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Government Departments: Electronic Messaging

Asked by Alex BurghartConservativeCabinet OfficeTabled Answered 16 June 2026UIN 9074

The question

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what conclusion the Cabinet Office’s Propriety and Ethics Team under the previous Government reached on the ownership of the electronic messages held on non-corporate devices relating to official government business.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds

Official information, wherever stored, is considered to be held by the Crown.

I refer the Member for Brentwood and Ongar to the Government’s 2023 ‘Guidance on Using Non-Corporate Communication Channels for Government Business’, that was produced and published under the previous Government.

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