Charity Commission

(asked on 4th February 2015) - View Source

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the letter to him of 29 January 2015 from the Chief Executive of AVECO, what steps he took to assess the political impartiality of William Shawcross before his reappointment as Chair of the Charity Commission.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Maude of Horsham
This question was answered on 9th February 2015

Decisions on reappointment are matters for Ministers. As was the case under previous administrations, there is no requirement for a separate appointments process or a consultation exercise. As required under the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice, the decision to reappoint William Shawcross for a second term as Chair of the Charity Commission followed a performance appraisal conducted by the Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary. William Shawcross’ original appointment followed a pre-appointment hearing with the Public Administration Select Committee (there is no requirement for another hearing ahead of reappointment).

A candidate's political impartiality is one of the matters assessed in the initial appointment process, and Mr Shawcross has remained politically impartial. He is not a member of any political party, and has not undertaken any party political activity during his term of office.

The National Audit Office recently found that the Commission had made good progress under Mr Shawcross’ leadership, and developed a credible business model and an ambitious change programme. The timing of the reappointment gives Mr Shawcross and the Commission the certainty that he will remain in post to lead the implementation of the transformation programme which is now at a critical phase. As was the case under previous administrations, there is no guidance on how far in advance of the end of a term of office an appointment can be renewed.

Details of the reappointment were published at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/william-shawcross-reappointed-as-chair-of-the-charity-commission

Reticulating Splines