Corporate report

UKHSA Advisory Board: People and Culture Committee minutes

Updated 11 September 2025

1. Recommendation

The Advisory Board is asked to note the minutes of 12 May 2025 meeting of the People and Culture Committee. The minutes were agreed on 23 July 2025.

2. Minutes (confirmed), UKHSA People and Culture Committee

Present at the meeting were:

• Sir Gordon Messenger – Non-Executive Member of UKHSA Advisory Board (Chair)
• Cindy Rampersaud – Non-Executive Member of UKHSA Advisory Board
• Mark Lloyd – Non-Executive Member of UKHSA Advisory Board
• Jon Coking - Interim Director of People and Workplace
• Dame Jenny Harries – Chief Executive

In attendance were:

• Dyfed Alsop - Chief Operating Officer and deputy Chief Executive
• 9 attendees had their names and titles redacted

3. Welcome, apologies and declarations of interest

25/021 The Chair welcomed participants to the People and Culture Committee.

25/022 Dyfed Alsop was welcomed to the People and Culture Committee. He would act as interim Chief Executive Officer from June 2025.

4. Minutes of the previous meeting and matters arising

25/023 The minutes from the previous meeting on 5 February 2025 (enclosure PAAC-25-007) were agreed.

25/024 The action list (enclosure PACC-25-008) was noted.

25/025 The updated Terms of Reference (enclosure PACC-25-009) were agreed.

5. Effectiveness Review

25/026 The People and Culture Committee noted the Annual Report and results of the Effectiveness Review (enclosure PACC-25-010).

25/027 The Committee agreed recommendations:

• a discussion on succession planning, and spans and layers should be included on the forward look alongside review of the senior leadership restructure
• review the forward look to ensure deep dives are aligned alongside the workforce planning preparation underway in newly established Directorate.

6. People and Workplace Directorate Update

25/028 The Director of People and Workplace presented an update on organisation-wide people-related activities (enclosure PACC-25-011).

25/029 The People and Culture Committee noted the comprehensive update and raised the following points during discussion:

• the progression of casework was impacted by available resource including commitment of trained investigation managers to complete alongside business-as-usual activity
• while attrition in the Chief Data Officer (CDO) group was higher than average, it was low when benchmarked with other public sector organisations. There was stronger senior capability in CDO group and increased cross-organisational working to maintain data and cyber security standards across the agency
• attrition could reduce further given recruitment expectations across the wider civil service
• it was suggested to hold a discussion on differential/capability based pay at the Advisory Board, to explore which cohorts or options to focus on (Action: Governance team)
• [Title redacted] offered to support change communications regarding the closure of AA grade and movement of staff to AO grade. (Action: [Name redacted])

7. Directorate Business Plan

25/030 The Director of People and Workplace presented the update on directorate business planning (enclosure PACC-25-012). The report provided direction for coming year which must be underpinned by basics from all managers.

25/031 The People and Culture Committee noted the report and strongly supported the now, next and beyond to determining priorities.

25/032 Members queried progress of actions arising from the Civil Service People Survey with the following comments given in response:

• a campaign on good change management would launch in late May to encourage positive behaviours across UKHSA. It was recommended to focus on engagement to understand change over providing toolkits
• bullying and harassment remained a focus area to address
• the SCS performance moderation process challenged individuals on leadership skills and the need to role model for the organisation
• UKHSA could explore measurement of a high performing culture (for example, completion rates of performance management)

25/033 It was agreed to provide an update in approximately six months which included RAG rating of the planned activities.

8. Leadership Deep Dive

25/034 The Director of People and Workplace presented the update on UKHSA’s leadership expectations and aspirations (PACC-25-013).

25/035 Discussion noted:

• a training offer for performance management could support competency of leadership within delegated grades
• embedding role profiles within MaPS was intended to build supporting data on leadership capabilities
• the Committee welcomed progress on approaches and encouraged further movement from abstract concepts to action
• all staff should be clear how to use material in practical ways (for example, quarterly performance conversations, goal setting)
• line manager standards should be embedded in recruitment process for managers and leaders
• the internal communications team tracked comments from Pulse and UKHSA Live could be used to measure embedding of standards and high performing culture

9. Forward look and topics for future meetings

25/036 The People and Culture Committee noted the Forward Look and suggested topics for future discussion (enclosure PACC-25-014). The following comments were made:

• the Director of People and Workplace would ensure the right timings of conversations;
• reflections on UKHSA’s strategic priority to build a high performing and high functioning culture could be added to the regular Director’s briefing
• it was suggested to include people risk on the forward look to balance conversations on the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) forward look
• the Deputy Chief Executive Officer welcomed input on succession planning of senior roles shaping the agency

10. Any other business and Close

25/037 The Committee recorded formal thanks to Dame Jenny Harries for her support to UKHSA as a whole and as a member of the People and Culture Committee, noted the maturity in value of conversations since 2022.

25/038 There being no further business, the meeting closed at 3:51pm