Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 21 July (HLWS867), what legal mechanism will be used to require a minister to repay severance payments following a breach of the Business Appointment Rules.

The Ministerial Code is clear that the Business Appointment Rules apply to former ministers after they leave office.

Ministers will also be expected to sign waivers to confirm that they will repay their severance payment in the event they are found to have seriously breached the Business Appointment Rules.