Source · National Audit Office

Non-executive appointments

Published: 2 Feb 2024 Recommendations: 8 Type: Value for Money NAO confirmed: 6 Department: Cabinet Office

Government is taking longer than it should to appoint non-executive directors (NEDs) to public positions, and these delays can leave gaps on boards, creating risks to governance, and reducing the number of high-quality candidates.

Dept: Cabinet Office Topics: People and operationsWorkforce nao.org.uk →

Recommendations

8 items

8 accepted 7 implemented 1 in progress

Rec	Recommendation	Addressee	Acceptance	Implementation
1	Cabinet Office should: a.) Set out what good looks like for the appointments process, which should include who needs to be involved at each stage, the length of time the process should take and how candidates will be kept informed. It should also set out expectations on use of its new data system Ref Page 10, a · Implemented Autumn 2025	Cabinet Office	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
2	b.) Use the data from its new tracking system to provide departmental Permanent Secretaries with regular information on: ? how appointments are being logged and maintained in the new data system; ? the progress of appointments within their departments; and ? benchmarking information against the performance of other departments. Ref Page 10, b	Cabinet Office	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
3	c.) Work with departmental appointments teams to: ? understand where there are delays in the system and use this data to streamline the process where possible; and ? improve how organisations identify the skills and diversity they need for a particular role, and tailor adverts accordingly. Ref Page 10, c · Implemented Autumn 2025	Cabinet Office	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
4	d.) Work with departments and their arm?s-length bodies to improve consistency of approach to appointments across government, through support, guidance and sharing of good practice. Ref Page 10, d	Cabinet Office	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
5	e Establish new targets for measuring success regarding the diversity of non-executive directors and use the new data system to track and publish progress against these targets. Ref Page 10, e · Implemented Spring 2026	Cabinet Office	Accepted	In progress
6	f.) Consider the opportunities afforded by the new system in matching candidates to potential positions. This could include: ? fast-tracking appointable candidates for other roles; ? how it makes the process easier when a re-appointment is the best course of action; and ? making best use of the new ?future opportunities pool? data it is collecting Ref Page 10, f · Implemented Autumn 2025	Cabinet Office	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
7	g.) Consider how it could develop a risk-based system for appointments and where appropriate, for example, in the case of lower-risk appointments, see if there are new approaches, such as delegated sign-off, it could introduce to reduce the time the appointments take Ref Page 10, g	Cabinet Office	Accepted	Implemented
8	h.) Publish data on when decisions are made to provide transparency on appointments. Ref Page 10, h	Cabinet Office	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO

Public Accounts Committee follow-up

1 report

The Public Accounts Committee examined this NAO report and published its own recommendations. The government responds to PAC recommendations via Treasury Minutes.

8 May 2024 Public Accounts C… Thirtieth Report - Non-executive appointments — 18 recommendations · parliament.uk