Ms Fiona Tierney:

The Public Appointments Service has an independently appointed board to which I report. The purpose of the board is to oversee the work of the office and guide and advise me on how we do things. The board meets approximately ten times a year and it is given an update on all the operational activities of the office at each board meeting. I would not like to mislead the committee; the board does not sit down and look at what panels are open and for how long. The executive management team of the office has this as part of its responsibility. This is what is done on an infrequent but periodic basis by the management team of the office.