Statutory guidance

Governance Code on Public Appointments (HTML)

Updated 30 October 2025

Statutory Basis for this Code

This Governance Code is published by the Minister for the Cabinet Office in line with the Public Appointments (No.2) Order in Council 2023.

The regulation of public appointments against the requirements of this Code is carried out by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Commissioner is appointed by the King and is independent of the Government and the Civil Service. The Commissioner’s functions are set out in the Public Appointments (No.2) Order in Council 2023. The Order in Council also sets out which appointments are covered by this Code.

1. Introduction

1.1. Public appointees play an important role in public life on the boards of public bodies and in statutory offices. Public appointments processes should be designed to ensure that the best people, from the widest possible pool of candidates, are appointed to these roles.

1.2. This Code sets out the principles that should underpin all public appointments, including those appointments that ministers have delegated to others. The Commissioner for Public Appointments provides independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with these principles.

1.3. This Code was published on 30 October 2025 and replaces the version of the Code published on 8 February 2024.

1.4. In accordance with article 3 of the Public Appointments Order in Council, prior to publication of the Governance Code, the Minister for the Cabinet Office consulted the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the First Minister for Wales.

2. The Principles of Public Appointments

2.1. The principles of public appointments apply to all those involved with public appointments processes.

a. Ministerial responsibility - The ultimate responsibility for appointments and thus the selection of those appointed rests with ministers who are accountable to Parliament for their decisions and actions. Welsh ministers are accountable to Senedd Cymru, Welsh Parliament.

b. Selflessness - Ministers when making appointments, and all others involved in the appointment process, should act solely in terms of the public interest.

c. Integrity - Ministers when making appointments, and all others involved in the appointment process, must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

d. Merit - All public appointments should be governed by the principle of appointment on merit. This means providing ministers with a choice of high quality candidates, drawn from a strong, diverse field, whose skills, experiences and qualities have been judged to meet the needs of the public body or statutory office in question.

e. Openness - Processes for making public appointments should be open and transparent.

f. Diversity - Public appointments should reflect the diversity of the society in which we live and appointments should be made taking account of the need to appoint boards which include a balance of skills and backgrounds.

g. Assurance - There should be established assurance processes with appropriate checks and balances. The Commissioner for Public Appointments has an important role in providing independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with these Principles and this Governance Code.

h. Fairness - Selection processes should be fair, impartial and each candidate must be assessed against the same criteria for the role in question.

i. Public service - All public appointments should be seen as an opportunity to ensure that exceptional people from across the United Kingdom are given the chance to serve the public and utilise their skills and expertise to drive progress.

3. The Role of Ministers

3.1. Ministers are responsible and accountable to Parliament for public appointments. Welsh ministers are accountable to Senedd Cymru, Welsh Parliament, and the First Minister of Wales will determine the working arrangements for appointments made by Welsh ministers, which are set out in paragraph 3.3.

3.2. Departmental and Welsh Government officials must engage ministers at the beginning of the planning process to confirm the level of ministerial engagement for each competition. Advice to ministers must include the make-up and diversity of the current board and, for board member roles, the views of the board chair on the performance and skill set of the current board. As a minimum the appointing minister must:

• Agree the job description and person specification for the role, the length of tenure and remuneration;
• Agree the composition of the Advisory Assessment Panel; and
• Determine merit and make the final appointment after receiving the panel report of all interviewed candidates. Ministers may choose not to appoint any of the candidates and re-run the competition.

3.3. Ministers must also confirm at the beginning of the planning process other decisions they want to make throughout the competition^{[footnote 1]}, which decisions they want to delegate to a specified senior official, and how they are notified of progress. This includes:

• The decision on the selection process to be used. Assessment and selection processes should be proportionate to the appointment and may vary between roles and bodies. A variety of techniques^{[footnote 2]} may be used to assess candidates fairly against the published selection criteria for the role;
• The decision on the use of an executive search firm;
• The extent to which officials will inform or consult ministers on progress throughout the competition, in addition to the minimum requirements set out in paragraph 3.2;
• Whether to extend the closing date for a competition, if officials determine that the quality and diversity of the field is limited;
• Providing their views to the Advisory Assessment Panel on candidates throughout a competition;
• Whether they want to meet candidates before and/or after interviews; and
• Whether they want to be consulted, if the need arises, to extend an incumbent’s term of appointment to ensure continuity, or if they are content to agree to a potential extension at the campaign planning stage.

3.4. Ministers may, where they have the power to do so, choose to delegate responsibility for running and making appointments. This must be agreed with the Commissioner for Public Appointments and notified to the Cabinet Office, along with any exemptions from this Code as necessary. This does not apply to appointments made by the Welsh ministers.

3.5. Ministers should consider the advice of Advisory Assessment Panels, but are not bound by their views. Ministers may therefore reject a panel’s advice on the merit of candidates and choose to re-run a competition with either the existing panel or a new panel. Ministers may choose to appoint someone who is not deemed “appointable” by the Advisory Assessment Panel. In this case, they must consult the Commissioner for Public Appointments in good time before a public announcement to justify their decision publicly. In addition, ministers must write to the relevant select committee alongside the announcement and appear before it if requested by the select committee chair. Welsh Government ministers are exempt from this requirement as they do not inform, or involve, Parliamentary Committees about public appointments which are devolved to Wales.

3.6. In exceptional cases, ministers may decide to appoint a candidate without a competition. The decision must be made public alongside the reasons for doing so. Ministers must consult the Commissioner for Public Appointments in good time before the appointment is publicly announced.

3.7. In addition to appointments made by the Prime Minister, and those made by the Crown on the Prime Minister’s recommendation, the Prime Minister may identify appointments made by departmental ministers in which they have a strong interest. A list of such appointments will be published on GOV.UK and the advertising on the public appointments website for each of these roles will state that this is the case. This does not apply to appointments made by Welsh ministers.

Reappointments and extensions

3.8. There is no automatic presumption of reappointment; each case should be considered on its own merits, taking into account a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the diversity of the current board and its balance of skills and experience.

3.9. Reappointments and extensions must be agreed by ministers. Departments and the Welsh Government should build sufficient time into their planning for ministers to decide whether to make a reappointment or extension, or run a process to appoint a successor.

3.10. All reappointments and extensions are subject to:

• The law relating to the particular public body or statutory office;
• Ministers being assured that an appointee’s performance in the role is satisfactory; and
• The public appointee or statutory office holder holding an account on the public appointments digital service with their diversity information recorded.

Length of tenure

3.11. Subject to any statutory provisions relating to the body to which the appointment is being made, it is for ministers to decide on length of tenure. Individuals should not generally serve more than two consecutive terms or serve in any one post for more than ten years. Ministers may decide individual skills and expertise are needed beyond such a tenure. All such reappointments/extensions must be notified to the Commissioner  for Public Appointments ahead of announcement, to support the Commissioner’s independent assurance role.

4. The Role of the Commissioner for Public Appointments

4.1. The Commissioner for Public Appointments is the independent regulator of public appointments. The Commissioner’s statutory functions are set out in the Public Appointments (No.2) Order in Council 2023. The Order in Council also sets out those bodies and posts that are within the Commissioner’s regulatory remit. The Commissioner’s primary role is to provide independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with the Principles of Public Appointments and this Code.

Monitoring compliance and improving capability

4.2. The Commissioner must publish an annual report on the overall state of public appointments covered by the Order in Council. This should examine compliance with the Public Appointments Principles and this Code and progress on increasing diversity using data published by the Cabinet Office. The Commissioner may conduct an audit of departments or the Welsh Government to provide the data required to produce this analysis.

4.3. The Commissioner may conduct spot checks or respond to any concerns raised about a public appointments process. Departments, Welsh Government and ministers should be encouraged to engage with the Commissioner upfront and early in the process on exceptional cases or any potential compliance issues.

4.4. The Commissioner should consider complaints made about a public appointments process. Complaints should be raised with the appointing department, or the Welsh Government in the first instance, which is responsible for having effective complaints handling procedures, for making applicants aware of their right to complain and for referring them to the Commissioner’s complaints procedures. If, after investigation by the department or the Welsh Government, the complainant remains dissatisfied, they may bring their complaint to the Commissioner.

4.5. The Commissioner may conduct thematic reviews focussing on different elements of the process to help inform best practice. The Commissioner may advise departments, the Welsh Government and the Cabinet Office on elements of best practice, as well as the continuous improvement of the quality of public appointments processes and systems.

Diversity

4.6. The Commissioner for Public Appointments should be an active advocate for diversity and they should work with departments, the Welsh Government and the Cabinet Office to encourage diverse candidates from a range of backgrounds to apply for a public appointment.

5. The Role of Advisory Assessment Panels

5.1. Ministers should be assisted in their decision making by Advisory Assessment Panels. The panel must include a departmental/Welsh Government official and an independent member. For competitions recruiting non-executive, non-chair members of a board, the panel could also include a representative from the public body concerned^{[footnote 3]}. Ministers must confirm at the beginning of the planning process the composition of the panel.

5.2. The Advisory Assessment Panel must agree how to determine merit against the selection criteria that the minister has agreed. In undertaking their assessment of candidates, the role of the panel is to decide, objectively, who meets the published selection criteria for the role; in other words, who is appointable to the role. The names of all appointable candidates must be submitted to ministers. Panels must not rank candidates unless the minister has specifically asked for this. Ministers determine merit and make the final appointment.

5.3. The departmental/Welsh Government official on the panel is responsible for representing and making other members aware of the minister’s views (if provided) throughout the process. If ministers ask the Advisory Assessment Panel to reconsider the shortlist of candidates for interview, the panel chair must review the selection outcome and respond to the minister setting out the rationale for the decision.

5.4. The independent member of an Advisory Assessment Panel will be satisfied by an individual who is independent of the department and of the body concerned. This does not preclude individuals who are non-executive Chairs or members of a different arms length body of the department acting as independent members. Ministers should also consider whether there are relationships or circumstances which are likely to affect, or could appear to affect, the panellist’s judgement. For significant appointments the independent element of a panel will be the Senior Independent Panel Member (see 6. below).

6. The Role of Senior Independent Panel Members

6.1. A list of ‘significant appointments’ should be agreed by Ministers and the Commissioner for Public Appointments and published. These competitions must have a Senior Independent Panel Member (SIPM) on their Advisory Assessment Panels. A SIPM is an individual who is familiar with senior recruitment, the Public Appointments Principles and this Governance Code. SIPMs should be independent of the department and of the body concerned and should not be currently politically active^{[footnote 4]}.

6.2. Ministers must agree who the SIPM should be for each competition and should consult the Commissioner for Public Appointments ahead of the process commencing. Sufficient time should be built in for the Commissioner to discuss with either or both of the Minister or SIPM before the competition goes live.

6.3. The SIPM should have specific responsibilities, set out in an appointment letter, to highlight any material breaches of this Governance Code that occur during the appointments process. The appointment letter must be copied to the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

7. The Role of Departments/Welsh Government

7.1. Departments and the Welsh Government are responsible for running processes that enable ministers to make appointments in a way that complies with this Code and the requirements of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. They must ensure ministers are fully aware that they are responsible and accountable to Parliament/Senedd Cymru, Welsh Parliament, for the appointments that they make. Departments and the Welsh Government must also ensure they comply with all relevant legislation^{[footnote 5]}.

7.2. Departments can run a joint campaign with other departments to enable candidates to apply for multiple, similar appointments at the same time, provided the appointing ministers consider the criteria for the roles to be sufficiently comparable. In these cases, a lead department should be agreed to run the campaign and all appointing ministers should be consulted at the same points in the process.

7.3. Departments and the Welsh Government are responsible for collating a list of suggested candidates from a range of stakeholders, taking into account any views of the appointing minister.

7.4. The decision to use an executive search firm is subject to:

• The department’s or the Welsh Government’s own financial and/or other required approval process; and
• A contractual commitment by the executive search firm to ensure a diverse pool of candidates is identified and that their candidate diversity data, as stipulated by the Cabinet Office, is collected. This does not apply to appointments made by the Welsh ministers.

Departmental appointments teams / Welsh Government appointment team

7.5. The Accounting Officer is responsible for ensuring that every department/Welsh Government has a senior civil servant overseeing their public appointments processes in accordance with this Code. A specific central team or unit should be established so expertise is retained and capacity built in one place. Clear delegations for decision making authority should be in place. This should be extended to the arm’s length body concerned if the running of an appointments process is outsourced to it, so that ministerial authority is retained throughout.

7.6. Every department must use the public appointments digital service to record and maintain all of their public appointment information, including campaign progress and the status of their public appointees. This does not apply to appointments made by the Welsh ministers as they operate a separate digital service.

Diversity

7.7. Departments and the Welsh Government must design and implement public appointments processes with diversity^{[footnote 6]} in mind. This should include:

• Ensuring that person specifications focus on key skills necessary for the role in question and are written in plain English, avoiding jargon;
• Compliance with the requirements of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011^{[footnote 7]} for all appointments made by Welsh ministers;
• Emphasising ability over previous experience in person specifications and selection processes;
• The composition of the Advisory Assessment Panel;
• Providing information to ministers about the diversity, skills and experience of the existing board at the start and end of each recruitment campaign; and
• In addition to advertising all public appointments on the Cabinet Office public appointments website, considering other ways of raising awareness amongst different groups and networks.

Candidate care

7.8. Departments and the Welsh Government are responsible for engaging with candidates and providing a good service to individuals who have applied for appointments. Candidates should be kept informed of the progress of their application. If key campaign dates change, all candidates should be informed.

7.9. All shortlisted candidates should be offered timely, constructive feedback following their interview, by phone call where this is possible. Departments and the Welsh Government should encourage strong candidates who are not appointed to consider applying for other roles.

7.10. Ministers and Welsh ministers can appoint candidates found appointable from a previous public appointment campaign either run within their own department or across government^{[footnote 8]} provided:

• The appointing minister considers the new role is sufficiently comparable to that of a previously advertised role; and
• The candidates were found appointable within the last two years (using the announcement date of the previous appointments process as the starting point).

7.11. Departments and the Welsh Government are expected to conclude chair, chair equivalent and statutory office holder appointments within four months of a competition closing, and member appointments within three months. A competition is considered to have concluded once an offer of appointment has been accepted. To help achieve this, a pool of potentially appointable candidates should be identified before the campaign launches.

8. Transparency

8.1. Transparency is an important part of public appointments. Publicly available information on public appointments processes provides assurance that ministers, departments and the Welsh Government have complied with the public appointments principles and this Governance Code.

8.2. Departments and the Welsh Government should publish contact details of their public appointments team and those public appointments that their ministers are responsible for making. All public appointments should be advertised openly. Where possible, there should be full transparency of the appointee’s details, the Advisory Assessment Panel and the selection process. All exceptional appointments made without open competition should also be published, alongside the rationale for appointment.

8.3. Departments must use the public appointments digital service to run all appointment processes. The Cabinet Office will use data recorded in the digital service to publish relevant performance information, to enable effective scrutiny and to hold departments to account for the time taken to run an appointments process. The Welsh Government operates a separate digital service.

9. Standards in Public Life and Handling Conflicts

9.1. It is important that all public appointees uphold the standards of conduct set out in the Ethics and Integrity Commission’s Seven Principles of Public Life and are expected to adhere to the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. The Advisory Assessment Panel must satisfy itself that all candidates for appointment can meet these standards and have no conflicts of interest that would call into question their ability to perform the role.

9.2. Candidates must be asked to declare potential conflicts of interest in their application. Conflicts of interest are not limited to the standards set out in the transparency requirements in section 8. All potential conflicts should be declared, if in doubt it is better for candidates to declare. All potential conflicts of interest and how they might be managed must be discussed with an individual at interview.

9.3. A potential conflict should not preclude a candidate from being shortlisted/appointed provided that appropriate arrangements are made. The departmental/Welsh Government official on an Advisory Assessment Panel is responsible for seeking advice within their department and/or the Cabinet Office, or within the Welsh Government, on handling any conflicts, which should be included in the final advice to ministers. If the appointment is subject to a parliamentary pre-appointment hearing, the advice to the select committee should cover the handling of any conflicts of interest.

9.4. Departments and the Welsh Government must conduct due diligence on applicants during the campaign in advance of interviews and escalate any concerns to the Permanent Secretary or Accounting Officer as required.

9.5. Political activity should not affect any judgement of merit nor be a bar to appointment or being a member of an Advisory Assessment Panel, with the exception of Senior Independent Panel Members. It should be publicly disclosed however if a panel member, or a successful candidate, has, in the last five years, been employed by a political party, held a significant office in a party, has stood as a candidate for a party in an election, has publicly spoken on behalf of a political party, or has made significant donations^{[footnote 9]} or loans to a party.

Panel members

9.6. It is important that all panel members uphold the standards of conduct set out in the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s Seven Principles of Public Life. All potential  panel member conflicts of interest should be considered as part of this. Departments should consider each case carefully, escalate any concerns to the Permanent Secretary or Accounting Officer as required and lean towards disclosure if in doubt.

10. Pre-Appointment Scrutiny

10.1. Where an appointment is subject to a pre-appointment hearing by a Parliamentary Select Committee, this must be clearly stated in all publicity relating to the post. Ministers should advise the parliamentary select committee of the selection process, selection criteria and publicity strategy before the competition is launched. The Cabinet Office guidance on pre-appointment scrutiny by House of Commons select committees sets out the process and the list of public appointments subject to pre-appointment hearings.

1. This includes, but is not limited to, the longlist and/or shortlist stages. ↩

2. Consideration should be given to innovative models of assessment in order to ensure that assessment processes are accessible and inclusive, while remaining appropriately rigorous. ↩

3. For campaigns in which the Financial Reporting Council’s UK Corporate Governance Code is followed as far as is practical, a Senior Independent Director (SID) may be included on the panel for a chair competition, as long as the departmental senior sponsor is content that no conflict of interest arises between their public body role and their role on the panel. ↩

4. Politically active is defined as an individual being employed by a political party, holding significant office in a party, standing as a candidate for a party in an election, having publicly spoken on behalf of a political party or having made significant donations or loans to a party. Significant loans and donations are those of a size which are reported to the Electoral Commission, in line with a central party’s reporting threshold. ↩

5. This includes legislation relating to the particular public body or statutory office and the Equality Act 2010, or equivalent legislation, which prohibits discrimination, harassment and other unlawful conduct because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, ethnicity, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation where an individual applies for a public appointment. ↩

6. Diversity should be considered in its broadest sense and go beyond protected characteristics such as sex, disability, ethnicity and sexual orientation, to include wider characteristics such as socio-economic background and regional distribution. The Public Sector Equality Duty should also be considered - the need to have ‘due regard’ to the aims identified in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.   ↩

7. Specifically the requirements of their Welsh Language Standards on recruiting and appointing. Other ministers making appointments to organisations operating wholly or mainly in Wales should be in compliance with their statutory requirements, either under the Welsh Language Standards or Welsh Language Schemes. ↩

8. If the previous campaign was run by a different department, the previously found appointable candidate should be contacted by that department. ↩

9. Significant loans and donations are those of a size which need to be reported to the Electoral Commission, in line with a central party’s reporting threshold. ↩