Recommendation 13

On 1 October 2021, UKHSA had a Chief Executive and a non-executive Chair, both of whom had been appointed on 1 April 2021. UKHSA told us that the Chief Executive, despite her expertise in the science of public health, did not have experience in the other elements of running a complex organisation. The Chair of UKHSA therefore saw his role during the first 12 months as providing the Chief Executive with support in some of the functions where she had less experience, such as technology operations and procurement. This resulted in his role departing from the traditional Chair’s role of challenging and scrutinising management to taking more of an executive role.28