Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) the Ethics and Integrity Commission will be placed on a statutory basis and (b) he plans to introduce primary legislation to reform lobbying regulation.

We will continue to work with the newly established Ethics and Integrity Commission to ensure that it achieves its aim of promoting the highest standards in public life.

In respect of lobbying, on 11 March the Prime Minister wrote to the Chair of the Ethics and Integrity Commission, Doug Chalmers, to commission a review into lobbying, disclosure and access to government. As set out in the Terms of reference, the Government will publish the Review’s findings and present the Government’s response to Parliament in due course thereafter.