May 10 2019

Round-up from the National Audit Office

February 04 2019

APPG on Consumer Protection publishes report on Ombudsman Inquiry

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Consumer Protection has published its report from the Ombudsman Inquiry.

November 09 2018

Supervision after Brexit

The Institute for Government's new report on Supervision after Brexit examines the questions the UK would have to answer on how to guarantee it meets the commitments it enters into as part of its future partnership with the EU.

October 17 2018

Government Commercial Capability

The Government Commercial Function can now offer a package of services to Wider Government Bodies.

September 28 2018

The Impact of the Code of Good Practice: Building Partnerships between Departments and Public Bodies

Having surveyed the Chairs and Chief Executives from over 300 public bodies about the impact Cabinet Office’s Code of Good Practice for departments and arm’s-length bodies, we publish the results - and call for more action from central government to implement this guidance.

September 17 2018

How to prepare if the UK leaves the EU with no deal

The Government has published guidance on How to Prepare if the UK leaves the EU with no deal. 

September 07 2018

Lord Holmes of Richmond Disability Review - Call for Evidence

Lord Holmes of Richmond has called for evidencefor his review aimed at encouraging more disabled people to apply for public appointments and to improve the application process for disabled people. 

August 29 2018

Diversity: Turn off the spotlight and turn on the floodlights

Rowena Ironside, Chair of Women on boards and Non-Executive member of Cabinet Office Constitution Group examines what public bodies can do to improve the diversity of their boards.

August 22 2018

Event with Rupert McNeil postponed

The Association of Chief Executives is sorry to announce that our private seminar with Rupert McNeil, Chief People Officer for the Civil Service, scheduled for 21 September 2018, has been postponed.

July 23 2018

The Security Industry Authority is seeking a new Chief Executive

The Security Industry Authority is seeking a new Chief Executive. The closing date for applications is 7 September 2018. Further information can be found here.

June 29 2018

National Audit Office blogs on successful digital transformation

The National Audit Office has published a blog, Successful Transformation: Voices of Experience, about the factors to be considered when undergoing digital transformation, following its event with The Public Chairs' Forum.

June 28 2018

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee & Civil Service Effectiveness Inquiry

The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee has published its report examining the effectiveness of the Civil Service, The Minister and the Official: The Fulcrum of Whitehall Effectiveness.

December 19 2017

Reflections on Public Bodies Week, Susanna Smith

In the last week of November, Cabinet Office hosted a series of events as part of ‘Public Bodies Week’ to launch their annual directory and strategy for public bodies. It was an opportunity for leaders of public bodies and government officials to discuss key challenges and opportunities facing the public sector.

The discussion topics were packed with important, cross-cutting challenges, such as Brexit, regional growth, diversity, digitalisation and commercial capability. Many of which chime with issues on the minds of members of ACE and our sister organisation, the Public Chairs' Forum, who contributed to panel sessions.

Of the wide-ranging topics in discussion, there were two key messages that stood out and they were the importance of effective transformation and collaboration. For further information of these discussions, please click on the button below to read our Civil Service World article.

https://www.civilserviceworld.com/articles/opinion/transformation-and-collaboration-action-reflections-public-bodies-week

December 01 2017

Reflections from Lesley Ann Nash, Cabinet Office on Public Bodies Week 2017

November 20 2017

IfG, ACE and PCF host Brexit workshop

In June, we sent, in partnership with the Institute for Government and our sister organisation PCF, a survey to public bodies to assess how affected by Brexit they expected to be. While some respondents reported opportunities in gaining additional powers, many stated concerns about the level of uncertainty ahead, such as potential changes to funding streams, staffing, and limited powers to influence EU standards that may still affect their operational work. Following these findings, in November we hosted a workshop with officials in departments, ALB leaders and representatives from the Department for Exiting the European Union, (DExEU), and Cabinet Office Public Bodies Reform Team to discuss these issues in more details. Many attendees felt that more clarification was needed in areas such as: how to make sure interdependencies are recognised and managed; how to escalate emerging risks through departments; how to support EU staff; how to support business; what financial support is available; and how to collaborate with international partners. Following the event, ACE wrote a joint letter with my PCF to Sir Jeremy Heywood, copying in all permanent secretaries, highlighting the issues. If members would like to see the findings of our survey, as well as Sir Jeremy's response to our letter, please get in touch with secretariat@associationofchiefexecutives.org.uk. 

August 22 2017

DExEU Publication of Northern Ireland and Ireland Position Paper

The Department for Exiting the European Union has published its position papers on how to address the circumstances of Northern Ireland and Ireland in light of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.

August 11 2017

DExEU Stakeholder Bulletin July 2017

Catch up with DExEu's July bulletin, with updates about the start of EU negotiations; the introduction of the Repeal Bill; protecting the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU; David Davis's speech to the Times CEO summit; and the roundtable with the Federation of Small Businesses.

July 27 2017

CRACKING THE CODE: A SURVEY OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS AND PUBLIC BODIES

The Code of Good Practice for partnerships between government departments and public bodies was published by the Cabinet Office in February 2017. The Code was developed by a working group of departmental and ALB representatives, as a response to the findings of a National Audit Office review of and subsequent Public Accounts Committee hearing into the oversight of public bodies, which highlighted a lack of consistency across government departments.

To encourage better relationships and in support of the Code, the Public Chairs’ Forum (PCF), the Association of Chief Executives (ACE) and the Institute for Government sent a survey to chairs and chief executives of public bodies, to assess their current relationships with their departments. The survey questions were based around the four principles of the Code: purpose, assurance, value and engagement. This report highlights the key findings of the survey. 

You can read the full report here. 

February 27 2017

Cabinet Office Code of Good Practice for Partnerships between Departments and ALBs

On 24th February Cabinet Office published their Code of Good Practice for partnerships between Departments and ALBs. ACE welcome the new Code.

We are particularly encouraged by the emphasis on ‘effective partnership’ and oversight that is proportionate to the potential risks and is balanced against the benefits of autonomy for the ALB. The principles provide a great opportunity to improve the ability of the centre and their ALBs to achieve the government’s overall objectives through collaborative working and greater shared understanding of each other’s purpose, skills and expertise.

ACE are keen to see these principles put into practice within departments and ALBs. We will be conducting research in partnership with the Institute for Government to survey where both ALBs and departments currently judge their relationship  with respect to the core principles of the Code, to then be reassessed in 9-12months time. The study is being conducted with the support of Cabinet Office, but is independent of government.  

January 26 2017

Whitehall Monitor 2017: The civil service as it faces Brexit

November 25 2016

ACE Conference 2016

We were delighted to welcome a range of speakers providing fascinating insight into both our key topics: Brexit and leadership.Thank you to all speakers and members who were able to attend and contribute.

November 24 2016

Changes to the ACE Board

At the Annual General Meeting on Thursday 24th November, members took the opportunity to thank and to say goodbye to both John Alty, our Chair, and Board Member Elaine Lorimer, as well as welcome new Chair, Graham Farrant, and new Board Member, Sarah Harrison. 

October 25 2016

Seminar with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Right Honourable David Gauke MP

The Association of Chief Executives was delighted to host a private roundtable seminar with the Rt. Hon David Gauke MP. This was a real opportunity for members to engage directly with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on the current priorities within government and reflect on what they mean for arm’s-length bodies (ALBs).

October 21 2016

PAC report released on departments’ oversight of arm’s-length bodies

The Public Accounts Committee has released its report on oversight of arm's-length bodies. 

October 07 2016

Breakfast seminar with Sir Jeremy Heywood

We were delighted to host Sir Jeremy Heywood for a private breakfast seminar with members of both Public Chairs’ Forum (PCF) and Association of Chief Executives (ACE) members. 

August 30 2016

Lessons learnt from the set-up phase of the ‘Regulatory Futures’ cross-functional review

As a result of conversations with John Manzoni, Chief Executive of the Civil Service in July 2015, the Public Chairs’ Forum (PCF) saw the opportunity to explore better ways of working collaboratively across departments and ALBs to ensure that ALBs are working most effectively. Working in partnership with the Public Bodies Reform Team in Cabinet Office and the Association of Chief Executives (ACE) the idea of cross-functional reviews emerged. This review process would mark a significant departure from triennial reviews of the last parliament being led by the Chairs and Chief Executives of the ALBs themselves, reviewing bodies in ‘clusters’ of similar functions and occurring once a parliament. Both Chris Banks CBE (chair of PCF) and John Alty (Chair of ACE) sat on the steering group for this review. 

This report by PCF and ACE focuses on the lessons learnt during the set-up and commissioning of the crossfunctional ‘Regulatory Futures’ review. Given the variety of sectors and bodies, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to setting up cross-functional reviews but by creating a framework of best practice, we hope that we can provide a useful reference point for future project working groups to set up these reviews in the most time efficient and effective way from the outset.

May 22 2014

Launch of our NEW website!

ACE is proud to announce the launch of our new website, offering a more professional look and a useful tool to promote the work of the association and that of our member organisations.