Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reforming the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACBOA) including (a) statutory status, (b) enhancing sanctioning powers, (c) increasing resources and (d) making ACOBA fully independent of Government.

The Cabinet Office has been working with Lord Pickles on reviewing and improving the regime governing the acceptance of employment following departure from Government. This ongoing work will also take into account any lessons learnt from the Boardman review.