How the Civil Service Commission has maintained integrity in recruitment

5 min read3 hr

On 5th July the party in power changed for the first time in 14 years and – unlike in the United States - existing UK civil servants must turn to serve a new government overnight.

Often wrongly described as ‘independent’, the civil service is actually part of government in the UK. It must be impartial - permanently ready to serve the democratically elected government, whatever its colour. Impartiality isn’t passivity or indifference; it requires that civil servants must serve the government of the day with energy and commitment.

There are around 510,000 civil servants across the UK – and approximately 30,000 leave every year. Maintaining a workforce with the necessary skills ready to deliver the government’s agenda is an important function of the leadership of the Civil Service.

The Commission’s role - as the independent statutory regulator - is to provide public assurance that entry into the Civil Service is on merit, after a fair and open competition. This long-standing convention became a legal requirement in the UK in 2010 and is interpreted through the Commission’s Recruitment Principles. Recruitment on merit is core to maintaining the integrity and impartiality of the Civil Service.

Exceptions to appointment on merit are allowed within the Principles and the law only in specific circumstances and are time limited. Used appropriately, they can be a sensible and practical way to bring in skills needed for short periods, for example, or where a particular role will only exist for a short time. There are also Exceptions to support schemes for veterans and care leavers.

The recent interest in some appointments by exception is legitimate scrutiny of whether appointments are being made in line with those Principles. However, some of the headlines could benefit from greater understanding of the purpose and use of Exceptions. There is a balance to strike here - protecting the important principles but allowing leaders some flexibility where a full recruitment competition isn’t practical or proportionate.

Exceptions should be exceptional. Indeed, of the 98,328 appointments made this year, 6.977 were by Exception, with the proportion appointed by Exception falling year on year post Covid. The majority relate to temporary appointments of, for example, interns, employment lawyers, driving examiners and public inquiry staff to meet short term business needs – as well as my personal favourite - Christmas elves, temporarily recruited by the Forestry Commission for the Christmas season.

For more senior roles and those paying £97,000 or above (and in other specified circumstances), departments must submit a request to the independent Commission for approval to appoint by exception to the legal requirement. We may approve, not approve or change the length of time the Exception is allowed for.

Below that level, the power to appoint by Exception is delegated to departments and they must follow the Recruitment Principles in doing so – and the Commission’s regular audit process looks at departments’ handling of these appointments too.

Given the importance of public trust in appointments to the Civil Service, the Commission has been carrying out a rapid review of appointments made under those delegated powers since the election and will be reporting on our findings later this month as the regulator.

Appointment on merit is vital to the integrity of the Civil Service and we want departments to get better at workforce planning to reduce their need to use Exceptions further. Fair and open recruitment competitions need not take very long. As well as being the law, fair and open recruitment has wider organisational benefits. It allows the hiring team to properly test the market fully for potential new candidates and gives the successful candidate the legitimacy that they were the best person available.

The Commission has long supported open recruitment and we use our regulatory influence to encourage departments to do more to attract new pools of candidates for civil service jobs. We already see excellent practice in some departments and agencies. Our Commissioners’ Mark of Excellence – now in its third year – seeks to recognise and share some of the more innovative work underway attracting and selling civil service roles to people who may never have thought about it.

Our independent Commissioners, who personally oversee recruitment processes for senior roles, come from a wide range of different backgrounds. They unanimously tell me they find the breadth and complexity of the Civil Service roles incredible. To attract new talent in a competitive skills market, the Civil Service needs to do a lot more to sell the fascinating and unique challenge of – for example – leading digital change in the justice system or strategy on climate change at the Ministry of Defence. These are jobs like no others. We also need to do more to sell the Civil Service values – honesty, impartiality, integrity and objectivity. They are the bedrock of trust in our system and underpin the Civil Service Code which all civil servants must follow.

At a time of major global uncertainties, our Civil Service will require the flexibility and skills to handle increasingly complex decisions and deliver the changes the new government has set out. To do this, our focus must be on attracting and retaining the best talent available to serve the country.

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