Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether Direct Ministerial Appointments are required to make a declaration of political activity.

The Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, which Direct Ministerial Appointments are required by their conditions of engagement to follow, requires appointees to comply with the rules of the appointing body on handling conflicts of interests, which typically require the public declaration of potential conflicts, usually in the body’s register of interests. This would include political activity, in line with the general guidance on the declaration of interests process for Non-Executive Board Members which is published on Gov.uk, with the intention of standardising the management and publication of such interests across UK Government departments in order to increase consistency and transparency, as recommended by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.