Honours and Appointments Secretariat

A MATTER

OF

HONOUR

Here’s the real scandal!

% List

NY2012

% List

BD2012

% List

NY2013

%

Pop

North East 3.1 2.8 3.4 4.3

North West 10.9 9.8 8.2 11.4

Yorks & Humberside 4.6 4.2 6.9 8.4

East Midlands 5.2 5.2 4.7 7.1

West Midlands 6.2 6.8 7.0 8.9

East 9.0 8.8 10.0 9.1

South West 9.0 9.6 10.0 8.1

South East 16.1 15.4 14.4 13.6

London 14.3 17.1 15.2 12.2

Wales 5.8 5.4 4.9 4.9

Northern Ireland 5.6 6.9 5.8 2.9

Scotland 7.2 6.8 7.1 8.6

Today’s Presentation

• Background to the Honours System• Who gets honours?

– And how can we make sure that the right people do?

• How to nominate

Honours are for people who demonstrate exceptional service and achievement

People who . . .– Have changed things, with an emphasis on achievement– Exemplify the best sustained and selfless voluntary service– Have demonstrated innovation and entrepreneurship– Carry the respect of their peers– Have shown sustained achievement against the odds requiring

moral courage– Have made significant contributions towards building the Big

Society– Are major philanthropists showing sustained commitmentIf in paid employment, they are for people who go beyond their

job

Big Society Examples

• People working to strengthen communities in deprived areas

• Community organisers• People running neighbourhood groups• People working for voluntary or charitable

organisations• Community fundraisers• People tackling any extremism which promotes

violence or hatred• People supporting green enterprise at a local level

Honours Lists

• Two lists per year: Birthday and New Year• Several elements:

– Prime Minister’s list (up to 1300 names)– Defence Secretary’s list (200 names)– Foreign Secretary’s list (150 names)– Others (Privy Counsellors, The Queen’s personal

list, some overseas countries)

• This presentation focuses on PM’s list

Levels (1)• Companion of Honour (up to 47 in UK)

A pre-eminent and sustained contribution in the arts, science, medicine, or government (9 vacancies).

• Knight/DameA pre-eminent contribution in any field of activity usually, but not exclusively at national level, or in a capacity which will be recognised by peer groups as inspirational and significant nationally and demonstrates sustained commitment.

• CBEA prominent national role of a lesser degree, or a conspicuous leading role in regional affairs through achievement or service to the community or a highly distinguished, innovative contribution in his or her area of activity.

• OBE A distinguished regional or county-wide role in any field, through achievement or service to the community including notable practitioners known nationally.

Levels (2)

• MBEAchievement or service in and to the community which is outstanding in its field and has delivered sustained and real impact which stands out as an example to others.

• BEMAchievement or contribution of a very “hands-on” service to the community in a local geographical area. This might take the form of sustained commitment in support of very local charitable and/or voluntary activity; or innovative work that has delivered real impact but that is relatively short (three to four years) in duration.

Recent Reforms• 1993 (John Major):

– End of automaticity– Introduction of public nominations: now 10,000

enquiries a year, leading to 3,000 nominations

• 2005 (Tony Blair): – Independent Selection Committees. – PM passes recommendations direct to HMQ

• 2012 (David Cameron):– Philanthropy and Political Service Committees– Reintroduction of British Empire Medal

ANNEX 1

Summary of Honours Process

CabinetOffice

Arts & media Sc&T Health

Main Honours Committee

PM

The Queen

Stakeholder Suggestions GeneralPublic

Depts(Sift and Prioritise)

Expert Committees X9 (sift and recommend)

Honours Committee(Chaired by Head of Civil Service)(review and recommend)

Timeline of c. 6 months for Department nominations, and up

to 18 months for public nominations due to extra

verification

Via website

StateCVLSEconomy Sport Education

Philanthropy

Parliamentary

Who gets them?At New Year 2013 (1223 people):• 1068 (87%) were at OBE, MBE and BEM level• 247 (20%) were at OBE• 535 (44%) were at MBE• 286 (23%) were at BEM• 72% were working in their local community in

some way• 47% were women• But only 6% from ethnic minority communities

Sectors• 43% went to people nominated for work in

the voluntary sector• 14% went to people in Business, Science and

Technology• 10% went to people in Sport• 10% went to people in Education• 7% went to people in Health• 5% went to people working in the cultural

economy (Arts and Media)

Who’s missing?

• Women• Ethnic minorities• Entrepreneurs• Philanthropists• The retail sector • Technology• And we need more strong MBE and BEM

candidates – including young people

Women are under-represented

• Women have never made up more than 47% of the list.• At The Queen’s Birthday 2012, the proportion dropped

to only 41%.

It’s even worse at the higher levels

• Starkly illustrated by the NY12 List: 7 Dames compared to 27 Knights. BD12 and NY13 Lists only marginally better.

We need more women to submit nominations

Nominators of female Candidates Nominators of male Candidates

A great opportunity

• Honours are a wonderful encouragement– To individuals– To organisations or businesses– To communities– To the region

• Who or what do you want to stimulate in your region?

• How can you reach out to your priority areas?

Who do you know who deserves an honour?

What is special about his/her achievements?– How have they made a difference?– How have they have overcome obstacles or gone

the extra mile? Has it been a sustained performance?

– What has been their impact? – How are they head and shoulders above their peers

or a role model to others?– What has been their voluntary contribution? Don’t

just produce a CV or job description!

Where do I start?• Download a nomination pack from www.gov.uk/honours or

telephone 020 7276 2777• Be prepared to provide at least two independent letters of

support.• Then be patient (though you can ring the Cabinet Office for a

progress report) . . . and remember that not all nominations will succeed.

• If you would like a member of Rutland’s Honours Advisory Panel to review your Citation before it is submitted to the Cabinet Office, please email to khaworth@rutland.gov.uk who will forward to a member of the panel for an overview.