Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether there is a data sharing agreement between his Department and HM Revenue and Customs on the work of (a) the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, (b) the Propriety and Ethics Team, (c) the Honours unit, and (d) the Public Appointments unit.

The Memorandum of Understanding between HMRC and the Cabinet Office for the purpose of accessing HMRC information to assist honours committees in making ​recommendations​​​​​ about awarding honours to individuals can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sharing-hmrc-information-to-assist-honours-committees-recommendations/memorandum-of-understanding-accessing-hmrc-information-to-assist-honours-committees-in-making-recommendations-about-awarding-honours-to-individ

There is also a data sharing agreement in place between the Cabinet Office and HMRC as a departmental user of the Apply for a Public Appointment Service.

As was the case under the previous administration, there is no specific data sharing agreement between HMRC and the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards or the Propriety and Ethics team. Data sharing between departments is considered on a case-by-case basis, in line with UK GDPR.