3 The recruitment process
11. The Chair of Natural England is appointed by
the Secretary of State in accordance with the provisions of the
Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. The appointment
is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the
process was conducted in line with the Office of the Commissioner
for Public Appointments (OCPA) requirements and the Commissioner's
Code of Practice.
12. Defra has provided the following information
about the process followed for the recruitment of the Chair of
Natural England:
- The post was advertised in
the Sunday Times on 27 April 2009 and posted on the recruitment
consultants (Veredus), Defra and Public Appointments Unit's websites
from Monday 28 April. The deadline for receipt of completed applications
was 10 am on Monday 18 May. Defra also asked Veredus to undertake
an executive search.
- 22 applications were received, nine were long
listed and subsequently interviewed by Veredus on 8 or 12 June.
The OCPA accredited assessor sat in on some of these interviews.
Four of these were shortlisted for full panel interview which
took place on 26 June. Decisions on the long and short list sift
were made by the interview selection panel which comprised:
- Peter Unwin (Director General,
Environment and Rural Group, Defra);
- Dame Fiona Reynolds (Director General, National
Trust);
- Andrew Wells (Director of Planning, Department
for Communities and Local Government), and
- Judith Alderton (the OCPA accredited Independent
Public Appointments Assessor).
13. The OCPA process recommends that normally names
of two suitable candidates are put forward to Ministers. Following
the interviews only one candidate was considered to be appointable.
Ministers were advised of the relevant OCPA code which covers
this eventuality. The submission to Ministers was dated 3 July
2009. Ministers did not interview the candidate, however, the
Secretary of State met Poul Christensen on 8 July 2009, with the
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Huw Irranca-Davies MP,
and the OCPA accredited assessor present, prior to making a final
decision.
14. A letter offering the post subject to endorsement
by the Select Committee was sent on 8 August 2009, once approval
had been received from the Prime Minister to make the offer (in
accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines).[6]
6 Cabinet Office, Making and Managing Public Appointments:
A Guide for Departments,February 2006, p 85 Back
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