Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2023 to Question 124115 on Public Sector: Pay, whether he has had discussions with the Commissioner for Public Appointments on (a) engagement with unions, (b) time of settlements, (c) the delivery of multiyear deals, (d) revising the appointment process and (e) other reform of the public sector pay review bodies.

The pay review bodies are listed in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council. Appointments to these bodies are therefore regulated under the Order in Council and should be made in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments published by the Cabinet Office. This process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, who may also conduct thematic reviews on elements of the process to help inform best practice. Further to my previous answer, I have not discussed with the Commissioner the reform of the public appointments process with regard to public sector pay review bodies. The other issues raised in the question fall outside of the Commissioner’s remit as set out in the Order in Council and the Governance Code.