Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether (a) appointments to the Armed Forces Commissioner will be included in the Public Bodies Order in Council and (b) the chair appointment will be classified as a significant appointment.

The Armed Forces Commissioner Bill is in the final stages of its Parliamentary passage. Once the Bill achieves Royal Assent we will place the Armed Forces Commissioner on the Public Appointments Order in Council (subject to the necessary approvals) and therefore subject, in principle, to the Governance Code for Public Appointments. It is proposed that this appointment will be treated as a ‘significant’ appointment.