Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he had discussions with the Honours committees in advance of the OBE appointment of Vijay Patel in the New Year’s Honours list 2019.

The honours system is independent. Recommendations are made by one of ten independent expert committees, with independent chairs and a majority of independent members, who assess the merits of all nominations. More details about the process can be found at www.gov.uk/honours.