Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2022 to Question 154232, whether the Commissioner on Public Appointments was notified that the post of Chair of the Universal Credit Programme Board was not going to be advertised for open public recruitment.

The Universal Credit Programme Board is not listed in the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019 as a body subject to regulation by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, so the appointment of the Chair did not need to meet the requirements of the Governance Code for Public Appointments. The Cabinet Office was notified and approved the appointment of the Universal Credit Programme Board Chair.