Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Faulks on 10 March (HL Deb, col 646) about the recruitment of a chair of the national mental capacity forum, (1) when the recruitment process was first advertised in national publications by inviting applications for the post; (2) what was the specification of the duties of the chair; (3) whether they will provide a copy of the advertisement; and (4) what stage has been reached in the appointment process.

The advert for the post of chair was advertised on the Cabinet Office’s Centre for Public Appointments website on the 24^th of March 2015, and is attached. The advert contains the duties of the chair.

We are at the final stages of the recruitment process and will announce the successful candidate after summer recess as we need to allow a 5 week period for the appropriate vetting process to be completed.

Discussions on the membership and composition of the forum will take place with the new chair immediately after the completion of an appointment. We expect the process of determining membership to be complete by the end of September and will hope to convene the first meeting of the forum in November.