Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Acknowledged
Public appointments data collection prior to April 2023 was manual, infrequent, and error-prone.
Conclusion
Until April 2023, the Cabinet Office’s only method of collecting data about public appointments was a manual exercise once a year, so it did not hold real-time data on delays. Departments were required to provide information about all those serving in post as regulated public appointments on March 31 of the given year. Departments would also provide data on recruitment campaigns undertaken during the previous year, including information about the candidates who applied, those shortlisted, those found appointable, and those appointed. It did not provide granular data about where and when delays took place. As the data were produced and processed manually by departments, errors and inconsistencies were common.14 6 C&AG’s Report, para 7 7 Q 59; C&AG’s Report, para 2.4 8 C&AG’s Report, para 2.6; The Commissioner for Public Appointments, Annual Report 2022–23 9 Q 65 10 Q 59; C&AG’s Report, para 2.6 11 Q 67 12 It should be noted that the latest figure of 146 days provided by witnesses (Q59) is unaudited. Furthermore, it is not clear how many appointments the figure of 146 days refers to, or when those appointments occurred. This report therefore uses the figure of 203 days throughout: this figure is an NAO calculated figure that relates to the latest complete financial year (2022–23) at the time of the Committee’s hearing on 18 March 2024. 13 Qq 59, 62 14 C&AG’s Report, paras 9, 2.3, 2.9 Non-executive appointments 11
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation and states that NED recruitment became regulated in June 2023. It commits to strongly encouraging attendance at board meetings and reflecting this in the next update of the existing Corporate Governance Code, rather than drawing up a new code with a mandatory requirement.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented. The selection and recruitment of non-executive board members in government departments became regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments in June 2023. As a result, the appointment process follows the Governance Code on Public Appointments and engages ministers in line with the regulated process. Departments will continue to engage with all relevant ministers at each stage of the process. The Cabinet Office will continue to keep this under review and will make further adjustments as necessary. The government will continue to strongly encourage all members, including ministers, to prioritise attendance at board meetings wherever possible and will reflect that in the next update of the Corporate Governance Code for Central Government Departments. The Corporate Governance Code reflects best practice and seeks to ensure that there is a balance of representation between ministers, officials and non-executives on the board. This encourages full and frank debate, challenge and scrutiny in the board setting. Boards that are too large tend to be less effective and there should remain some flexibility to have boards that meet departmental needs and priorities; reflecting the spirit of industry best practice for effective boards.