Points of Order

Gregory Stafford Excerpts

Wednesday 11th March 2026 Commons Chamber

3.11 pm

[Gregory Stafford (Farnham and Bordon) (Con)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. During Cabinet Office questions on 5 March, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister informed me that the appointment of the new director general of the propriety and ethics team was made on an interim basis and in line with the rules. However, I have now received a copy of the civil service recruitment framework, which states that a temporary promotion, managed move or the appointment of a single applicant within the senior civil service, must require ministerial authorisation either from the Prime Minister or the relevant Minister before an appointment can be made without an external competition. Given the importance of the transparency and confidence in this Government’s propriety and ethics system, can you please advise the House how Members can seek clarification when there appears to be a discrepancy between a Minister’s statement to the House and the provisions set out in the civil service recruitment framework 2022?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I thank the hon. Member for his point of order. He will know that, as Chair, I am not responsible for the answers given by Ministers—