14
Conclusion
Seventy-First Report - Resetting govern…
Not Addressed
We asked SROs about the diversity of their programme boards, which could help establish an effective, open and constructive environment. For Universal Credit, the SRO explained how, over time, the Board had included women and men in almost equal number fulfilling different roles, alongside representatives from HM Treasury, the IPA …
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We asked SROs about the diversity of their programme boards, which could help establish an effective, open and constructive environment. For Universal Credit, the SRO explained how, over time, the Board had included women and men in almost equal number fulfilling different roles, alongside representatives from HM Treasury, the IPA and a local authority. For electronic monitoring, the SRO described the Programme Board as representative of HM Prison & Probation Service but recognised that this did not equate to being representative of society at large.47 We also asked the IPA and HM Treasury about diversity within their respective organisations. IPA said it has quite a diverse team, both in terms of cognitive diversity and background. HM Treasury agreed that it is similarly diverse in terms of background although officials tended to have a more policy experience. 36 C&AG’s Report, para 13 37 Qq 111–114 38 Q 69 39 Q 99; C&AG’s Report, Universal Credit: progress update, Session 2014–15, HC 786, 26 November 2014 40 Qq 73–75, 79, 90 41 C&AG’s Report, para 16 42 Q 17 43 Qq 16 44 Qq 9, 10, 91, 93 45 Qq 76–77 46 Qq 16, 19 47 Qq 70–72 12 Resetting government programmes HM Treasury set out that across its public spending work, around 50%, or maybe even more, were female. We commented, however, that there still seemed to be some way to go on ethnic diversity.48
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the observation but its response focuses on the IPA's work to promote a culture of learning and psychological safety, and a review by June 2024 on enhancing transparency, rather than directly addressing diversity on programme boards or ethnic diversity.
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HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Seventy-First Report - Resetting govern…
Not Addressed
We were interested to hear about the role of non-executive directors in creating an environment supportive of challenge and diverse thinking. The SRO for Universal Credit explained how it was useful having a non-executive director chairing the Programme Board.49 The SRO for Ajax spoke about how he has reset the …
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We were interested to hear about the role of non-executive directors in creating an environment supportive of challenge and diverse thinking. The SRO for Universal Credit explained how it was useful having a non-executive director chairing the Programme Board.49 The SRO for Ajax spoke about how he has reset the Board to expand the number of voices around the table, trying to bring-in more diversity and non-advocate challenge. For electronic monitoring the SRO told us that, when they were discussing a potential reset, they had strengthened the independent voice with a non-executive challenge panel outside formal governance arrangements. This provided a space for ‘incredibly robust challenge’ of the programme.50 The IPA felt it could do more to explore whether departments bringing in appropriate external director skills.51
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees with the observation but its response focuses on the IPA's work to promote a culture of learning and psychological safety, and a review by June 2024 on enhancing transparency, rather than directly addressing the specific role of non-executive directors or external skills.
Read full response →
HM Treasury