Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory direct ministerial appointments excluding special advisers he has made; and (i) who the appointee was and (ii) what the (A) remuneration, (B) title and (C) terms of reference was for each appointment.

The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology has made two statutory and one non-statutory direct ministerial appointments.

Matt Clifford was appointed through a direct ministerial appointment in July 2024. Matt is the Lead Reviewer of the Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan and is not remunerated for his role. The terms of reference for the action plan are available on GOV.UK.

Hazel Hobbs was appointed as interim Chair of Building Digital UK (BDUK) in August, starting on 1 September 2024 for a period of 6 months and remuneration of £80,000 p.a. pro rata. An announcement containing further details is published here. Hazel will serve as interim Chair whilst an exercise is launched to recruit a permanent Chair. Hazel has also been reappointed in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments as a non-executive director of BDUK, having been a member of the Board since the organisation became an executive agency in March 2022.

Stella Peace was appointed as interim Executive Chair at Innovate UK (IUK) in August, starting on 30 September 2024 for an initial period of six months with remuneration of £149,000 p.a. pro rata. An announcement containing further details is published here. Stella will serve as interim Executive Chair whilst an exercise is completed to recruit a permanent Executive Chair.

As regulated Public Appointments, the interim Chair of BDUK and interim Executive Chair of IUK were both appointed in accordance with paragraph 3.3 of the Governance Code on Public Appointments, which states that: "In exceptional cases, Ministers may decide to appoint a candidate without a competition. They must make this decision public alongside their reasons for doing so. They must consult the Commissioner for Public Appointments in good time before the appointment is publicly announced”.