Written Statement (Wales): Progress on Public Appointments in Wales

Jane Hutt MS, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip: I am pleased to provide Members with an update on the continued work the Welsh Government is undertaking to strengthen and modernise the public appointments system in Wales.

We are committed to ensuring that public appointments reflect the communities we serve through processes that are fair, transparent and inclusive. 

This statement sets out the progress we have made over the past year and the actions we will continue to take to ensure public appointments are accessible, representative, and trusted.

The Commissioner for Public Appointments published their Annual Report 2024-25 in December 2025, which includes diversity data for appointments made during that period.The report highlighted encouraging improvements in diversity and recognised Welsh Government successes. At my request, the report also included, for the first time, data on regionality within Wales and Welsh language ability. My officials recently issued a survey of all regulated board members which will create the baseline data under our Reflecting Wales in Running Wales strategy. Headline figures on regulated appointments from the Commissioner's report included:

• 60% of appointees were women, up from 50% in 2023-24.
• 15% identified as disabled, a considerable increase from 3.9% the previous year.
• 19% were from an ethnic minority background
• 37% of appointees described themselves as coming from a lower socio-economic background, (a new measure for 2024-25).
• 24% reported advanced Welsh language skills, (new measure for 2024-25).

Programme of improvements

Over the past year we have delivered a comprehensive programme of improvements to modernise the public appointments system in Wales. This includes:

Strengthened guidance, standards and support

• Introducing new internal guidance, templates and tools to support consistent, high-quality and compliant recruitment processes. 
• Launching a brand-new candidate-facing web pages to provide more information about the process, featuring clear guidance, lived-experience case studies and practical application advice.

Improved accessibility and candidate experience

• Hosting a major co-creation event with stakeholders, applicants and board members to identify barriers and co-design improvements.
• Appointing a dedicated Diversity Inclusion and Outreach Lead to drive targeted engagement.
• Strengthening candidate communications and expanding support materials to improve clarity, accessibility and confidence at every stage of the process.
• Actively gathering and analysing feedback from candidates, boards, Chairs, Senior Independent Panel Members and stakeholders, using this intelligence to shape continuous improvement across the system.

Built capability and partnership working

• Strengthening relationships with key partners, including the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the Cabinet Office.
• Building connections across Welsh Government, including through ALB Chairs and Chief Executive Forums.
• Delivering a practical workshop for the Pathway to Progress to support potential applicants.
• Undertook an evaluation of the Reflecting Wales in Running Walesstrategy, the results will be shared with the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee. And extending the strategy until May 2026 to ensure continuity and support evidence-based improvements.

Diversity and Welsh language survey

• Launching a new bilingual diversity and Welsh language survey for all board members, using updated Office of National Statistics standards. For the first time, this will provide a comprehensive and consistent baseline dataset across all Welsh public bodies to support targeted action and strengthen transparency.

Next steps

Looking ahead, we will continue to embed fairness, transparency and inclusivity through practical, measurable actions. Our next steps will focus on:

• Implementing priorities identified through the co-creation event.
• Developing an inclusive recruitment framework and recruitment process and updated candidate-facing materials.
• Collating dedicated diversity data for Chairs of regulated public bodies through our next survey cycle, to address the current gap in information on these leadership roles. We will also work with Academi Wales, who hold responsibility for board development, to ensure that support for Chairs is aligned with our wider ambition to improve diversity at senior levels. 
• Enhancing feedback mechanisms to improve learning and candidate experience.
• Rolling out online training for panel members to improve consistency and confidence.
• Delivering targeted outreach and engagement to support underrepresented groups into public appointments.
• Strengthening the quality, consistency and use of diversity and skills data.
• Deepening engagement with Senedd Committees to support oversight and confidence in the system.

Together, these actions will help ensure that public appointments in Wales continue to evolve, enabling boards to benefit from a wider range of talent, experience and perspectives.