Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, under what authority Special Adviser Dominic Cummings has the ability to (a) hire and (b) dismiss staff from government departments.

Special Advisers must adhere to the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. As it states in the code of conduct, all Special Adviser appointments must be approved by the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister may terminate employment by withdrawing his consent to an individual appointment at any time.

Dominic Cummings operates under the authority of his appointing Minister, the Prime Minister. An area which the PM has asked Dominic Cummings to lead on is decisions concerning the management of Special Advisers.

As the code of conduct sets out, Special Advisers cannot exercise any power in relation to the management of any part of the Civil Service, except in relation to another Special Adviser.