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Public Appointments > Provide Oversight
 

Oversight of the public appointments process

Our Public Appointments Advisers (PAAs) are often assigned to represent the Commissioner on selection panels to oversee the appointments process; provide advice and support to selection panels on good recruitment practices; and provide direct, proportionate, external scrutiny of the appointments process. Key activities undertaken by our PAAs on appointment rounds include:

Encouraging open dialogue and innovative practices

Encouraging open dialogue and innovative practices on selection panels

Interpreting ministerial requirements

Working with panels to interpret ministerial requirements to create formal person specifications and appropriate assessment methods

Reviewing and auditing

Reviewing and auditing paper trails relevant to the process

Attending meetings

Attending meetings as panel members to support parts of the process they are assigned to oversee

Reporting good & poor practices

Reporting on both good and poor practices to the Commissioner following their involvement in an appointment round

Making appropriate interventions

Making appropriate interventions if panels are about to or appear to be contravening the requirements of the Code

 

Reviews and Testimonials

“The PAA was really helpful to the panel, we had quite a complex set of requirements and her advice and guidance really helped us navigate that well.”

  • Panel Chair, Health Round, 2025

 

"As a first time panel chair, the Advisor took the time to speak with me separately to the other panel members (as well as supporting the whole panel discussions) to answer additional Qs I had, around ensuring I applied the right standards and expectations across the whole process.” 

  • Panel Chair, Health Round, 2025

PAAs also provide support for the Commissioner’s ad hoc projects, such as research and thematic reviews.

You can find out more about the backgrounds of our PAAs on our Public Appointments Advisers page.

If you are interested in becoming a PAA, please review the Service Level Agreement which our PAAs are contracted on for more details, and contact us to register your interest. A member of the Public Appointments Team will reach out to you when our next PAA tendering exercise goes live.