Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the vacancy for the position of Anti-Corruption Champion on (a) public trust in Westminster, (b) ministerial standards, (c) Government transparency and (d) the publication of a second Anti-Corruption Strategy.

My Rt Hon Friend, the Minister for Security and Member for Tonbridge and Malling, leads within Government on the work on the current Anti-Corruption Strategy and its update.

My noble Friend, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, leads within the Cabinet Office on Transparency and Freedom of Information.

On ministerial standards, the Prime Minister is the arbiter of the Ministerial Code, supported by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in relation to oversight of Government Propriety and Ethics.

All Ministers, and indeed, Parliamentarians, are guided by the Seven Principles of Public Life, which help ensure and maintain public trust.

An announcement on a new Anti-Corruption Champion will be made in due course.