Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 12
12
We recommend that the Government looks again at the process of pre-appointments to restore some...
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government looks again at the process of pre-appointments to restore some of the trust and respect for process that seem to have been lost. We recommend the restoration of powers to the Appointment Commissioner that were removed after the Grimstone Review of 2016 and for greater Ministerial discipline in removing themselves from public speculation about candidates prior to their role in selecting a preferred candidate. 6 Another pre-appointment hearing for Chair of the Charity Commission Appendix 1: CV ORLANDO FRASER QC Curriculum Vitae March 2022 Main Professional Work: Barrister – 4 Stone Buildings, Lincolns Inn – 1994–2021 Appointed QC in April 2014. Over 27 years practising at the Chancery and Commercial Bar in England and Wales. Numerous reported cases. Recommended by Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, and Who’s Who Legal, trade directories. Professional Bodies – member of the Bar Council, and of the Chancery and Commercial Bar Associations. Prior to 1994, worked for GEC in Coventry factory, and Paris. Public Appointments Queen’s Counsel – April 2014 - Appointed by the Lord Chancellor – see above. Charity Commission of England & Wales – July 2013 – December 2017 Appointed by the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office as one of two Legal Members of the Board of the Charity Commission for England & Wales in July 2013. Appointment renewed in July 2016. Jointly responsible for strategic oversight of the Commission’s legal department, as well as being Chair of the Board’s Policy and Guidance Committee, and its Governance and Remuneration Committee. Civil Justice Council – July 2016 – July 2019 Appointed by the Lord Chancellor as the Barrister representative to the Civil Justice Council (“CJC”) in July 2016. CJC is responsible for overseeing and co-ordinating the modernisation of the civil justice system. It is chaired by the Master of the Rolls. Main voluntary work Bosnia Winter Appeal – 1992 Chairman and founder of charitable appeal assisting
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
In relation to the Committee’s wider observations about the public appointments system, the Government published revised guidance about the approach that departments should take to pre-appointment scrutiny in 2019. This underlines the important role that select committees provide in competitions for roles where additional scrutiny of the process is required. It also sets out the obligations on departments in affording select committees the information necessary to undertake this role properly. The Government believes that the Governance Code on Public Appointments, which implemented many of the Grimstone review’s recommendations, sets out an appropriate framework for fair and open competition on merit, while recognising that ultimately Ministers are accountable to Parliament and the public for the appointments they make.