To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what information the Commissioner for Public Appointments holds on the public appointments to be made in the next 24 months. (269902)

Individual Government Departments manage the processes for ministerial appointments to vacancies on the boards of the individual public bodies for which they are responsible. The Commissioner for Public Appointments regulates the appointments process. She publishes an annual report which includes statistical information on appointments and re-appointments within her remit that have been made during the reporting year. She does not collect information on future public appointments.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many public appointments were made in the last 12 months according to records held by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. (269903)

The Commissioner for Public Appointments reports annually on the number of ministerial appointments and re-appointments to the boards of public bodies within her remit that have been made in the reporting year. Information on appointments and re-appointments for 2007-08 was published on 27 October 2008. Information for 2008-09 will be published in the Commissioner’s Annual Report in the autumn.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for what reasons and on what date the Cabinet Office’s Public Appointments Unit was disbanded. (269904)

The Cabinet Office Public Appointments Unit was disbanded in July 2007 and its responsibilities transferred elsewhere within the Department. This was in response to recommendations arising from the 2006 Capability Review of the Cabinet Office and is part of an ongoing programme of change within the Department designed to ensure that the Cabinet Office is operating efficiently and effectively and well placed to meet the challenges ahead.