New honours committees announced
The government has announced the membership of eight new committees designed to help in the selection of people to receive honours.
The move follows changes designed to make the system more transparent, and comes after reviews by Sir Hayden Phillips and the public administration select committee.
Lord May, chairman of the science and technology committee, said: “The government has updated the honours system to reflect values of transparency and openness.”
For the first time all appointments to the honours committees were made through open competition, and the names of those selected were published today.
Eminent people from outside government will now chair committees, which previously were only chaired by civil servants.
The committees will help advise the cabinet secretary on candidates for the prime minister’s list of recommendations for those to be honoured by the Queen.
To see a full list of the honours committees membershipclik here.
