Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the letter from the First Civil Service Commissioner to the Minister for the Cabinet Office of 9 July 2026, whether she plans to take forward the recommendations of the Commission on a strategic review of the Business Appointment Rules, and in what way these recommendations relate to the recommendations of the Ethics and Integrity Commission.

Following the closure of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, and the transfer of its functions to consider applications under the Business Appointment Rules from the most senior civil servants and special advisers to the Civil Service Commission; the First Civil Service Commissioner was asked to feedback any further strengthening of the Business Appointment Rules the Commission may recommend to ensure proper standards are applied as people leave the civil service.

The Government will of course consider any feedback from those administering the Business Appointment Rules, including the First Civil Service Commissioner. Alongside this, the Government is also carefully considering the Ethics and Integrity Commission’s report and its findings and will present the Government’s response to Parliament in due course.