Following the publication last week of a PASC report calling for reforms to the honours system, Bernard Jenkin MP wrote in an article published today: “Honours should not be awarded to civil servants or businessmen unless it can be demonstrated that there has been service above and beyond the call of duty.”
PASC’s report outlines a set of reforms to increase transparency and public confidence in the system. It calls for an independent Honours Commission to reduce political influence over honours lists; for more honours to go to those who work in their local community; and for the removal of quotas for particular professions or sections of society.
The committee also wants to see stricter rules on the withdrawal of honours, with an independent committee to oversee the process and a list of behaviours or actions against which people can be judged.
The recommendations would reduce prime ministerial patronage. “We recommend the removal of the prime minister’s role in providing strategic direction for the honours system, and the renaming of the ‘Prime Minister’s List’,” the committee said.
It also wants to increase the influence of the lords lieutenant – the Queen’s representatives in the counties – and utilise their local knowledge to ensure that deserving people in each community are recognised: “We recommend that each lord lieutenant has the opportunity to consider and comment on all nominations for an honour”, it said.