Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve transparency and scrutiny in government appointments following breaches of the Governance Code on Public Appointments by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in her appointment of the new independent Football Regulator.

The Commissioner for Public Appointments routinely provides independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with the Principles of Public Appointments and the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Following the Commissioner’s investigation into the appointment of the Chair of the Independent Football Regulator, the Government welcomes his findings against which we are reviewing the robustness of the current guidance with a view to learning the lessons from the report.

The Government published a revised Governance Code on 30 October. In addition, the Cabinet Office will be required to publish departmental performance information for the first time, to enable effective scrutiny of performance on public appointments.

That approach is a strengthening of the public appointment process, which was not in place under the previous Government.