Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what dates the original application process opened and closed for the Chair of the Social Mobility Commission; how many people applied for that position before the closure of the original application process; whether the application process was then extended; how many people applied for that position after any such extension; and if he will make a statement.

The application process to recruit a Chair of the Social Mobility Commission opened on 5 February 2018 with an original closing date of 25 February 2018. The closing date was subsequently extended to 30 March 2018 to ensure applications from a strong field of candidates. Six applications for the role were received before the closure of the original application process and fifteen were received after the extension to the deadline was made. The process to appoint a Chair of the Social Mobility Commission was run in accordance of advice from the Cabinet Office and the Department for Education’s Public Appointments team, and fully in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.