Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State on 8 July (HC15560), which paragraph of the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies provides the basis upon which Direct Ministerial Appointments do not need to declare political activity.

The Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, which Direct Ministerial Appointments are required by their conditions of engagement to follow, requires appointees to comply with the rules of the appointing body on handling conflicts of interests.

The Code itself does not set specific requirements on the public declaration of political activity, however the standard terms of engagement provided in the published Direct Ministerial Appointment guidance requires appointees to declare interests to the department, and states that the appointing department will then determine whether any interests should be published.