Cabinet Office Minister sets up review of Committee on Standards in Public Life

The Minister of the Cabinet Office, Michael Gove, has asked officials to review the membership and the remit of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, including in relation to its diversity.

The move follows a letter sent by the chair of the committee, Lord Evans of Weardale, which said members of the watchdog had “expressed concerns about our lack of visible diversity now as a group”.

Lord Evans’ letter was sent shortly before Professor Gillian Peele and Ewen Fergusson, a former partner at City law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, joined the committee on 1 August 2021.

In his response the Minister of the Cabinet Office said: “You raise an important point about the need for diversity in public appointments and specifically on your Committee. As you rightly note, there will be a further vacancy on the Committee from January 2022.

“We will continue to seek to promote diversity, in line with the Government’s appointments policy, and the government will of course continue to take your views, as Chair of this body, into account when making future appointments.”

Gove said he had asked his officials to discuss the review of the Committee with Lord Evans.