Appointments

Appointments to regulators’ councils 

Nine of the regulators we oversee are governed by bodies known as ‘councils’. The role of the council is to oversee the work of the regulators and make sure that they are achieving their strategic goals. 

Council appointments

The power to make appointments to the councils of eight regulators rests with the Privy Council.

The Privy Council doesn't choose the recommended candidates; that's the regulator's decision. We check that each regulator runs a fair selection process to find suitable candidates to appoint.

The eight regulators whose appointment processes we oversee are:

  • The General Chiropractic Council
  • The General Dental Council
  • The General Medical Council
  • The General Optical Council
  • The General Osteopathic Council
  • The General Pharmaceutical Council
  • The Health and Care Professions Council
  • The Nursing and Midwifery Council

Appointments to the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland are made by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland. Social Work England has a board, and its members are appointed through the UK Public Appointments Process.

Our scrutiny role 

Our job is to review the steps the regulator takes as part of its appointment process.  We then tell the Privy Council if they can be confident that the appointment process met the required standards. For us to trust the process, we need to see that:

  • decisions are based on merit,
  • the process is fair,
  • it's open and transparent,
  • it builds public confidence in the regulator.

We ask regulators to share their plans for running the appointment process. We look at their timeline, selection criteria, who is on the panel, how they address equality and diversity, and how they handle potential conflicts of interest.

If the regulator changes their plan, they must tell us what changed and why. We also get a report from an independent expert Panel Member in public appointments to help us with our review.

After our review, we advise the Privy Council only about if it can have confidence in the process used. We don’t know the names of the candidates or comment on their suitability, and we do not decide on who is appointed.

We also advise the Privy Council about reappointing council members and they may ask us for advice on other issues, like emergency appointments or removing a chair or council member.

Find out more in our Good practice in making council appointments: Principles, guidance and the scrutiny process.

Appointments seminar

The PSA works with regulators to improve their appointment processes and holds an annual seminar to discuss the latest developments in good practice.