Appointment details

HMCTS Independent Non-Executive Director

Summary
About the appointment
Person specification
Application and selection process
Additional information for candidates
Attachments

Summary

Organisation: HM Courts and Tribunals Service
Sponsor department: Ministry of Justice
Location: London
Sectors: Judicial, Prisons & Policing
Skills: Business, Change Management, Legal, Judicial, Transformation
Number of vacancies: 2
Time commitment: 30 day(s) per annum
Remuneration: £15,000 per annum
Length of term: The term of appointment is three years.
Application deadline: 8am on 18 September 2023

Share this page

The following links open in a new tab

Timeline for this appointment

Opening date

8 August 2023
Application deadline

8am on 18 September 2023
Sifting date

22 September 2023
Interviews expected to end on

2 November 2023

Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change

About the appointment

Introduction

Background

HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) was created in April 2011 as an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. It uniquely operates on the basis of a partnership between the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and the Senior President of Tribunals (the ‘Principals’). It currently has around 16,000 staff, operating from around 350 locations with a gross annual budget of c£1.6 billion, approximately £800 million of which is recovered in fees and income from service users. It handles more than 2 million criminal cases, 1.8 million civil claims, more than 150,000 family law disputes and almost 800,000 tribunal cases annually.

Appointment description

The primary role of the HMCTS Board Non-Executive Directors is to contribute to the effective delivery of HMCTS’ goals by:

monitoring operational performance and identifying potential under-performance
contributing to and over-seeing the development of strategy
ensuring high standards of corporate governance
ensuring that controls are in place to manage risk.

NEBMs provide extensive industry experience, Board-level expertise, analytic capabilities and the ability to contribute effectively to Board discussion to support HMCTS to deliver its objectives.

The successful candidate must have the requisite skills and experience in strategic and operational leadership, helping HMCTS to operate in a business-like manner. They should have experience of commercial and transactional programmes that have been delivered within organisations or corporations.

Organisation description

The HMCTS Board is responsible for overseeing the leadership and direction of the agency in delivering the aims and objectives set by the Principals. It plays a vital role in shaping and directing the organisation, ensuring that it is equipped to deliver high quality and cost-effective services to court and tribunal users, that it is able to continue to recover and learn from the experience of the pandemic, and that it finishes delivery of HMCTS’s ambitious programme of reform.

The Board is responsible for:

Advising, providing challenge and scrutiny and, where necessary, giving direction to the Chief Executive in relation to the strategic objectives and performance targets of the agency, as well as the overall delivery of its business plan.
Approving the allocation of the annual budget and any significant in-year changes to it.
Ensuring that planning, performance and financial management of the agency is carried out efficiently and effectively and with openness and transparency in relation to the Principals.
Supporting the maintenance of a strong working relationship between HMCTS and the judiciary at all levels.
Approving the agency’s corporate governance framework and controls, and monitoring their operation.
The Board’s membership comprises, in addition to the independent Non-Executive Chair: three Non-Executive Directors, three senior judicial representatives, a Ministry of Justice representative member, the HMCTS Chief Executive and three additional Executive Directors.
In order for HMCTS to discharge its responsibilities appropriately and effectively, day-to-day and operational leadership of the agency is delegated to the Chief Executive.

Person specification

Essential criteria

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate the following essential criteria:

Evidence of senior achievement in either the private or public sectors, demonstrating the ability to make a strong personal contribution.
Ability to support a customer-focussed operational organisation through technology driven organisational change and cultural development as demonstrated by experience in either the private or public sector.
Good communication skills, high level of self-awareness and the ability to provide constructive challenge and support to the Board.

Desirable criteria

We are particularly looking for candidates who have leadership experience and expertise in one or more of the following:

Experience of building and sustaining relationships with key stakeholders including the ability to respond to and reconcile the differing needs of those stakeholders.
Sound knowledge and experience of good governance at senior levels in a large organisation in either private or public sector, and/or an understanding of working with government.
Board level experience in an executive or non-executive capacity
Experience of the delivery of organisational change programmes, particularly those based on the introduction of new technology
Experience in and understanding of business processes in a complex, multi-site customer facing organisation; and
Experience in the delivery of digital infrastructure and automation; and the use of data and analysis to drive performance improvement and better decision-making.

Application and selection process

How to apply

The recruitment process is being undertaken by GatenbySanderson on behalf of HM Courts and Tribunals Service. If you wish to apply for this position, please supply the following:

A comprehensive CV setting out your career history, with responsibilities and achievements.
A covering letter (maximum two sides) highlighting your suitability and setting out how you meet the person specification. Please note that the covering letter is an important part of your application and is as much the means by which you will be assessed as your CV.
Please provide details of two professional referees together with a brief statement of the capacity and over what period of time they have known you. Referees will not be contacted without your prior consent.

To apply please visit:

www.gatenbysanderson.com/job/GSe102142 or search ‘HM Courts and Tribunal Service’ on the GatenbySanderson website: www.gatenbysanderson.com

If you would like further information about the role, or to discuss your suitability in more detail, please contact Orla Brennan at GatenbySanderson on 0113 205 6065 or emailorla.brennan@gatenbysanderson.comDiversity monitoring is important and as part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say’.

All monitoring data will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not be provided to the selection panel.

Overview of the application process

The assessment process

Ministers are responsible and accountable to Parliament for the public appointments made within their department. As a result, they must be consulted at every stage of the appointments process.
An Advisory Assessment Panel (“Panel”) is appointed in accordance with the HMCTS Framework Document The role of the Panel is to decide, objectively, which candidates meet the eligibility criteria for the role.
At the shortlisting meeting the Panel will assess applications against the eligibility criteria and decide which candidates have best met the criteria, who should be recommended for interview. You will be advised (by e-mail) whether you have been shortlisted and invited to an interview.
The Panel will meet again to interview candidates and determine who is appointable to the role. The Panel may invite you to make a brief presentation at the start of the interview and will go on to question you about your skills and experience, including asking;
Details of the panel’s assessment of interviewed candidates are provided to the HMCTS Principals (Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice, and Senior President of Tribunals) , including whether they have judged a candidate to be appointable to the role. It is then for the Principals to determine merit and decide who should be appointed. In some circumstances;
the Principals may choose to meet with candidates before deciding the outcome. Candidates should therefore be prepared for a short time gap between interview and a final appointment decision being made. Candidates who have been interviewed will be kept;
Once the decision on the appointment has been made, interviewed candidates will be advised of the outcome of their application, including whom they may approach for feedback. Successful candidates will be issued with their Terms & Conditions and a Further information about appointments, including tips on applying, can be found on our guidance pages on gov.uk.

Advisory Assessment Panel (AAP)

· Sir Richard Broadbent, Chair HM Courts and Tribunals

· Nick Goodwin, Chief Executive of HMCTS

· Lady Justice Kate Thirlwall DBE

· Natalie Byrom

The Advisory Assessment Panels (AAP) are chosen in accordance with the HMCTS Framework Document to assist them in their decision-making. These include a departmental official and an independent member. For competitions recruiting non-executive members of a board (apart from the Chair), the panel will usually include a representative from the public body concerned.

AAP’s perform a number of functions, including agreeing an assessment strategy with ministers, undertaking sifting, carrying out interviews in line with the advertised criteria and deciding objectively who meets the published selection criteria for the role before recommending to ministers which candidates they find appointable. It is then for the minister to decide who to appoint to the role.

Eligibility criteria

In general, you should have the right to work in the UK to be eligible to apply for a public appointment.

There are a small number of specialist roles that are not open to non-British citizens. Any nationality requirements will be specified in the vacancy details.

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards.

You cannot be considered for a public appointment if:

you are disqualified from acting as a company director (under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986);
have an unspent conviction on your criminal record;
your estate has been sequestrated in Scotland or you enter into a debt arrangement programme under Part 1 of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 17) as the debtor or have, under Scots law, granted a trust deed for creditors.

When you apply, you should declare if:

you are, or have been, bankrupt or you have made an arrangement with a creditor at any point, including the dates of this.
you are subject to a current police investigation.

You must inform the sponsor department if, during the application process, your circumstances change in respect of any of the above points.

When you apply you should also declare any relevant interests, highlighting any that you think may call into question your ability to properly discharge the responsibilities of the role you are applying for. You should also declare any other matters which may mean you may not be able to meet the requirements of the Code of Conduct of Board Members (see Outside interests and reputational issues section below)

If you need further advice, please contact mary.dempsey@gatenbysanderson.com

Security clearance

The successful candidate will be required to undertake Baseline Personnel Security Standard checks in line with the Civil Service guidelines. Additional Security Clearance may also be required for certain roles. However, where this applies, candidates will be notified during the appointment process. Further information on National Security Vetting can be found on the Gov.uk website here.

Additional information for candidates

Equality and diversity

We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom. Boards of public bodies are most effective when they reflect the diversity of views of the society they serve and this is an important part of the Government’s levelling up agenda.

We collect data about applicants’ characteristics and backgrounds, including information about people’s educational and professional backgrounds, so that we can make sure we are attracting a broad range of people to these roles and that our selection processes are fair for everyone. Without this information, it makes it difficult to see if our outreach is working, if the application process is having an unfair impact on certain groups and whether changes are making a positive difference.

When you submit your application, your responses are collected by the Cabinet Office and the government department(s) managing your application. The data is used to produce management information about the diversity of applicants. You can select “prefer not to say” to any question you do not wish to answer. The information you provide will not be seen by the Advisory Assessment Panel who review applications against the advertised criteria and conduct interviews.

Disability confident

We are a member of the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. We use the Disability Confident scheme symbol, along with other like-minded employers, to show our commitment to good practice in employing people with a disability. The scheme helps recruit and retain disabled people.

As part of implementing the scheme, we guarantee an interview for anyone with a disability whose application meets the essential criteria for the role, set out in the advert, and who has asked that their application is considered under the scheme. Indicating that you wish your application to be considered under the scheme will in no way prejudice your application. By ‘minimum criteria,’ we mean that you must provide evidence which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required under each of the essential criteria, as set out in the job-advert.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to select if you would like your application considered under this scheme.

Reasonable adjustments

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to make sure applicants with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or other needs are not substantially disadvantaged when applying for public appointments. This can include changing the recruitment process to enable people who wish to apply to do so.

Some examples of common changes are:

ensuring that application forms are available in different or accessible formats;
making adaptations to interview locations;
allowing candidates to present their skills and experience in a different way;
giving additional detailed information on the selection / interview process in advance to allow candidates time to prepare themselves;
allowing support workers, for example sign language interpreters;
making provision for support animals to attend.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to the application process.

Principles of public life

Holders of public office are expected to adhere to and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life. These are:

Selflessness - Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.
Integrity - Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.
Objectivity - Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.
Accountability - Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.
Openness - Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.
Honesty - Holders of public office should be truthful.
Leadership - Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour and treat others with respect. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.

Code of conduct for board members

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. In support of this, all non-executive board members of UK public bodies must abide by the principles set out in the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. The Code sets out the standards expected from those who serve on the boards of UK public bodies and will form part of your terms and conditions of appointment.

Management of outside interests and consideration of reputational issues

Holders of public office are expected to adhere and uphold the Seven Principles of Public Life and the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies. Before you apply you should consider carefully:

any outside interests that you may have, such as shares you may hold in a company providing services to government;
any possible reputational issues arising from your past actions or public statements that you have made;
and/or - any political roles you hold or political campaigns you have supported;

which may call into question your ability to do the role you are applying for.

You will need to answer relevant questions in relation to these points when making an application. Many conflicts of interest can be satisfactorily resolved and declaring a potential conflict does not prevent you from being interviewed. If you are shortlisted for an interview, the panel will discuss any potential conflicts with you during that interview, including any proposals you may have to mitigate them and record that in their advice to ministers. Alongside your own declaration, we will conduct appropriate checks, as part of which we will consider anything in the public domain related to your conduct or professional capacity. This may include searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information. The successful candidate(s) may be required to give up any conflicting interests and their other business and financial interests may be published in line with organisational policies.

Details of declared political activity will be published when the appointment is announced, as required by the Governance Code (political activity is not a bar to appointment, but must be declared).

Status of appointment

As this is an office holder appointment, you will not become a member of the Civil Service. You will not be subject to the provisions of employment law.

Appointment and tenure of office

Appointments are for the term set out in this advert, with the possibility of re-appointment for a further term, at the discretion of Ministers. Any re-appointment is subject to satisfactory annual appraisals of performance during the first term in the post. There is no automatic presumption of reappointment; each case should be considered on its own merits, taking into account a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the diversity of the current board and its balance of skills and experience. In most cases, the total time served in post will not exceed more than two terms or serve in any one post for more than ten years

Remuneration, allowances and abatement

Remuneration for this role is treated as employment income and will be subject to tax and National Insurance contributions, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid.

You can claim reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence costs which are properly and necessarily incurred on official business, in line with the travel and subsistence policy and rates for the organisation to which you are applying. However these payments are taxable as earnings and will be subject to tax and national insurance, both of which will be deducted at source under PAYE before you are paid.

Pension and redundancy

This is an office holder appointment and does not attract any benefits under any Civil Service Pension Scheme. You will not be eligible for redundancy pay as you are not an employee. No other arrangements have been made for compensation upon the end of your term of appointment because an office holder who is appointed for a limited duration would have no expectation of serving beyond that period.

Application feedback

We will notify you of the status of your application. We regret that we are only able to offer detailed feedback to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the interview stage.

How to complain

We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and to treat all applicants with courtesy.

Please contact Mary Dempsey at GatenbySanderson in the first instance if you would like to make a complaint regarding your application at mary.dempsey@gatenbysanderson.com. They will acknowledge your complaint upon receipt and respond within 15 working days.

Data protection

The Cabinet Office will use your data in line with our privacy policy.

Your personal Information

In accordance with the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019(4)(5), we will process your application in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Ministry of Justice’s Information Charter, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/personal-information-charter.

We will hold your data securely and access will be restricted to those dealing with your application or involved in the recruitment process. We will share your data with the Commissioner for Public Appointments and other relevant government departments, including the Cabinet Office, as part of a complaint investigation or review of the recruitment process. Cabinet Office will handle data in accordance with their Privacy Notice https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/privacy-notice.   Your data may also be disclosed as required by law or in connection with legal proceedings.

We will store your data for up to two years and processed for the purpose of the recruitment process, diversity monitoring and, if successful, your personal record. If appointed, your data will be stored for the duration of your tenure and may be shared with the organisation to which you are appointed, unless you specifically request us not to.

Should you wish your data to be removed from our records, please contact publicappointmentsteam@Justice.gov.uk.

Contact details

In the event of any help with your application, please contact Mary Dempsey at GatenbySanderson by email at mary.dempsey@gatenbysanderson.com or Orla Brennan at GatenbySanderson on 0113 205 6065 or email orla.brennan@gatenbysanderson.com

Attachments

Candidate Information Pack

Cookies on Apply for a public appointment

Important

You can’t apply for this appointment

Contents