’s debate caught my eye. As my noble friend Lady Falkner has recognised, the new Cabinet Secretary has initiated a review, at the centre of which

are the subjects in her Motion—that is, political impartiality and...

My Lords, I recognise the problems that the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, describes, and will illustrate with some examples. I led Ofsted, a non-ministerial department with some 2,000 staff, for seven years until 2023. I was a Crown appointee and my staff were all civil servants. We had statutory obligations...

My Lords, I recognise the problems that the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, describes, and will illustrate with some examples. I led Ofsted, a non-ministerial department with some 2,000 staff, for seven years until 2023. I was a Crown appointee and my staff were all civil servants. We had statutory obligations...

My Lords, I welcome today’s debate and register my interest as the First Civil Service Commissioner. The commission is an independent statutory body and plays a key role in safeguarding the impartiality of our Civil Service. The Civil Service’s professional standards are underpinned by the Civil Service Code’s four core...

My Lords, I welcome today’s debate and register my interest as the First Civil Service Commissioner. The commission is an independent statutory body and plays a key role in safeguarding the impartiality of our Civil Service. The Civil Service’s professional standards are underpinned by the Civil Service Code’s four core...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, for securing this short but important and timely debate.

As we have heard, impartiality is the bedrock of our Civil Service. We have also heard that it is fraying, and that has been well illustrated. My experience as the former First Civil...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, for securing this short but important and timely debate.

As we have heard, impartiality is the bedrock of our Civil Service. We have also heard that it is fraying, and that has been well illustrated. My experience as the former First Civil...

I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, for giving us an opportunity to discuss this important issue. I declare my interest as the director of the Free Speech Union. In the past six years, in its caseload, the Free Speech Union has taken

on 167 cases in which a...

I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, for giving us an opportunity to discuss this important issue. I declare my interest as the director of the Free Speech Union. In the past six years, in its caseload, the Free Speech Union has taken

on 167 cases in which a...

My Lords, I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, for this important debate.

I will come at impartiality from a slightly different angle, because technology is changing what we mean by an impartial state. There used to be a reasonably clear idea of where policy stopped and delivery began. Ministers...

My Lords, I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, for this important debate.

I will come at impartiality from a slightly different angle, because technology is changing what we mean by an impartial state. There used to be a reasonably clear idea of where policy stopped and delivery began. Ministers...

My Lords, when the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, talked earlier about protecting people from improper pressures, I thought that there is a different aspect to that from that which we have heard in the many varied speeches so far, which it would be helpful to explore a bit: the importance...

My Lords, when the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, talked earlier about protecting people from improper pressures, I thought that there is a different aspect to that from that which we have heard in the many varied speeches so far, which it would be helpful to explore a bit: the importance...

My Lords, I too begin by congratulating the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, on securing this important debate and on her informative, impressive speech.

This was the view of the Constitution Committee of your Lordships’ House—I was a member of it at the time—in its 2023 report on Permanent Secretaries:

“The impartiality and...

My Lords, I too begin by congratulating the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, on securing this important debate and on her informative, impressive speech.

This was the view of the Constitution Committee of your Lordships’ House—I was a member of it at the time—in its 2023 report on Permanent Secretaries:

“The impartiality and...

My Lords, I am pleased to answer this Question for Short Debate on what steps the Government intend to take to strengthen impartiality in the Civil Service and the delivery of public services. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner of Margravine, and noble Lords for their contributions to what...

My Lords, I am pleased to answer this Question for Short Debate on what steps the Government intend to take to strengthen impartiality in the Civil Service and the delivery of public services. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner of Margravine, and noble Lords for their contributions to what...

May I ask for some clarification before the Minister concludes? I fear that she is coming to a conclusion, and I do not want to stop her mid-speech. The most significant question I asked was: does the Minister believe that teams across the Civil Service are now compliant with the...

May I ask for some clarification before the Minister concludes? I fear that she is coming to a conclusion, and I do not want to stop her mid-speech. The most significant question I asked was: does the Minister believe that teams across the Civil Service are now compliant with the...

I thought I had an insert on that. I have been going a bit fast because I am running out of time; if I have skipped over an insert, I apologise. I would be happy to write to the noble Baroness on that point. I am now over time, but...

I thought I had an insert on that. I have been going a bit fast because I am running out of time; if I have skipped over an insert, I apologise. I would be happy to write to the noble Baroness on that point. I am now over time, but...

I should have asked this earlier, but, because the Minister has not mentioned productivity, can she say whether the Cabinet Secretary review will look specifically at Civil Service and wider public sector productivity?

I should have asked this earlier, but, because the Minister has not mentioned productivity, can she say whether the Cabinet Secretary review will look specifically at Civil Service and wider public sector productivity?

We are generally interested in public sector productivity, but I would be happy to write to the noble Lord.

Let me return to where I was heading at that point in my speech: the work of the Cabinet Secretary in not just waiting for the review but trying to get on...

We are generally interested in public sector productivity, but I would be happy to write to the noble Lord.

Let me return to where I was heading at that point in my speech: the work of the Cabinet Secretary in not just waiting for the review but trying to get on...

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2026 to Question 14865 on Labour, if she will place the guidance provided to departments in the Library.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2026 to Question 14865 on Labour, if she will place the guidance provided to departments in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with Ofcom on the impartiality of reporting by public funded broadcasters of the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with Ofcom on the impartiality of reporting by public funded broadcasters of the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

The media green paper examines the future of public service media and digital terrestrial television.

The media green paper examines the future of public service media and digital terrestrial television.