In the last five years, my Department has employed seven agency staff. The annual breakdown is set out below.

2025: 0

2024: 0

2023: 2

2022: 0

2021: 5

Since July 2024, my Department has made one public appointment to a Non-Executive Director role.

Candidates that have been successfully appointed to a public appointment (whether regulated or unregulated) are generally announced on the Public Appointments Service announcements page. Candidates that have been successfully appointed to a direct ministerial appointment are generally announced on the Direct Ministerial Appointments Announcement portal.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) works closely with the Wales Office to monitor and support the Welsh Government’s international engagement on devolved matters.

The FCDO provides support and guidance when the Welsh Government chooses to advise UK Government of these meetings, and where it is appropriate to do so. The FCDO also works to ensure that foreign diplomats are aware of the respective responsibilities of the UK and Devolved Governments.

The Wales Office also engages directly with the FCDO overseas network to support ministerial and official investment missions. For the second year in a row, the UK Government has overseen an increase in the number of foreign investments coming into Wales, alongside a rise in the number of jobs created or protected. The new £2.4m Brand Wales programme will enhance our promotion of Wales' Trade and Investment opportunities.

Resilience is a shared responsibility between individuals, communities, businesses and all levels of government across the UK to ensure we can effectively respond to risks wherever they occur.

Regular meetings take place between the four governments to discuss various strategies and frameworks aimed at strengthening resilience and identifying opportunities for greater collaboration. This complements the everyday collaboration between the UK and Devolved Governments on risk and resilience.

Wales Office Ministers spend significant time engaging with Welsh and other MPs on a wide range of issues, hosting MPs at Wales Office events, and holding dedicated meetings with MPs on a regular basis.

Wales Office Ministers spend significant time engaging with Welsh and other MPs on a wide range of issues, hosting MPs at Wales Office events, and holding dedicated meetings with MPs on a regular basis.

We have taken ‘political appointees’ to mean special advisers. A list of special advisers by department is published each year in the Annual Report on Special Advisers which is laid in parliament. The Annual Report on Special Advisers 2026 will be published in due course.

The Government is committed to adopting artificial intelligence in a way that is transparent, responsible and accountable to the public.

Information about algorithmic and AI tools used by government departments to support decisions that affect members of the public, or that have a significant influence on a decision-making process with public effect, is published through the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS). The ATRS has been mandatory for central government departments since 2024, and records are published on GOV.UK at www.gov.uk/algorithmic-transparency-records. In addition, departments may use other internal tools which do not fall within the scope of the Standard.

In line with public procurement transparency requirements, departments publish contractual information for AI services and tools on Contracts Finder and, where above the relevant threshold, on the Find a Tender Service.

AI services and tools are accessed across government through a range of commercial routes. Departments may contract directly with AI providers, access AI products via intermediated routes such as reseller arrangements where the contractual relationship sits with a partner rather than the underlying provider or use AI capabilities delivered as features within existing enterprise software and platform contracts (for example productivity, HR or service management tools).

Departments remain responsible in all cases for ensuring compliance with procurement legislation, securing value for money, and publishing relevant contractual information in line with transparency requirements.

My Department has not hired any external public relations consultants since July 2024.

The information requested can be found at https://questions-statements.parliament.uk.

Central data on Civil Service Headquarters (HQ) occupancy is collected and published quarterly on GOV.UK for all HQ buildings of Whitehall Departments.

The data for the period from January 2025 can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-hq-occupancy-data.

The Wales Office does not centrally collect or hold data on the number of civil servants working from home or remotely. Office attendance is monitored locally by line managers, who are responsible for ensuring compliance with the minimum 60% attendance expectation.

Central data on Civil Service Headquarters (HQ) occupancy is collected and published quarterly on GOV.UK for all HQ buildings of Whitehall Departments.

The data for the period since January 2026 can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-hq-occupancy-data.

My Department and I have been in regular contact with the Welsh Government concerning a range of issues since 8 May 2026.

Since becoming Secretary of State for Wales, I have met with key stakeholders from across Wales including within the agricultural sector.

I am responsible for the overall strategic direction of the Wales Office’s work and apportion ministerial responsibilities across the ministerial team with the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Wales Office, Anna McMorrin MP, taking responsibility for agriculture.

Minister McMorrin meets with farmers and wider stakeholders in the rural community in Wales on a regular basis. In January 2026, Minister McMorrin visited a farm in the Vale of Glamorgan with representatives of NFU Wales, met with representatives of FUW in April, was pleased to join with the Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs at a meeting with the FUW later that same month and met with representatives of the Country Land and Business Association in May.

The Wales Office has spent £173.17 on lanyards since 4 July 2024. There was one design, bilingual Wales Office branding which was included in the cost of the lanyards.

Staff in my Department may travel overseas on authorised short-term trips when required as part of their official duties.

Staff may request temporary International Remote Working for personal reasons only in very limited circumstances, such as compassionate grounds involving a seriously ill relative overseas, or to accompany a spouse or partner on a diplomatic or other Government posting abroad. All requests are assessed case by case, taking full account of operational requirements and risk, and always require prior senior approval.

The Government is committed to harnessing the benefits of artificial intelligence to improve the productivity of the Civil Service and the quality of public services.

Departments provide officials, Ministers and special advisers with access to secure, enterprise-grade generative AI tools that have been assured to the appropriate security standards and approved for official use. Ministers, special advisers and officials may only use generative AI tools that their department has approved for official use. The use of publicly available or consumer versions of generative AI tools, including those named in the Question, for official business is not permitted unless a department has specifically assured and approved that tool.

The Wales Office is not currently using the AI tools listed above.

Approved enterprise tools are configured so that departmental data is held securely and is not used to train publicly available AI models. The use of generative AI across government is governed by the cross-government Generative AI Framework for HMG and the AI Playbook for the UK Government, which set out the principles for the safe, responsible and effective use of these tools.