Recommendation 16

We also questioned the Cabinet Office about the requirements for independent panel members and senior independent panel members who served on the Advisory Assessment Panels (“Panels”).28 All Panels are expected to have an independent member. “Significant” appointments, as laid out in a particular list, are required by the Governance Code to have a “senior independent panel member” (SIPM) on the Panel. The Governance Code states that a SIPM should be independent of the department and of the body concerned, should not be currently politically active, and must be agreed by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.29 The Cabinet Office told us that ministers select the independent Panel members. It also told us that there is usually a list of candidate SIPMs but Ministers ultimately select the SIPM for each Panel.30 22 Q 25 23 Qq 94, 95 24 Qq 96, 98 25 Qq 48, 51, 52 26 Q 50; Correspondence from Cabinet Office to Public Accounts Committee, 2 April 2024 27 Qq 51, 52 28 Qq 42–44 29 Governance Code on Public Appointments, 6.1 30 Qq 42–43 Non-executive appointments 13 2 Recruiting the best candidates Diversity