Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the political balance of the Parliamentary and Political Service honours committee across (a) independent members who hold a party political whip in the House of Lords and (b) official members.

The Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee (PPS Committee) is one of ten specialist honours committees which assess honours nominations put forward by members of the public, government departments and professional bodies.

Honours committees are made up of individuals with considerable experience of the area covered by the committee. The PPS Committee considers candidates for honours from the UK Parliament, the Devolved Legislatures, the staff of Westminster and other Assemblies, the staff of bodies which report to them, Party workers, councillors and others working for local government.

The current membership of the PPS Committee comprises four independent members, appointed through a public appointments process, and three official members who are the incumbent chief whips from the three largest political parties in the House of Commons. The process to appoint the new independent Chair of the PPS Committee is ongoing and an announcement will be made in due course. The full composition of each honours committee can be found on gov.uk.