Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is routine policy for the Cabinet Office to contact HM Revenue and Customs to consult it prior to the appointment of a non-elected Minister.

As was the case under previous administrations, ministerial appointments are a matter for the Prime Minister, in line with the Ministerial Code.

For those individuals upon whom the Prime Minister wishes to confer a life peerage, the independent House of Lords Appointments Commission vets nominations. For those individuals upon whom the Prime Minister wishes to confer a peerage in order that they might sit in the House of Lords to take up a ministerial role, the Commission consults the main regulatory authorities, including HMRC, before giving advice.