Question
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Cabinet Office guidance Privacy information relating to honours nominations, updated 6 October 2026, for what purposes information concerning the political opinions of an honours nominee ma
Answer
Honours are considered on merit by one of ten independent honours committees. As stated in our Honours Privacy Notice, as part of the honours process we collect and store personal data, including some special category data, which may include political opinions. There are no specific questions asked of nominees regarding their political opinions. Information is usually held where it is included in citations. For example, nominations considered by the independent Political and Parliamentary Service Committee will often contain details of political affiliation.
Verdict: RED (22/100)
The reply refers the member of the public to the Honours Privacy Notice and says that political opinion data is collected and stored, mainly through citations and Political and Parliamentary Service Committee nominations. However, it does not state the purposes for which that data may be processed, which was the core of the question. The answer is largely general and hedged, so the asker would likely need to follow up for the specific purposes.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| For what purposes may information concerning the political opinions of an honours nominee be processed, as set out in the Cabinet Office guidance Privacy information relating to honours nominations, updated 6 October 2026? | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply points to the Honours Privacy Notice and says political opinion data is collected and stored, and that it usually arises from citations and Political and Parliamentary Service Committee nominations. It never states the purposes for which such data may be processed, which is what the item asks, so it only gestures at the subject. |