Public Appointments (Hansard, 18 December 2003)

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton

The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr Douglas Alexander) published yesterday the Government's response to the Fourth Report of the Public Administration Select Committee,Government by Appointment: Opening Up the Patronage State.

We are grateful for the committee's comprehensive and helpful report. We have considered the report in detail and undertaken in-depth consultation. The Government accept the majority of the committee's recommendations and is already implementing some of them.

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The key features of the Government's response are: Undertaking a review of public bodies sponsored by central government—

The Government agree with the committee that the variety and complexity of public bodies supports the need for a review of their definition and scope.

Ensuring that information about non-departmental public bodies is in the public domain—

The Government support the need for details of public bodies within the remit of central government to be in the public domain.

The Commissioner for Public Appointments—

The Government agree with the committee that the Commissioner is central to the integrity and good practice of public appointments. The Government will examine the Public Appointments Order in Council to see whether it needs to be strengthened in order that the independence of the commissioner is assured. They will also update the schedule to the Order providing a definitive list of appointments regulated by the commissioner. The Government do not agree with the recommendation that the commissioner should be made solely responsible for appointing independent assessors, but will explore further with the commissioner how current arrangements operate to ensure that they are as robust as possible.

Diversity—

The Government accept a number of recommendations designed to encourage and improve diversity in public appointments including developing and piloting shadowing, mentoring and board development schemes for groups that are currently under-represented on boards of public bodies.

Public Appointments Commission—

The Government believe that it would be immensely difficult for a single body to cope with the diverse range of non-departmental public bodies and maintains that individual departments should continue to be responsible for appointments they sponsor. The Government recognise the value of having central teams in departments to advise on public appointments and work with sponsor teams. They also recognise that the NHS Appointments Commission is working well and some departments could benefit from using its services. The Government will be exploring this further.

Copies of the Government's response [Cm 6056] have been placed in the Libraries of the House.