Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Accepted
Evaluate outreach activities, enhance NED training, and create a new governance code.
Recommendation
We are not convinced that current outreach activities are helping government to recruit the best candidates for NED roles. The Cabinet Office, the Government Lead Non-Executive, and the Commissioner for Public Appointments have all publicly declared their interest in improving outreach in order to encourage diverse and talented applicants to apply for public appointments from a wide range of sectors, including the private and voluntary sectors, as well as veterans and disabled groups. The Cabinet Office has sought to strengthen its outreach activities to encourage people to apply for public appointments, for example, by holding in-person events around the UK and by running a Boardroom Apprentice Programme, whereby people with no experience on boards can serve as an observer on a board for a year to gain experience. The Cabinet Office could do more to demonstrate the effectiveness of these activities and to learn lessons to better focus its outreach work: for instance it does not have data of sufficient quality on the social and professional backgrounds of candidates. It is important that, as part of being fully effective, candidates to be a non-executive director should expect to regularly engage with ministers at all levels within a department. Recommendation 8: a) In its Treasury Minute response to this report, the Cabinet Office should set out how it is measuring the effectiveness of its outreach activities and what plans it has to develop them further to reach a wider pool of candidates. b) The selection and recruitment process for non-executive directors should cover the need for them to regularly engage with ministers at all levels within a department, and there should also be in-post training to support this objective. In addition, the Cabinet Office should draw up a new code of best governance practice, which should include a requirement that all ministers and non-executive directors attend departmental board meetings as a matter of routine – this new code s
Government Response Summary
The government states it agrees with the recommendation and claims it is already implemented, believing the current system for job descriptions and scrutiny works appropriately. It commits only to reinforcing the message of quality assurance and clearance in existing public appointment guidance documents.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented As set out in the Governance Code on Public Appointments, ministers must be consulted before a competition opens to agree the job description for the role and how the post will be advertised. Every department should have an official of appropriate seniority overseeing their public appointments process. As such, all public appointment job descriptions and advertisements will have been scrutinised and cleared by a senior civil servant and the responsible minister. The government considers that the current system, in line with wider standard processes for developing and clearing policy decisions, works appropriately. However, the government will reinforce the message of appropriate quality assurance and clearance in our public appointment guidance documents.