Monday 1 July 2019
A timely and efficient public appointments system is essential to public confidence. Too often, what Sir Gerry Grimstone in his 2016 review called ‘customer care’, is not given the priority it should receive. Appointment processes can drag on for weeks, sometimes even months, with candidates being left in the dark – so a few, even […]
Friday 28 June 2019
I appreciate the thought that the Government has given to achieving greater diversity in appointments – in particular, raising the profile of the issue by including it in single departmental plans and making it part of the appraisal of Permanent Secretaries. These steps are welcome and important. Following on from the workshop I held earlier […]
Friday 21 June 2019
The strongest case for increasing diversity on the boards of public bodies comes from members of under-represented groups themselves. At present, there is an increased focus on those declaring disabilities as we await the Government’s response to last December’s report on the issue from Chris Holmes, a Conservative life peer and medal winning Paralympian in […]
Thursday 21 February 2019
Peter Riddell, Commissioner for Public Appointments, took part in an discussion on public appointments, organised by the Constitution Unit at UCL. You can read a copy of his speech here: Commissioner’s speech at Constitution Unit
Thursday 24 January 2019
On 3 December, International Day of People with Disabilities, we launched The Lord Holmes Review: opening up public appointments to disabled people in the Churchill Room in 100 Parliament street. Given that disability was at the heart of this project, the Review team was conscious from the very beginning that it was paramount that all public-facing aspects […]
Wednesday 23 January 2019
Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE has today written a guest blog on the Conservative Disability Group website, talking about his review into opening up public appointments to disabled people. You can read his blog here: https://www.conservativedisabilitygroup.com/news/guest-blog-lord-holmes-richmond-mbe
Friday 14 December 2018
A major challenge of being Commissioner for Public Appointments is the uneven quality of the data we are able to publish each year on diversity. It makes it much harder to suggest and monitor policies and initiatives when we do not know the attributes of those applying for, and receiving, public appointments. This problem has […]
Wednesday 5 December 2018
The Lord Holmes review published this week has forcefully highlighted the need to open up public appointments much more for disabled people – challenging the Government and public bodies to take action. As advocate for diversity in appointments, I warmly welcome both the analysis in the review and the thrust of the main recommendations. A […]
Monday 3 December 2018
‘Lord Holmes’ report is full of insights about the major barriers- both practically and in terms of perception- that account for the unacceptably low levels of people with disabilities holding public appointments. I support his recommendations to Government aimed at improving the application and selection process. These changes will inevitably require additional resources and commitment by […]
Wednesday 17 October 2018
The problem with discussing diversity in public appointments is whether to talk about a glass half full or half empty. I am acutely aware of this dilemma as one of my main responsibilities as Commissioner of Public Appointments is to champion diversity and the record is both better than in much of the private sector […]
