Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Accepted
Mandate government departments to use new applicant tracking system for all appointments.
Conclusion
The Cabinet Office does not yet have the data it needs to oversee the appointments process effectively. Until April 2023, the Cabinet Office’s only method of collecting data about public appointments was a manual exercise, requesting data from departments once a year, in which errors and inconsistencies were common. Its new applicant tracking system, introduced in April 2023, should allow it to build up a picture of how each department is performing on appointments, including timeliness and causes of delay. It currently requires departments to use the new system for all regulated appointments. However, the Cabinet Office does not yet have the data it needs because not all government departments and ALBs are adding accurate data to the system or using the system as intended. For instance, some departments are still running the recruitment process outside of the new system or making errors when inputting data. The Cabinet Office does not currently track unregulated appointments so cannot say how many unregulated NEDs there are across government, how diverse they are, or how long they take to appoint. While it expects departments to use the new system in the future to track unregulated appointments, it does not currently require them to do so. Recommendation 2: In response to this report, the Cabinet Office should: a) confirm in the Treasury Minute that all regulated appointments are now being run through the new applicant tracking system and what steps it is taking where departments do not comply; 6 Non-executive appointments b) write to departments mandating that they use the new applicant tracking system for all unregulated appointments.
Government Response Summary
The government agrees the new applicant tracking system should be preferred and will write to all departments by the end of December 2024 to encourage wider use for unregulated appointments. They note that expanding full use will require an incremental approach to build capacity.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. tracking system should become the preferred mechanism used by departments for delivering all their public appointments, whether regulated or unregulated, and that the data the digital system holds should be as comprehensive as possible to reflect the entirety of the public appointments landscape. Some departments are already running some of their unregulated appointment campaigns through the digital platform - it was reported to the former Committee at its hearing on the issue in March that around 20% of campaigns on the digital system were for unregulated appointments; that has now risen to 40% of campaigns on the system. The Cabinet Office will continue to encourage departments to run as many of their campaigns through the digital platform as is appropriate and will write to departments to specifically encourage wider use of the digital platform for unregulated appointments. However, given the considerable number of unregulated appointments, it will require some time to expand the use of the digital platform to encompass all unregulated appointments. The government considers that it is most appropriate, in terms of continuing to maintain the effectiveness of the system as a whole, to build the necessary departmental resources and capacity, including the appropriate training of staff, incrementally over a period of time in order to minimise disruption. However, this will be kept under review as usage of the digital platform for unregulated appointments continues to expand. The Cabinet Office will write to all departments on this issue by the end of December 2024.