Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following delays in recent years in the recruitment and appointment process for inspectorate and regulatory roles leading to (1) the extension of the contract for the current HM Chief Inspector for Prisons to 2027, and (2) the appointment of interim post holders for the Independent Chief Inspector for Borders and Immigration in 2024–25, the Independent Prevent Commissioner in 2025–26, and HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary and HM Chief Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services in 2026, what assessment they have made of the Home Office and Ministry of Justice appointment processes for such roles in each of the last five years; what comparison they have made with similar processes in other departments; and what steps they are taking to improve such processes.

The process for making appointments and extensions to regulated public appointments is set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments. Departments’ adherence to the process is regulated by the Independent Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Commissioner publishes an annual report that includes commentary on the timeliness of public appointment processes. Data on campaign duration and overall performance across departments is also published in the annual Public Appointments Data Report, published by the Cabinet Office.

The Governance Code on Public Appointments was updated in October 2025 and introduced new measures to enable ministers to make appointments more quickly.