Non-executive director appointments

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 10 Jan 2024 Closed: 28 May 2024 Parliament page
Non-executive directors (NEDs) serve on the boards of Government departments and arm’s-length bodies (ALBs). Their role is to provide challenge and expert advice grounded in experience to management boards and Government ministers. The Committee’s 2021 report on Government’s delivery through arm’s-length bodies noted controversy around the appointment of NEDs to … Read more
11 Recommendations
12 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
3 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 7 events
11 Jul
2025
Report published
8 May
2024
Report published
16 Apr
2024
Correspondence
15 Apr
2024
Correspondence
15 Apr
2024
Correspondence
18 Mar
2024
Oral evidence
18 Mar
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
18 Mar 2024
View on parliament.uk
Non-executive director appointments
Elizabeth Passey · Rural Payments Agency Michael Jary · Cabinet Office Simon Madden · NHSX Sir Alex Chisholm · Cabinet Office
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Thirtieth Report - Non-executive appointments HC 460 8 May 2024 23 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
3 results
Clear
8 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirtieth Report - Non-executive a…
Public appointments data collection prior to April 2023 was manual, infrequent, and error-prone.
Until April 2023, the Cabinet Office’s only method of collecting data about public appointments was a manual exercise once a year, so it did not hold real-time data on delays. Departments were required to provide information about all those serving … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation and states that NED recruitment became regulated in June 2023. It commits to strongly encouraging attendance at board meetings and reflecting this in the next update of the existing Corporate Governance Code, rather than drawing up a new code with a mandatory requirement.
HM Treasury
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9 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirtieth Report - Non-executive a…
New centralised applicant-tracking system launched to improve public appointments data collection.
In April 2023, the Cabinet Office launched a new, centralised applicant-tracking system that consolidates the selection process for all regulated public appointments and some unregulated appointments. The centralised system makes it possible for the Cabinet Office to collect richer, real-time … Read more
Government Response
The government aims to have all regulated appointments being run through the new applicant tracking system by Summer 2025, with technical changes to the digital platform to allow further integration of data.
HM Treasury
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10 Conclusion Acknowledged
Thirtieth Report - Non-executive a…
Departments fail to consistently use new system, resulting in inaccurate and delayed data.
The NAO reported that some departments were still running the process outside of the new system and entering data into the system after the fact, instead of in real time. The NAO also noted that basic errors in data entry, … Read more
Government Response
The government aims to have all regulated appointments being run through the new applicant tracking system by Summer 2025, with technical changes to the digital platform to allow further integration of data.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 23 of 11 classified
Accepted 14
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 3
Deferred 4
Not Addressed 1
Total 11 recs + 12 conclusions
Correspondence 3 letters
16 Apr 2024 Correspondence from Simon Madden, Director of Propriety & Ethics, Cabinet Office, re Public Accounts Committee – Oral Evidence update Non-Executive Director appointment, dated 2 April 2024
Parliament page
15 Apr 2024 Correspondence from Simon Madden, Director of Propriety & Ethics, Cabinet Office, re Public Accounts Committee oral evidence session on Non-Executive Director Appointments - 18 March: transcript change requests, dated 2 April 2024
Parliament page
15 Apr 2024 Joint correspondence from Sir Alex Chisholm, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office, Simon Madden, Director, Propriety and Ethics, Cabinet Office, and Michael Jary, Government Lead Non-Executive, Cabinet Office, re Public Accounts Committee oral evidence session on Non-Executive Director Appointments - 18 March: Cabinet Office follow up actions, dated 26 March 2024
Parliament page