Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Direct Ministerial Appointments are in post across government; and how many are paid.

The Cabinet Office does not hold data from across government on all direct ministerial appointments.

As set out in the recently published Guidance on Making Direct Ministerial Appointments, the Cabinet Office has recently made changes to its public appointments digital platform, which will allow departments to record and track their data on such appointments.