INQ00000074 - Letter from Alex Chisholm (BEIS) to Paula Vennells RE: update on sponsorship model
INQ00000074
INQ00000074
Department for
Business, Energy Alex Chisholm
. Permanent Under-Secretary of State
& Industrial Strategy 1 Victoria siret
ondon
SW1H OET
Paula Vennells
Post Office Ltd
19 December 2017 Our ref: AC/GRO451
Dear Paula,
Following our Partner Organisation network event last month, I wanted to take this
opportunity to provide you with an update on our new sponsorship model. As I underlined in
my two recent letters to our Partners on the launch of the Industrial Strategy and planning
for exiting the EU, you play a critical role in delivering the Department's priorities. Making
sure that our engagement with you is right is crucial to achieving our joint goals.
New Sponsorship Model
Earlier this year you and your peers asked us to look at the way we work with you, to make
this consistent across the Department, and to make clearer who was responsible for
engaging with you from a sponsorship perspective. We took this message away and
through workshops with your representatives, alongside conversations with our policy and
corporate services teams, we identified three key needs:
e A transparent, fair, rational and well-understood sponsorship model;
e Tailored support that recognises individual complexities; and
e Effective and efficient processes and systems.
Transparency
We talked about this new model at our recent network event and I have annexed the
presentation we gave setting out the detail on ‘Working Together’. Today, I am writing to
CEOs and Chairs of our Partners to confirm their sponsors and their roles, the overall aim of
which is to help us engage with each other in a consistent and coordinated way.
The Post Office’s arrangements with UKGI will continue as is. However I am keen for you to
have a direct line into BEIS as well to cover issues at POL which cut across BEIS related
areas (e.g. the corporate governance reform agenda, employment regulation, impact of
exiting the EU etc). We are looking to finalise your contacts for policy and governance to
complement your current contact at Ministerial level who, as you will be aware, is Margot
James MP. In the interim Kate Marshall kate.marshal I (Deputy Director,
Partnerships Team) will be available to pick up any issues you might have.
The arrangements we are putting in place across the department have three aims:
e Amplify your existing sponsorship arrangements with UKGI, rather than replacing or
duplicating them;
e Identify issues you face that may be common to many or all of our Partners, and
which may be better resolved collectively; and
INQ00000074
INQ00000074
e Leverage our capability and power of representation (as a major sponsorship
department) to promote yours and our interests and needs with the centre: No10, HM
Treasury and Cabinet Office.
UKGI will continue to liaise closely with BEIS sponsor colleagues to ensure that their work
remains aligned with the Department, and I expect that these new processes will more
easily facilitate that, giving UKGI a number of key “go to” contacts.
Effective and efficient processes and systems
As a former CEO of a Partner Organisation, I know how processes and systems can impact
on operations and governance arrangements. Through our new sponsorship model, I
expect to see improvements in decision-making and approvals in areas where we are
providing advice and/or services to you, e.g. managing public appointment processes
(including pay and diversity matters); clarifying classifications and delegations; sharing
talent and expertise.
At our recent network event, which you very kindly hosted, we set out progress made during
the course of the year, and highlighted some areas where we are making slower progress
(e.g. attracting more diverse candidates to senior positions across the BEIS network). We
are working hard to address these, and we will update you on progress at our next network
event, which will take place on 19 April, 2018.
Our Partnerships Team, which leads on the overall framework for engagement and ways of
working, is on hand to address any questions you may have. Also if you have any
immediate fe i for the next Partner network event please do get in touch with
kate.marshal
Alex Chisholm