Foreign Affairs Committee
23 April 2026
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Committee House of Commons
00:02 - 00:25
Speaker 1
The Foreign Affairs Committee are continuing their inquiry into the appointment of of Peter Mendelson and and security implications of that. We have in front of us today Catherine Little, we're very grateful to see you, thank you very much for coming. Would you mind giving us your full title and what your responsibilities are?
00:25 - 01:41
Speaker 2
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to the committee this morning. I have two core responsibilities that are relevant to the hearing today. The first is I'm the senior official responsible for overseeing the government's response to the humble address. And there are two things that I do as part of that. I oversee the operational response across the whole of government and I also advise the prime minister on how to ensure that the government fully complies with the humble address.
The second role I have is I am the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary and the Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service. And in that role, I'm also responsible for the oversight of services to government departments, of which there are a number which are run from the Cabinet Office. That includes UK security vetting. And I think it's important that I should say two things upfront in relation to those two responsibilities. First, I have not been involved at all in either the events to appoint or the withdrawal of the former HMA for Washington.
And my first involvement with this
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