Honours Forfeiture Committee

Last updated

Honours Forfeiture Committee
TypeUK Cabinet Office sub-committee
Legal statusad hoc
Chair
 Head of the Home Civil Service

The Honours Forfeiture Committee is an ad hoc committee convened under the United Kingdom Cabinet Office, which considers cases referred to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom where an individual's actions subsequent to their being awarded a British honour raises the question of whether they should be allowed to continue to be a holder. Recommendations are made to the Monarch of the United Kingdom, who has the sole authority to rescind an honour. [1]

Contents

Operations

The committee is only convened at the request of the Prime Minister, under the chairmanship of the Head of the Home Civil Service. [2]

The committee conducts its business by correspondence, and only meets to confer about a decision where the probability is to rescind an honour. The committee only considers cases where an individual who has been honoured is judged to have brought the honours system into disrepute, including issues covering someone who: [2]

If there is other compelling evidence that an individual has brought the honours system into disrepute, then it is open to the committee to consider such cases as well. The committee also considers matters of general policy regarding forfeiture. [2]

In 2009, Gordon Brown confirmed [3] that the process remains as set out in 1994 by the then Prime Minister John Major in a written answer to the House of Commons:

The statutes of most orders of knighthood and the royal warrants of decorations and medals include provision for the Queen to "cancel and annul" appointments and awards. Cancellation is considered in cases where retention of the appointment or award would bring the honours system into disrepute. There are no set guidelines for cancellations, which are considered on a case-by-case basis. Since 1979, the London Gazette has published details of cancellations of 15 appointments and awards—three knighthoods, one CBE, five OBEs, four MBEs and two BEMs.

—  John Major, House of Commons Hansard, 2 December 1994, vol 250 c923W [4]

All decisions made by the committee are submitted to the Monarch through the Office of the Prime Minister. The subjects discussed by the Committee remain confidential at all times, until confirmed by the Monarch. [2]

Decisions on forfeiture are published in the London Gazette . [2]

Composition

The Forfeiture Committee has a majority of independent members. It is chaired by Sir Chris Wormald (previously Sir Jonathan Stephens), on delegated authority from the Head of the Civil Service. The other members are the Treasury solicitor and three permanent, independent members.

Voluntary renouncing of honours

An individual can renounce their honour, by returning their insignia to Buckingham Palace and by ceasing to make any reference to having that honour, including ceasing using the honour post-nominals. However, only the monarch can annul an honour, and the individual would still hold the honour unless and until annulled by the monarch. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

In the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories, personal bravery, achievement, or service are rewarded with honours. The honours system consists of three types of award:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of the British Empire</span> British order of chivalry established in 1917

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand royal honours system</span> Orders, decorations, and medals of New Zealand

The New Zealand royal honours system, a system of orders, decorations and medals, recognises achievements of, or service by, New Zealanders or others in connection with New Zealand. Until 1975, New Zealand used the British honours system. Since then the country has introduced a number of uniquely New Zealand honours, and as of 2021, only the dynastic British honours continue in active use in New Zealand, with the exception of the Order of the Companions of Honour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knight Bachelor</span> Title indicating a knight not part of an order of chivalry

The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight, but Knights Bachelor rank below knights of chivalric orders. A man who is knighted is formally addressed as "Sir [First Name] [Surname]" or "Sir [First Name]" and his wife as "Lady [Surname]".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Clarke (politician)</span> British Labour Party politician

Sir Thomas Clarke, is a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1982 until 2015, representing Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill from 2005 until losing his seat to Philip Boswell of the SNP in the May 2015 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post Office Limited</span> British retail post office company owned by the government of the United Kingdom

Post Office Limited, commonly known as the Post Office, is a retail post office company in the United Kingdom that provides a wide range of products including postage stamps and banking to the public through its nationwide network of around 11,500 post office branches. Most of these branch post offices are run by franchise partners or by independent business people known as subpostmasters; the remaining 1% are directly managed by Post Office Limited.

Frederick Anderson Goodwin FRSE FCIBS is a Scottish chartered accountant and former banker who was chief executive officer (CEO) of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) between 2001 and 2009.

James Robert Crosby is an English banker. He was Deputy Chairman of the Financial Services Authority from January 2004 until he resigned on 11 February 2006. He had previously been the chief executive of Halifax Bank until its merger with Bank of Scotland to form HBOS, of which he was Chief Executive until 2006. On 3 December 2012, Crosby was required to appear before Britain's Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.

The British Hero of the Holocaust award is a special national award given by the government of the United Kingdom in recognition of British citizens who assisted in rescuing victims of the Holocaust. On 9 March 2010, it was awarded to 25 individuals posthumously. The award is a solid silver medallion and bears the inscription "in the service of humanity" in recognition of "selfless actions" which "preserved life in the face of persecution".

Ireland has no formal honours system. Proposals to introduce one have been made by various groups at different times. The Order of St. Patrick, established by the British monarchy in the Kingdom of Ireland in 1783, has been in abeyance for decades. The Constitution of Ireland mandates that "Titles of nobility shall not be conferred by the State", but this does not preclude the creation of chivalric orders or other civic awards.

Christopher Basil Cunningham IC, MBE was an English Catholic priest.

Nicholas "Nick" Gargan is a former Chief Constable in England, who now runs his own consultancy company, Nick Gargan Consulting.

The Honours Committee is a committee within the Cabinet Office of the Government of the United Kingdom formed to review nominations for national honours for merit, exceptional achievement or service. Twice yearly the Honours Committee submits formal recommendations for the British monarch's New Years and Birthday Honours. Members of the Honours Committee—which comprises a main committee and nine subcommittees in speciality areas—research and vet nominations for national awards, including knighthoods and the Order of the British Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Verity</span> British businessman

Sir Gary Keith Verity, is a British businessman and sheep farmer. He was Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire from 2008 until he resigned in March 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula Vennells</span> British businesswoman and priest (born 1959)

Paula Anne Vennells is a British businesswoman who was the chief executive officer of Post Office Limited from 2012 to 2019. She is also an Anglican priest.

<i>Mr Bates vs The Post Office</i> 2024 British television series

Mr Bates vs The Post Office is a four-part British television drama series for ITV, written by Gwyneth Hughes, directed by James Strong and starring an ensemble cast led by Toby Jones. The series is a dramatisation of the British Post Office scandal, a miscarriage of justice in which hundreds of subpostmasters were wrongly prosecuted privately and publicly for theft, false accounting or fraud due to a faulty computer system called Horizon. It was broadcast on four consecutive days from 1 January 2024.

References

  1. ↑ "Former RBS chief executive Fred Goodwin stripped of his knighthood". Daily Telegraph. 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Honours Forfeiture Committee". direct.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  3. ↑ "Written Answers for 12 February 2009 (pt 0004)". House of Commons Hansard. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  4. ↑ "Written Answers for 2 December 1994, vol 250 c923W". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 2 December 1994. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  5. ↑ "Queen's honours: People who have turned them down named". BBC News. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "People". Time Magazine. 24 June 1940. p. 1. Archived from the original on 3 February 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  7. ↑ "Blunt revealed as fourth man". BBC News. 16 November 1979. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Honours stripped: Who else has lost out?". BBC News. 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  9. ↑ "Life and high-flying times of four partners in crime". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "Goodwin Knighthood decision". Cabinet Office. 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  11. ↑ "Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris stripped of CBE". BBC. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood". London Gazette . 3 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  13. ↑ Table of recipients who have forfeited honours (PDF), Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, March 2019, retrieved 3 April 2019
  14. ↑ "Harvey Weinstein: Jailed movie producer stripped of honorary CBE". BBC News. 18 September 2020. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  15. ↑ "Ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells stripped of CBE". BBC News. 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  16. ↑ "No. 64326". The London Gazette . 26 February 2024. p. 358.
  17. ↑ "Having honours taken away (forfeiture)". GOV.UK. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.