North Wales MS and Chair of the Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, Mark Isherwood, has today urged the Welsh Government to engage seriously with the Committee’s report on Public Sector Appointments in Wales, which exposed serious failings in the Welsh Government’s approach.
The report was published on 27th March 2025, and the Welsh Government responded to the Committee’s 23 recommendations, spread over two reports, on 9th June 2025.
However, leading the Debate on the Committee’s report on “Public Appointments” in the Senedd Chamber this afternoon, Mr Isherwood said “the response is of serious concern, given there is no indication whether any of our recommendations have been accepted, rejected, or even accepted in principle or part”.
He added:
“Our recommendations were made with genuine intentions to make improvements following in-depth evidence sessions, and, in the interests of accountability, we would expect the Welsh Government’s response to each recommendation to be clearly flagged and a full explanation for the reasons provided.
“We heard troubling evidence about the lack of diversity in its public appointments on the basis of ethnicity, disability, age, sex and sexual identity.
“Furthermore, it’s clear that public appointments are not representative of all Wales on the basis of non-protected characteristics , with far too many appointments clustered in and around Cardiff and the South East.”
Reflecting on “the unacceptable response provided by the Welsh Government to this important report”, Mr Isherwood added:
“To depart from established convention and provide a response like this to our report raises serious questions about the Welsh Government’s accountability and engagement with the important issues raised in our report.
“The Committee accepts that the Welsh Government is not obliged to accept all recommendations and, in some cases, there may well be entirely valid reasons for doing so. In the interests of accountability, however, if a recommendation is to be rejected, this should be stated unambiguously with reasons provided. To fail to do so serves only to inhibit our scrutiny of these important issues.”
He added:
“We have since been contacted by a stakeholder who participated in the inquiry, sharing our concerns about the inadequacy of the Welsh Government’s response.
“The Welsh Government should urgently reflect on their approach and consider providing a revised response as a matter of urgency.
“As I stated in Committee last week, it’s disrespectful to this Committee and the Parliament. It’s almost contemptuous of Parliament and the role Parliament plays in a representative democracy.
“The Committee will pursue these issues further with the Welsh Government, despite the inadequate response received.
“There are many improvements that can be made to a system that’s currently inhibiting public bodies from attracting the best talent and from being as representative as they can be.
“The Committee will reflect on these issues in our legacy report, as we feel these are issues that will merit long-term attention and Committee scrutiny.
“I urge the Welsh Government to now engage seriously with our recommendations and address a system that at present is not fit for purpose.”