Honours committees

Honours committees are made up of senior civil servants (‘official members’) and people who are independent of government (‘independent members’). All honours committees have a majority of members who are independent.

Each honours committee has an independent chairperson. A representative from 10 Downing Street is invited to attend all committee meetings.

Honours committees review honours nominations for people involved in specific activities (like arts and media or sport) which are then sent to the Main Honours Committee.

Main committee

Members:

• Sir Chris Wormald KCB
• The Cabinet Secretary
• Chair of Arts and Media Committee: John Booth
• Chair of Community and Voluntary Services Committee: The Rt Hon Nick Hurd
• Chair of Economy Committee: Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia DBE CVO FRSE
• Chair of Education Committee: Sir Hamid Patel CBE
• Chair of Health and Social Care Committee: Dame Jane Dacre DBE
• Chair of Parliamentary and Political Service Committee: The Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury CBE
• Chair of Public Service Committee: Harris Bokhari OBE
• Chair of Science, Technology and Research Committee: Stephen Kelly
• Chair of Sport Committee: The Rt Hon Sir HughRon RobertsonKalifa KCMG DLOBE
• Chair of State Committee: MarkThe AddisonRt CBHon Dame Anne Rafferty DBE
• The Permanent Under Secretary, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
• The Chief of the Defence Staff

Arts and Media

John Booth - Chair, National Gallery and Prince’s Trust (Independent Chair)

Independent members:

• Sir Peter Bazalgette - Chair, ITV
• YolanDa Brown OBE DL - Saxophonist, Broadcaster and Chair of BPI
• Ben Evans CBE - Director of the London Design Festival and Executive Director of London Design Biennale
• Sir Richard Mantle OBE DL - Cultural administrator, Chair of The Grange Festival, Chair of In Peace or War and former General Director of Opera North
• George Saumarez Smith - Director of ADAM Architecture
• Samir Shah CBE - Chair, BBC
• 3 x vacancies

Official members:

• Susannah Storey CB - Permanent Secretary, Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• John-Paul Marks CB - Permanent Secretary, Scottish Government

Community and Voluntary Service

Chair: The Rt Hon Nick Hurd (Independent Chair)

Independent members:

• Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski - Emeritus Rabbi, Golders Green Synagogue; Chief Strategist and Rabbinic Head, University Jewish Chaplaincy
• Carly Jones MBE - Autism Advocate
• Ros Kerslake CBE - Chief Executive, National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Heritage Memorial Fund
• Adeeba Malik CBE - Deputy Chief Executive, QED UK
• 2 x Vacancies

Official members:

• Susannah Storey CB - Permanent Secretary, Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• Sarah Healey CB – Permanent Secretary, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
• Dr Andrew Goodall CBE - Permanent Secretary, Welsh Government

The Economy

Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia DBE CVO FRSE (Independent Chair)

Independent members:

• Sir Douglas Flint CBE – Chairman, Standard Life Aberdeen
• Dame Vivian Hunt DBE - Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
• Dr Gerard Lyons - Chief Economic Strategist, Netwealth
• Peter Harrison, Group Chief Executive of Schroders plc
• 2 x Vacancies

Official members:

• Gareth Davies CB - Permanent Secretary, Department for Business and Trade
• Jeremy Pocklington CB - Permanent Secretary, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
• John-Paul Marks CB - Permanent Secretary, Scottish Government
• James Bowler CB - Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury

Education

Sir Hamid Patel CBE - Chief Executive, Star Academies (Independent chair)

Independent members:

• Dame Sally Coates DBE - Director of Secondary Education, United Learning
• Dame Sally Dicketts DBE - President, Association of Colleges
• Sir Martyn Oliver, HM Chief Inspector of Education
• Dame Alison Peacock DBE DL - Chief Executive, Chartered College of Teaching
• 2 x vacancies

Official members:

• Jayne Brady MBE - Head of Northern Ireland Civil Service
• Susan Acland-Hood – Permanent Secretary, Department for Education

Health and Social Care

Professor Dame Jane Dacre DBE - Professor of Medical Education, University College London and President, Medical Protection Society (Independent chair)

Independent members:

• Sir David Behan CBE – Chair, Health Education England
• Dr Henrietta Hughes OBE - lately National Guardian for the NHS
• The Baroness Harding of Winscombe - Chair of NHS Improvement
• Professor Iqbal Singh CBE - Chair, Centre of Excellence and Safety for Older People
• 1 x Vacancy

Official members:

• Professor Sir Chris Whitty KCB - Chief Medical Officer (England)
• Shona Dunn – Second Permanent Secretary, Department of Health and Social Care
• Judith Paget CBE - Director General, Department for Health, Social Services and Children, Welsh Government

Parliamentary and Political Service

The Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury CBE - Member, House of Lords (Independent chair)

Independent members:

• Dr Sue Griffiths - Managing Director, Social Development Direct
• The Rt Hon The Lord Haselhurst
• Dame Denise Platt DBE – lately Member, General Medical Council and Solicitors Regulation Authority
• Lord McNicol of West Kilbride
• The  Lord Oates
• 2 x Vacancy

Official members:

• The Rt Hon SimonSir HartAlan Campbell MP - Government Chief Whip
• The Rt Hon SirStuart AlanAndrew Campbell MP - Opposition Chief Whip

Public Service

Harris Bokhari OBE - Trustee, Natural History Museum, Chair, National Citizen Service Trust (Independent Chair)

Independent members:

• Emir Feisal JP, Trustee, the Henry Smith Charity
• Alistair Finlay OBE, Faculty Director of Operations, Queen’s University Belfast
• Maggy Pigott CBE - Lately Joint CEO, Judicial Studies Board

Official Members:

• Susan Acland-Hood – Permanent Secretary, Department for Education
• Sir Matthew Rycroft KCMG CBE – Permanent Secretary, Home Office
• Sarah Healey CB – Permanent Secretary, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
• Antonia Romeo - Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice
• Dr Andrew Goodall CBE – Permanent Secretary, Welsh Government

Science, Technology and Research

Stephen Kelly - Chair, Tech Nation (Independent chair)

Independent members:

• Professor Sir Keith Burnett, CBE, FRS – Chair, Nuffield Foundation and Chair of the Academic Council, Schmidt Science Fellowship, University of Oxford.
• Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser DBE – CEO, UK Research and Innovation
• Professor Lionel Tarassenko CBE FREng - President, Reuben College, University of Oxford
• 3 x Vacancies

Official members:

• Professor Dame Angela McLean DBE FRS - Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government and Head, Government Office for Science
• Dr Alistair Carson, Chief Scientific Adviser, Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs

Sport

TheChair Rt- Hon Sir HughRon RobertsonKhalifa KCMG DLOBE  -(Independent Chair of the British Olympic AssociationChair)

Independent members:

• Susan Barker CBE - Former television presenter and professional tennis player
• Anthony Hamilton - British racing car manager
• Elena Narozanski - Board member, Football Foundation and Sport England
• Jennie Price CBE - Former CEO of Sport England, Chair, International Tennis Integrity Agency
• Robert Sullivan - CEO, Football Foundation

Official members:

• Susannah Storey CB - Permanent Secretary, Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• Jayne Brady MBE - Head of Northern Ireland Civil Service

State

Chair - MarkThe AddisonRt CBHon –Dame LatelyAnne PublicRafferty AppointmentsDBE  Assessor; lately Civil Service Commissioner; and Chair, Dorset County Hospital (Independent chair)Chair)

Independent members:

• Isabel Doverty MA, M.Sc, MCIPD - Civil Service Commissioner
• Jenny Rowe CB - Former CEO, Supreme Court
• 3x Vacancies

Official members:

• Tamara Finkelstein CB - Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Sir Chris Wormald KCB

Diversity Committee

A group of independent committee members oversee the honours system’s work to embed diversity and equality. It meets twice a year to assess the statistical trends and to maintain momentum behind continuing improvements, and outreach activity.

The Diversity Committee’s purpose is to:

• work to ensure the honours system is properly reflective of UK society;
• support targeted regional and sectoral outreach and publicity of the honours system;
• identify policy improvements or interventions regarding improving diversity in the honours system and make recommendations to the HD Committee;
• recommend courses of action to the independent honours committees, honours secretaries and the Honours and Appointments Secretariat to improve diversity;
• support the work of the independent committees by ensuring they are sighted on best practice in this area, remain mindful of and committed to diversity targets, and undertake discussions and the evaluation of candidates in an open and even handed way; and
• support pipeline-building activities across all honours committees.

Chair - To be confirmed

Independent members:

• Emir Feisal JP, Trustee, the Henry Smith Charity
• Dr Sue Griffiths - Managing Director, Social Development Direct
• Dame Denise Platt DBE – Member, General Medical Council and Member, Solicitors Regulation Authority
• Jenny Rowe CB - Former CEO, Supreme Court
• Prof Iqbal Singh OBE - Chair, Centre of Excellence and Safety for Older People (CESOP)
• Sir Hamid Patel CBE - Chief Executive, Star Academies

Vacancies

From time to time, the Cabinet Office invites applications to fill vacancies on the committees.

All vacancies will be advertised on the Public Appointments website.