Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how can members of the public register their objections to those who have been awarded honours.

Honours are awarded by The Sovereign following a recommendation from one of ten independent Honours Committees, comprising a majority of independent members who are experts in their relevant sector. Honours are given to reward outstanding service in a given field or area and are awarded entirely on merit. As part of the nomination process, we try to minimise the risk that prospective candidates have behaved in ways likely to bring the system into disrepute by carrying out probity checks with a number of government departments before names are submitted for approval.

A recipient who has been deemed to have brought the honours system into disrepute can have their award forfeited. Full criteria for forfeiture and the Forfeiture Committee’s contact details are available on gov.uk.