Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 22 June 2026, to Question 9334, on DSIT: Public Appointments, and further to the Cabinet Office publication, Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments of 1 June 2026, what guidance his Department has given to departments on whether GDPR prevents the publication of declarations of political activity; and if he will undertake a review of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology's approach in this regard.

The Governance Code on Public Appointments requires the public disclosure of political activity within the last five years for successful candidates. The Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies also requires appointees to comply with the rules of the appointing body on handling conflicts of interests, which typically require the public declaration of potential conflicts, usually in the body’s register of interests.

The general guidance on the declaration of interests process for Non-Executive Board Members, which would include political activity, is published on Gov.uk, with the intention of standardising the management and publication of such interests across UK Government departments in order to increase consistency and transparency, as recommended by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.