Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the document entitled Memorandum of Understanding: accessing HMRC information to assist honours committees in making ​recommendations​​​​​ about awarding honours to individuals, published on 19 October 2023, whether his Department has disagreed with risk ratings supplied by HMRC for honours probity checks.

In order to protect the integrity of the honours system, the Cabinet Office carries out probity checks with a number of government departments to ensure that honours recipients are in good standing. HMRC provides the Cabinet Office with a minimal disclosure of information in the form of a risk rating of low, medium and high without disclosing any underlying detail about the tax affairs of an individual being considered for an honour.

As per the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding, which superseded the previous 2017 version, the Cabinet Office will only hold the information provided by HMRC for a maximum of 12 months following the publication of an honours list. The Cabinet Office therefore only has access to the HMRC rating during this timeframe. HMRC's risk rating reflects their view on an individual's tax behaviour. Cabinet Office takes this information into account, alongside information provided by other government departments, to inform the honours committees' recommendations.