Department for Transport written question – answered at on 22 November 2022.
Layla Moran
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs), Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (International Development)
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) non-disclosure and (b) other confidentiality agreements relating to (i) employment, (ii) bullying, (iii) misconduct and (iii) harassment cases have been agreed by their Department in each year since 1 January 2010; and how much money from the public purse has been spent on (A) legal costs and (B) financial settlements for such agreements in each year since 1 January 2010.
Jesse Norman
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
Exit packages are published in DfT Annual Reports and Accounts and all redundancy, severance and other department costs, are paid in accordance with the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (except where instances are detailed in the accounts as otherwise).
In 2015 Cabinet Office guidance outlined that confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements should not be applied in settlement agreements as a matter of course. Since that time, fewer than 5 have been agreed and the values of the packages were reported in the relevant year’s accounts.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
