Our governance
Decision-making, executive and managerial bodies in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Roles and structure of our boards and committees
Departmental Board
The Departmental Board, chaired by the Secretary of State, brings together ministerial and Civil Service leadership with non-executives from outside government who can provide independent support and challenge. The Departmental Board meets on a quarterly basis.
The board provides the collective strategic and operational leadership of DHSC, and has responsibility for:
- supporting ministers and the department on strategic issues linked to the development and implementation of the government’s objectives for the health and social care system
- horizon scanning for emerging issues
- ensuring there is strategic alignment across the health and care system
- overseeing the sound financial management of the department
- overseeing the management of risks within the department and its arm’s length bodies (ALBs)
- overseeing the department’s portfolio of major programmes and projects.
Members:
- Wes Streeting MP (Chair), Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
- Sir Chris Wormald KCB, Permanent Secretary
- Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer
- Andy Brittain, Director General, Finance
- Richard Douglas, Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee
- Doug Gurr, Non-Executive Director
- Samantha Jones, Non-Executive Director
- Sir Roy Stone, Non-Executive Director
- Steve Rowe, Non-Executive Director
The Departmental Board has 2 sub-committees which are chaired by non-executive board members.
Audit and Risk Committee
The Audit and Risk Committee is a sub-committee of the Departmental Board and advises the Departmental Board and the department’s accounting officer on risk management, corporate governance and assurance arrangements for the department and its subsidiary bodies and reviews the comprehensiveness of assurances and integrity of financial statements.
The Audit and Risk Committee has responsibility for:
- the accounting policies, accounts and annual report of the department, including reviewing them before their submission or audit
- issues arising from the annual report and accounts
- the annual governance statement
- the quality of risk management within the department, together with regular review of the strategic risk register
- the accountability arrangements established to support the accounting officer
- audit strategies and plans, and the department’s response to any issues identified by internal or external audits
- the department’s business code of conduct, anti-fraud policies, whistle-blowing policy and arrangements for special investigations
- how we respond to findings and recommendations from external bodies (for example, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee)
The committee usually meets at least 4 times per year, with additional meetings in late spring and early summer to consider the annual report and accounts.
Members:
- Richard Douglas, Non-Executive Director and Chair
- Sir Chris Wormald KCB, Permanent Secretary
- Andy Brittain, Director General, Finance
- Anne Barnard, Non-Executive
- Graham Clarke, Non-Executive
- Rich Hornby, Non-Executive
- Karen Holland, Group Chief Internal Auditor, Government Internal Audit Agency
- Peter Morland, Director responsible for health, National Audit Office
- Chief Risk Officer
Nominations and Governance Committee
The Nominations and Governance Committee is a sub-committee of the Departmental Board and advises on matters relating to the department’s senior leadership and succession planning. It meets twice per year.
- Sir Chris Wormald KCB, Permanent Secretary
- Richard Douglas, Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee
- Director of HR
Executive Committee (ExCo)
ExCo is the department’s senior decision-making body and oversees strategy, finance, performance and corporate issues in the department.
Members:
- Sir Chris Wormald KCB, Permanent Secretary
- Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer
- Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser
- Andy Brittain, Director General, Finance
- Clara Swinson, Director General, Global and Public Health
- Jonathan Marron, Director General, Primary Care and Prevention
- Michelle Dyson, Director General, Adult Social Care
- Matthew Style, Director General, Secondary Care and Integration
- Director of HR
- Director of Strategy
- Director of Information, Risk Management and Assurance and DHSC Race Champion
There are 3 formal sub-committees of the Executive Committee.
Performance and Risk Committee (PRC)
The PRC is a sub-committee of ExCo and oversees and evaluates departmental performance and the management of high-level risks to the delivery of the department’s strategy. It supports ExCo, the Departmental Board and ministers to acknowledge achievements and areas of success, whilst holding directorates to account for their progress. The PRC meets 4 times a year.
The PRC is chaired by the Second Permanent Secretary. Other membership includes 2 non-executive directors, the Permanent Secretary, all director generals and the directors of HR and Strategy.
People Board
The People Board is a sub-committee of ExCo and discusses strategic people issues which affect the department as a whole. It discusses people-related matters to help ensure we have the right capacity and capability to deliver our business, including diversity and inclusion and improving staff engagement and performance.
The board is made up of director-level representatives from each directorate and is chaired by the Second Permanent Secretary. It meets once per month.
Investment Committee
The Investment Committee is a sub-committee of ExCo and is responsible on behalf of ExCo for significant spending and investment decisions related to high-value or higher-risk activities for the department and ALBs’ capital and revenue business cases.
It considers business cases for significant investment proposals and commercial agreements and approves gated release of funding for any expenditure over committee approval threshold, for example major change programmes. It is chaired by the Director General for Finance and meets monthly.
DHSC annual report and accounts, 2022 to 2023, pages 117 to 121.