Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many appointments to ministerial private office have been made by exceptions to the civil service recruitment principles since July 2024; and how many transfers of civil servants from other departments by exceptions there have been since that date.

Between July 2024 and 03 November 2025 there were no appointments made by exception to Ministerial Private Offices among the delegated grades (below Senior Civil Servant (SCS) level). However, during this period there was one direct Ministerial appointment at SCS level, this was the Strategic Advisor to the Secretary of State and Head of Review and Challenge.