A New Code of Practice

Following a period of significant consultation the Commissioner has produced a revised Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland. The new code came into force from September. For a short period, both the 2006 and 2011 codes will be in force. The applicable code for a given appointment round will depend on the date on which we assigned an assessor to provide scrutiny of the round.

 

Between April and November 2011, we ran a series of workshops for panel members on the revised code as well as on the handbook of guidance on the code's implementation.

 

The new code will mean a change to the way in which the Commissioner will provide scrutiny of the public appointments process. The change will ensure that scrutiny is risk based and appropriate to the particular appointment being made. You can find out more about this change by reviewing the statutory guidance introduced along with the code and the accompanying risk framework.

 

A report analysing the consultation exercise that led to the revised code and the many valuable responses we received may also be downloaded from this website.

 

Moving to a new code of practice

 

In 2010 the Commissioner consulted on a proposed revised Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland.

 

The proposed revised code incorporated changes recommended by Diversity Delivers and elements of the guidance produced on the 2006 code's application.

 

Consultees were invited to participate in the consultation exercise on the proposed revised code by completing the accompanying questionnaire.

 

The Commissioner also held a series of consultation events for the Chairs of public bodies to gather their views on the proposals for change. We have produced a report on these events.

 

The views expressed by the Chairs, as well as the views of all consultees who responded in writing, were taken into account by the Commissioner in the production of the final version of the revised code.

 

The consultation period ended on 15 October 2010.

 

Pre-consultation

 

To produce the consultation version of the code, we held pre-consultation events with the Chairs of regulated public bodies and with the Scottish Government's Senior Civil Servants to ensure that we could incorporate the views of these key stakeholders into our proposals for change. You can download a copy of our notes on these pre-consultation events from the links below: