Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Accepted
Cabinet Office failed to meet 2022 diversity targets and lacks future aspirations.
Recommendation
In June 2019, the Cabinet Office launched a Public Appointments Diversity Action Plan (the Plan”) to focus on broadening access and improving the diversity and quality of appointees.31 The Plan set out ambitions for 50% of all public appointees to be female and 14% of all public appointments to come from ethnic minority backgrounds by 2022.32 The Cabinet Office did not meet these targets. Its Public Appointments Data Report for 2021–22 reported that 47% of all serving public appointees were female and 12% of all appointments and re-appointments were people from an ethnic minority background. However, the NAO’s analysis found that the diversity of new appointees had improved in recent years. In 2022–23 53.7% of new appointees were female and 14.6% were from an ethnic minority background. The Cabinet Office has not set aspirations beyond 2022 and does not have any plans to do so.33
Government response summary AI-generated
The Cabinet Office will publish a new plan to improve diversity across the public appointments system by October 2025.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
4a. PAC recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response to this report, the Cabinet Office should: • state a date by when it will put in place a new diversity action plan for public appointments. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 The Cabinet Office will publish a new plan to improve diversity across the public appointments system by October 2025.
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