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.
[2] The committee conducts its business by correspondence, and only meets to confer about a decision where the probability is to rescind an honour.
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.
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.All decisions made by the committee are submitted to the Monarch through the Office of the Prime Minister.