Guidance

Senior Leadership Committee - Terms of Reference

Published 14 May 2024

Role

The role of the Senior Leadership Committee is to increase the capability of the Civil Service to deliver current and future priorities of Government by the effective development and continued management of talent, together with the continuous improvement of leadership in the Senior Civil Service.

As part of this role, it provides advice to the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service specifically on people matters relating to the Senior Leadership Group (with priority focus on the DG workforce).

Objectives

SLC’s primary objectives are:

• To oversee, in partnership with all the Permanent Secretaries, the management and development of the Director General workforce to ensure there is a diverse, highly skilled Senior Leadership Group in place;
• To lead active and robust cross-Civil Service succession planning and talent management at Senior Leadership Group level;
• As set out in the Civil Service Senior Appointments Protocol, to be consulted on the selection route to all appointments to Director General and equivalent jobs in the Civil Service, including making recommendations for managed moves;
• To oversee the resourcing strategy for the Senior Leadership Group; and
• To ensure the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion are embedded throughout talent management processes.

SLC’s key deliverables include:

• Providing advice to the Head of the Civil Service on the size and shape of the Senior Leadership Group workforce;
• Responsibility for ensuring talent pipelines are in place for Permanent Secretary and Director General roles, including ensuring the appropriate talent and development programmes are in place for the highest potential Directors General;
• Responsibility for developing the capability of the Senior Leadership Group; and
• Advising the Head of the Civil Service on recruitment methods and appointments at Director General level.

Relationship with other groups or boards

SLC provides oversight of:

• The DG Remuneration Committee, made up of a subset of SLC, and whose remit is to shape the direction of DG pay strategy and to ensure its proper and consistent implementation by departments.

The SLC works closely with the People Board, specifically in relation to the development of Directors to support succession planning to DG roles.

Membership

Permanent membership should include the Cabinet Secretary, the chairs of the Civil Service Board and the People Board, the Permanent Secretaries of HMT and FCDO, the Government Lead NED, and the Government Chief People Officer for the Civil Service. As set out in the Civil Service Senior Appointments Protocol, the First Civil Service Commissioner also sits on SLC as a permanent member.

Additional members are appointed by the SLC Chair in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary to include up to five other Heads of Department based on seniority and one departmental Lead NED.

Roles and Responsibilities of SLC members

This Board recognises that in addition to the members’ common goal of achieving SLC’s aims, members will also have particular roles and responsibilities to contribute towards delivering SLC’s primary objectives.

SLC Chair: The Chair of SLC will be responsible for delivering SLC’s objectives and for engaging the Committee in delivering the talent agenda.

Decision-making Processes

The SLC’s decision-making processes will be transparent, open and clear. Board members will be consulted at meetings on issues within these terms of reference. If necessary, decisions may be required in writing via email.

Meetings

SLC meets on the last Wednesday of every month, unless otherwise directed. Papers will be distributed prior to the meeting. Any particular issues or matters of concern relating to SLC’s business that require further discussion should be raised with the Chair prior to the meeting. The Senior Talent and Resourcing team will provide the Secretariat function for all SLC meetings.

Sharing of Information

SLC members will have access to confidential papers, often with personal information. These papers should be treated within the appropriate security guidelines. They should not

be circulated beyond SLC members, unless express permission to do so is granted by the Chair. Confidentiality extends to the discussions at the meeting - details should not be discussed further unless express permission is granted by the Chair.

Membership (as of 9 April 2024)

• Chair - Sir Chris Wormald - Permanent Secretary, DHSC
• Simon Case - Cabinet Secretary, CO
• Cat Little - Permanent Secretary, CO and Chair of Civil Service Board
• Sarah Healey - Permanent Secretary, DLUHC and Chair of People Board
• James Bowler - Permanent Secretary, HMT
• Sir Philip Barton - Permanent Secretary, FCDO
• Michael Jary - Government Lead NED
• Fiona Ryland - Government Chief People Officer, CO
• Baroness Gisela Stuart - First Civil Service Commissioner
• Tamara Finkelstein - Permanent Secretary, Defra
• Dame Bernadette Kelly - Permanent Secretary, DFT
• Brian McBride - Lead Non Executive Director, MoD
• Antonia Romeo - Permanent Secretary, MoJ
• Sir Matthew Rycroft - Permanent Secretary, HO
• Peter Schofield - Permanent Secretary, DWP
• David Williams - Permanent Secretary, MoD
• Janette Durbin - Director Civil Service Senior Talent