Cabinet Office promotes diversity in Public Appointments
The Rt Hon. Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office, hosted a networking reception at Admiralty House in London on Monday 31st March 2014 to promote diversity in Public Appointments. Attendees included Chairs of Public Bodies, executive recruitment consultants and potential board members drawn from a diverse group of communities. The Minister outlined the Cabinet Office’s remit to appoint the very best people to the boards of public bodies. In 2011, as Minister for the Cabinet Office he established the Centre for Public Appointments which works across Whitehall, as well as with the private sector to modernize recruitment practices and to attract a talented and diverse field of candidates.
Francis Maude spoke about the aspiration to have half of new appointees to public boards be women by 2015 and highlighted that at 45%, the government is close to achieving this target. On the wider diversity issue, progress is much slower as “talented people often do not apply for public appointments either because they do not know about them or because they do not recognise what they have to offer”. The Minister ended with a plea encouraging under-represented communities to contact the Centre for Public Appointments and highlight their interest areas and skills set.
About the Centre for Public Appointments
The Cabinet Office’s Centre for Public Appointments provides leadership and guidance both to improve the quality of the appointments process and also to widen the pool of candidates applying for vacancies, thereby increasing the diversity of public boards.
The Centre has responsibility for:
- promoting public appointments
- identifying and supporting talent
- improving diversity; and
- developing policy
All Public Appointments are advertised on the Cabinet Office’s Public Appointments website and the Public Appointments twitter feed (@publicappts). Many are featured in the fortnightly Public Appointments newsletter. To subscribe, please send your email address to: publicappointments@cabinet-office.gsi.gov.uk
Members of the Centre for Public Appointments are also available to provide guidance and to answer any queries on the appointments process and the roles available.
