Kit Malthouse

Details of ministers’ meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Special advisers are required to comply with the Special Adviser Code of Conduct at all times and are required to make declarations on meetings with senior media figures in line with published transparency guidance.

Where a special adviser accompanies their minister to an official meeting with a senior media figure, the special adviser’s attendance does not need to be separately recorded as the minister will be the main attendee.

Where an informal lobbying approach is granted time or resource by Government, it should result in a diarised engagement and therefore be recorded.

Since 5 July 2024, no statutory or non-statutory direct ministerial appointments have been made by the Minister for Women and Equalities.

As of this date, I can confirm that, excluding special advisers, the Attorney General and I have not made any direct statutory or non-statutory ministerial appointments.

Of course, the Law Officers and wider government legal teams for which they are responsible do make use of outside experts on the law, whether counsel, law firms or academic specialists. Arrangements for using counsel or academics are principally through the Attorney General’s panels and an off-panel nomination process or via their academic institution, whereas law firms are principally instructed through a panel firm procurement process.

Details of ministers’ meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Special advisers are required to comply with the Special Adviser Code of Conduct at all times and are required to make declarations on meetings with senior media figures in line with published transparency guidance.

Where a special adviser accompanies their minister to an official meeting with a senior media figure, the special adviser’s attendance does not need to be separately recorded as the minister will be the main attendee.

Where an informal lobbying approach is granted time or resource by Government, it should result in a diarised engagement and therefore be recorded.

As was the practice under the previous Administration, details of the Prime Minister’s official engagements with external individuals and organisations will be published in the quarterly transparency returns on gov.uk.

As of this date, there have been no such appointments.

A ‘direct appointment’ is a Ministerial appointment to a non-statutory office. It does not include appointments to Civil Service roles. Since 5 July 2024, the Cabinet Office has made no statutory or non-statutory direct ministerial appointments.

All Business and Trade direct ministerial appointments are currently under review and no direct Ministerial appointments have been finalised.

No statutory direct ministerial appointments have been made by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has made two non-statutory direct ministerial appointments:

• Great British Energy Start-Up Chair, Juergen Maier. The Start-Up Chair is responsible for establishing and growing Great British Energy (GBE), a new organisation which is a key Government priority, with a mission to drive clean energy deployment to create jobs, boost energy independence, and ensure UK taxpayers, billpayers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, home-grown energy. Please see the answer to Question UIN 2492 for further information on remuneration.
• Great British Nuclear, Interim Non-executive Director, Gareth Price. The function of this position is to bring independent oversight and provide expert advice, support, and constructive challenge to the organisation. Duties for this role will include taking all appropriate and necessary action as a Non-Executive Director to facilitate and promote the statutory objects of GBN, which include the facilitation of the design, construction, commissioning and operation of nuclear energy generation projects for the purpose of furthering any policies published by His Majesty's government. Remuneration for this role will be published in GBN’s Annual Reports and Accounts.

The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology has made two statutory and one non-statutory direct ministerial appointments.

Matt Clifford was appointed through a direct ministerial appointment in July 2024. Matt is the Lead Reviewer of the Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan and is not remunerated for his role. The terms of reference for the action plan are available on GOV.UK.

Hazel Hobbs was appointed as interim Chair of Building Digital UK (BDUK) in August, starting on 1 September 2024 for a period of 6 months and remuneration of £80,000 p.a. pro rata. An announcement containing further details is published here. Hazel will serve as interim Chair whilst an exercise is launched to recruit a permanent Chair. Hazel has also been reappointed in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments as a non-executive director of BDUK, having been a member of the Board since the organisation became an executive agency in March 2022.

Stella Peace was appointed as interim Executive Chair at Innovate UK (IUK) in August, starting on 30 September 2024 for an initial period of six months with remuneration of £149,000 p.a. pro rata. An announcement containing further details is published here. Stella will serve as interim Executive Chair whilst an exercise is completed to recruit a permanent Executive Chair.

As regulated Public Appointments, the interim Chair of BDUK and interim Executive Chair of IUK were both appointed in accordance with paragraph 3.3 of the Governance Code on Public Appointments, which states that: "In exceptional cases, Ministers may decide to appoint a candidate without a competition. They must make this decision public alongside their reasons for doing so. They must consult the Commissioner for Public Appointments in good time before the appointment is publicly announced”.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has not made any statutory or non-statutory direct appointments.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, made a direct ministerial appointment for the Interim Chair of Skills England with Richard Pennycook appointed on 22 July 2024. Details of the remuneration will be available in future published Annual Reports and Accounts.

In addition, Sir Kevan Collins has been appointed as a non-executive board member of the Department for Education for a period of three years from 5 July 2024. As a regulated public appointment, it was made in accordance with paragraph 3.3 of the Governance Code on Public Appointments, which states that: "In exceptional cases, Ministers may decide to appoint a candidate without a competition. They must make this decision public alongside their reasons for doing so. They must consult the Commissioner for Public Appointments in good time before the appointment is publicly announced". Further details are published here, including terms and remuneration: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-education-non-executive-appointments/appointments-made-april-2024-to-march-2025.

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Special Advisers are required to comply with the Special Adviser Code of Conduct at all times and are required to make declarations on meetings with senior media figures in line with published transparency guidance.

Where a Special Adviser accompanies their Minister to an official meeting with a senior media figure, the Special Adviser’s attendance does not need to be separately recorded as the Minister will be the main attendee.

Where an ‘informal’ lobbying approach is granted time or resource by Government, it should result in a diarised engagement and therefore be recorded.

The Secretary of State has not made any Direct Ministerial Appointments.

The Secretary of State for Transport has not made any statutory or non-statutory direct ministerial appointments.

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Special Advisers are required to comply with the Special Adviser Code of Conduct at all times and are required to make declarations on meetings with senior media figures in line with published transparency guidance.

Where a Special Adviser accompanies their Minister to an official meeting with a senior media figure, the Special Adviser’s attendance does not need to be separately recorded as the Minister will be the main attendee.

Where an ‘informal’ lobbying approach is granted time or resource by Government, it should result in a diarised engagement and therefore be recorded.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has established a non-statutory Labour Market Advisory Board which will consist of a small group of leading labour market experts to provide insight, ideas, and challenge to tackle key labour market issues. The Board will be chaired by Paul Gregg, Professor of Economic and Social Policy in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath with further members being announced shortly. Roles on the Board are unpaid. We will set out further details of the Labour Market Advisory Board, including the Terms of Reference, shortly.

My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is responsible for making a range of public appointments, some of which are established in statute, and some of which are not. As of 29 August 2024, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care had not made any public appointments directly, without competition.

Separate to public appointments, and in line with Cabinet Office guidance, ministers can also make direct ministerial appointments. As of 29 August 2024, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care had made two such appointments. The first of which is the Rt hon. Professor Lord Darzi, who has been appointed to lead the independent audit of the National Health Service. This is an unpaid position, and details of this appointment and the terms of reference are available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-investigation-of-nhs-performance-terms-of-reference/independent-investigation-of-nhs-performance-terms-of-reference

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/independent-investigation-ordered-into-state-of-nhs

The second appointment is Paul Corrigan, who has been appointed as a Senior Strategy Advisor for the 10-Year Health Plan. This is a paid position, at a rate of £350 per day. Further details on the terms of reference for the role will be released shortly on the GOV.UK website.

The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs has made one direct ministerial appointment to date. Jonathan Powell has been appointed as the Prime Minister's Envoy for the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT)/Chagos Archipelago Sovereignty Negotiation with Mauritius. Jonathan Powell's experience on the most sensitive international issues makes him uniquely qualified to carry out this role. His appointment was announced on Gov.uk on 6 September. The full statement can be found here: [https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jonathan-powell-appointed-as-special-envoy-for-biot-negotiations].

As of 2 September 2024, there has been one direct ministerial appointment made. Ian Corfield has been appointed as an unpaid International Investment Summit Adviser by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ian Corfield will be in post until 31 October 2024. Details of his appointment can be found on gov.uk.

As the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in her statement to Parliament on 29th July 2024, she asked Treasury officials, on her first day in office, to undertake a rapid audit of public spending. As is the usual process with Treasury documents, officials worked closely with typesetters throughout to develop and print the document. The conclusions of the public spending audit were presented to the House of Commons on 29th July 2024.

As the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in her statement to Parliament on 29th July 2024, she asked Treasury officials, on her first day in office, to undertake a rapid audit of public spending. Once the audit was complete, she took immediate action to find £5.5 billion of savings in 2024-25, rising to £8.1 billion in 2025-26. The conclusions of the public spending audit were presented to the House of Commons on 29th July 2024.

As the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in her statement to Parliament on 29th July 2024, she asked Treasury officials, on her first day in office, to undertake a rapid audit of public spending. The Chancellor engaged with the Prime Minister throughout on the findings of the audit and took immediate action to find £5.5 billion of savings in 2024-25, rising to £8.1 billion in 2025-26. The conclusions of the public spending audit were presented to the House of Commons on 29th July 2024.

As the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in her statement to Parliament on 29th July 2024, she asked Treasury officials, on her first day in office, to undertake a rapid audit of public spending. Officials updated the Chancellor on the findings of the audit throughout the process, and she took immediate action to find £5.5 billion of savings in 2024-25, rising to £8.1 billion in 2025-26. The conclusions of the public spending audit were presented to the House of Commons on 29th July 2024.

The Home Office has not made any new direct ministerial appointments since the General Election.

Details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Special Advisers are required to comply with the Special Adviser Code of Conduct at all times and are required to make declarations on meetings with senior media figures in line with published transparency guidance. Where a Special Adviser accompanies their Minister to an official meeting with a senior media figure, the Special Adviser's attendance does not need to be separately recorded as the Minister will be the main attendee. Where an 'informal' lobbying approach is granted time or resource by Government, it should result in a diarised engagement and therefore be recorded.

The Department has not made any statutory direct Ministerial appointments.

The Department has made eight non-statutory direct Ministerial appointments. These are as follows:

Strategic Defence Review (SDR) 2024

Reviewers:

• Lead reviewer- Lord Robertson of Port Ellen
• Reviewer - Dr Fiona Hill
• Reviewer - General Sir Richard Barrons
• Review Team Expert - Rt Hon Sir Jeremy Quin
• Review Team Expert - Edward Dinsmore
• Review Team Expert - Robin Marshall
• Review Team Expert - Grace Cassy

Remuneration rates have not yet been finalised.

All these appointments are subject to the Terms of Reference for the SDR which is available on GOV.UK.

AUKUS

• UK Government's AUKUS Adviser - Sir Stephen Lovegrove

Un-remunerated. Appointment's Terms of Reference available on GOV.UK.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has made two non-statutory direct ministerial appointments since being appointed to the role: Sir Michael Lyons as the Chair of the New Towns Taskforce, and Dame Kate Barker as the Deputy Chair of the New Towns Taskforce. The New Towns Taskforce will be responsible for recommending locations for new towns within the next year. We will set out further details of the Taskforce in the coming weeks, ahead of the appointment of the other Taskforce members and its first meeting in the autumn.

The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice has made no such appointments.

Since becoming Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 5 July, I have not made any statutory or non-statutory direct ministerial appointments.

I have not made any statutory or non-statutory direct ministerial appointments since being appointed as Leader of the House of Commons.

I can confirm that I have not made any statutory or non-statutory direct Ministerial Appointments since taking up office as the Secretary of State for Scotland on 5 July 2024.

Neither I nor my Special Advisers have had any meetings or communications via electronic messaging with representatives of Arden Strategies.

Since my appointment as Secretary of State for Wales, I have not made any statutory or non-statutory direct ministerial appointments.