Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many applications the board of the House of Lords Appointment Commission received during its last intake.

Appointments to the House of Lords Appointments Commission are made by the Prime Minister. Four members, including the Chairman, are independent of Government and the political parties and are appointed after an open competition. The other three members are nominated by the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties respectively.

The membership of the Appointments Commission is a matter of public record. Beyond this, it would not be appropriate or consistent with the data protection principles to comment on the diversity characteristics of individual members.

40 applications were received for the most recent round of appointments to the Appointments Commission, which were announced in October 2013.