188体育

Date: March 2025

Sponsor: Sir Gordon Messenger

1. Recommendation

The Advisory Board is asked to note the minutes of 26 November 2024 meeting of the People and Culture Committee. The minutes were agreed on 5 February 2025.

2.听惭颈苍耻迟别蝉 (肠辞苍蹿颈谤尘别诲),听UKHSA聽People and Culture Committee, 26 November 2024

Present at the meeting were:

• Sir Gordon Messenger 鈥� Non-Executive Member of聽UKHSA聽Advisory Board (Chair)
• Cindy Rampersaud 鈥� Non-Executive Member of聽UKHSA聽Advisory Board
• Mark Lloyd 鈥� Non-Executive Member of聽UKHSA聽Advisory Board
• Dame Jenny Harries 鈥� Chief Executive

In attendance were:

• 11 attendees had their names and titles redacted

3.听奥别濒肠辞尘别, apologies and declarations of interest

24/099 The Chair welcomed participants to the People and Culture Committee.

4.听惭颈苍耻迟别蝉 of the previous meeting and matters arising

24/100 The minutes from the previous meeting on 23 July 2024 (enclosure PAAC-24-023) were agreed.

24/101 The action list (enclosure PACC-24-024) was noted with the following comments:

• the [title redacted] would review how to capture data for action 24/011 on risk awareness for specialised skill areas
• the [title redacted] would review action 24/093 to ensure non-executive assurance for the SCS appraisal process in 2025 鈥� this would include an outline of the process, comparison with other arm鈥檚 length bodies and expected input into appraisal of director general roles

5. Chief People Officer brief

24/102 The Chief Executive presented an update on organisation-wide people-related activities (enclosure PACC-24-025).

24/103 The People and Culture Committee noted the update which observed:

• workforce projections had stabilised
• the SCS restructure was nearing conclusion
• workforce projections were stable with future focus on maintaining financial controls and the appropriate level of skillsets
• an improvement plan was in development to define accountability for compliance outputs within the organisation

24/104 Discussion noted the following:

• the Chief Operating Officer role would be vital to success of the restructure, underpinned by behavioural and cultural change from all leaders
• there should be stronger compliance on completion of performance appraisals
• the challenge of recruitment within the Digital, Data and Technology Profession was experienced across civil service departments and raised as a risk to development by several Chief Scientific Advisers 鈥� this remained a specific challenge in recruiting AI skills
• identification of skills and capability gaps should include close attention to AI skills and it was noted that the new AI People, Workforce and Capability Task and Finish Group will play a key role here
• UKHSA should be wary of over delegating career and personal development to individuals 鈥� investing in the right talent provided savings over the longer term
• a new talent approach is currently being piloted and will be rolled out in the new financial year

6. Diversity and Inclusion Dashboard

24/105 The [title redacted] provided an update on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Dashboard (enclosure PACC-24-026). Declarations for diversity and inclusion identifiers had increased in line with civil service averages. UKHSA benchmarked well on declarations for ethnicity, LGBT+, although disability declarations had declined.

24/106 The People and Culture Committee noted the progress made on the D&I Dashboard and delivery against D&I strategic priorities for 2023 to 2025. Highlights included:

• the launch of a job-share database
• extending the Accelerate programme to lower grades
• national inclusion week events
• completion rates for inclusion training

24/107 The committee commented on:

• the disability declaration rates which were impacted by staff choice on defining themselves with a disability 鈥� People Group were encouraging the SCS cohort to champion relevant networks and set an example for open discussion of disability inclusion
• the difference between ethnic minority applications and appointment which was common across employers 鈥� assessing bias within essential criteria of job postings could support number ethnic minority applications passing sift
• the importance of lab-based staff being able to access UKHSA鈥檚 full D&I offer
• capturing diversity data was encouraged at onboarding to ensure up to date information

24/108 The People and Culture Committee welcomed the strength of data from the dashboard to translate into actions ensuring the workforce felt valued.

7. Performance monitoring

24/109 The [title redacted] presented the People Performance dashboard (enclosure PACC-24-027). The dashboard was built out from previous recommendations and had improved functionality. Assessment of metrics was continually aligned with the People Insight Check in and the Civil Service People Survey.

24/110 The People and Culture Committee noted the People and Performance metrics, improved functionality and insights gleaned from the People Insight Check In. The latest metrics demonstrated:

• the impact of recruitment controls and a better than industry average from application to offer stage
• roles were mapped against the Civil Service Professions with long term ambition to map further insights (for example skills for incident response surges)

24/111 Discussion raised the following points:

• senior leaders usage of the dashboard would encourage further uptake of data across the organisations and greater reach for insights
• better cultural insights could be gleaned by distinguishing hard rewards (for example pay) from soft rewards (for example progression, support from leaders)
• there was early indication of improvement in bullying, harassment and discrimination scores across the business with further long-term improvement possible
• as data matured, it would be helpful to utilise early indication of skills shortage in specialised roles (for example 10 to 15 key skills) and the associated risks to organisation
• insights from exit interviews could support wider understanding of the metrics

8. Internal communications deep dive

24/112 The [title redacted] introduced the paper on the internal communications activities and strategic approach to support development of a positive culture in UKHSA. Key areas of activity and achievements included:

• successful engagement in UKHSA staff networks in partnership with the Talent and Inclusion team
• 鈥榃e Are UKHSA鈥� which built understanding of UKHSA鈥檚 purpose moving to new campaign 鈥楾ransform Together鈥�
• celebrating achievements of various teams through communication channels to embed UKHSA values across the organisation
• substantial attendance at all staff UKHSA Live events which are chaired by junior members of staff and would be held locally to engage regional teams
• 鈥榃e Are UKHSA Awards鈥� organised by the People Experience team with advise and support from communications colleagues which involved inclusive voting and ability for staff to watch remotely

24/113 The People and Culture Committee noted the impact of internal communications campaigns and activities.

24/114 Discussion raised the following points:

• clarity of role of internal communications and other groups (for example line managers) support engagement at frontline and understanding or organizational priorities at all levels
• leadership visibility was important during change
• assurance was provided on communication specific measures for success of campaigns which met standards of the Government Communications Service 鈥� these included tracking engagement with channels, weekly news and completion of surveys aligning with specific news articles
• exploring different strategies for staff who were not engaged and ensuring a two-way dialogue within campaigns
• it was important to include the missions and values of UKHSA in internal campaigns
• supporting communication through the leadership community will enable localisation of messages
• targeting staff with different working patterns (for example lab over computer based, home working)
• change agents and champions could support filtering of messages throughout the organisation
• promoting the broad range of UKHSA activity outside the organisation to support engagement
• the team were mature at broadcasting channels with focus pivoting to identification of appropriate topics

24/115 The committee agreed that the standing invitation for internal communications at the People and Culture Committee would be formalised in next update of Terms of Reference and membership.

9. Forward look and topics for future meetings

24/116 The People and Culture Committee noted the Forward Look and suggested topics for future discussion (enclosure PACC-24-028).

24/117 [Title redacted] would review the forward look with the [Title redacted] to incorporate the following points:

• a discussion on the People Survey was welcomed for February 2025
• following this, a leadership deep dive may be appropriate following the SCS restructure
• skills mapping, gap analysis and career paths would be combined into one topic
• it was important to maintain focus on bullying, harassment and grievances or whistleblowing (formerly Freedom to Speak Up)
• a discussion of the locations strategy would be added
• the impact of phase 2 of the Spending Review should be considered

10. Any other business and close

24/118 The People and Culture Committee noted the data on establishment figures (enclosure PACC-24-029) with further comment invited in correspondence.

24/119 There being no further business, the meeting closed at 5.09pm.