Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Accepted in Part
No central list or mandatory system use currently exists for unregulated public appointments.
Recommendation
The Cabinet Office told us that it does not have a central list of how many unregulated appointments there are.20 It said that it does not currently have central oversight of any aspect on unregulated appointments and it is not mandatory for departments to put unregulated appointments on to its new applicant tracking system.21 It stated that it would imagine that as its new applicant tracking system matures departments will start to use it for unregulated appointments, noting that 127 unregulated appointments had already 15 C&AG’s Report, paras 3.3–3.5 16 C&AG‘s Report, para 3.9 17 Q 90 18 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.2, 1.3 19 Qq 6, 9 20 Q 25 21 Qq 26, 40 12 Non-executive appointments been run through the system since April 2023. The Cabinet Office told us that, as more departments use the system for unregulated appointments, it should start to build up a picture centrally of unregulated appointments.22
Government Response Summary
The Cabinet Office will write to departments to encourage wider use of the applicant tracking system for unregulated appointments by the end of December 2024, but stops short of mandating it due to resource and capacity considerations.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
2b. PAC recommendation: In response to this report, the Cabinet Office should: • write to departments mandating that they use the new applicant tracking system for all unregulated appointments. 2.6 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2024 2.7 The government agrees with the Committee that, wherever possible, the applicant 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. 2.8 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. 2.9 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. 2.10 The Cabinet Office will write to all departments on this issue by the end of December 2024.