1 Report
Recommendation on appointment
1. On 21 July 2010, the Minister for the Cabinet
Office, Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, notified the Committee that he
planned to recruit a single individual for the separate posts
of First Civil Service Commissioner and Commissioner for Public
Appointments. Both posts fall vacant on 31 December 2010. He sought
the Committee's agreement to hold a pre-appointment hearing in
due course.
2. The Minister wrote again on 11 November 2010 to
inform us that the Government proposed to appoint Sir David Normington
KCB to both posts and asked the Committee to hold a pre-appointment
hearing. The Committee held
the hearing on 16 November 2010. We are prepared to endorse this
appointment. We have every confidence in Sir David as an individual.
However, we have serious concerns about the appointment of a senior
civil servant to this post. We are also concerned about the lack
of consultation surrounding the proposal to combine these two
roles in one person.
3. More generally,
if these hearings are to have any real value committees must be
better informed about the nature of the recruitment process. In
particular they should be aware of the background and experience
of the other candidates who made the short-list. This information
should be supplied in a memorandum from the relevant minister
in good time prior to the pre-appointment hearing itself.
4. We also have
reservations about the ability of a civil servant to benefit from
a significant public sector pension entitlement immediately before
going on to secure another public appointment.
The Roles
THE FIRST CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSIONER
5. The Civil Service Commissioners have been responsible
for the appointment of civil servants since 1855. The role and
functions of the Commissioners have been regulated by Orders in
Council. The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act—which
received Royal Assent in April 2010—provided for the creation
of a statutory Civil Service Commission as a body corporate. Francis
Maude wrote to the Chair on 9 November 2010 to inform the Committee
that this part of the Act would come into force on 11 November.[1]
6. The Commissioners, under the leadership of the
First Commissioner, have four core activities:
i. To bring their experience and judgement to
bear on a range of important leadership, human resources and policy
issues;
ii. To chair all recruitment activity (around
100 a year)—for the top three levels of the Civil Service;
iii. To ensure that recruitment at all levels
across the Civil Service is open, fair and the best person for
the job is appointed, by publishing a set of Recruitment Principles
that must be followed for all Civil Service recruitment; and
iv. To help uphold the core values of the Civil
Service—integrity, honesty, impartiality and objectivity—by
advising departments on the promotion of the Civil Service Code
and hearing appeals from civil servants under it.[2]
COMMISSIONER FOR PUBLIC APPOINTMENTS
7. The Commissioner for Public Appointments regulates
some 10,000 ministerial appointments to the boards of a range
of public bodies in England and Wales. The Commissioner regulates
public appointments by reference to a Code of Practice with seven
'Code Principles' (Ministerial Responsibility, Merit, Independent
Scrutiny, Equal Opportunities, Probity, Openness and Proportionality).
The detailed processes for public appointments which are contained
in the Code of Practice expand upon, and apply, the Code Principles.
The Commissioner is required to publish an Annual Report and to
audit Departments' adherence to the Code. The Commissioner has
the power to recruit and train Independent Public Appointments
Assessors (IPAAs), whom he/she accredits, and who are currently
required to oversee every regulated appointment directly.
8. The post of Commissioner for Public Appointments
was a recommendation of the Committee on Standards in Public Life
in its first report in 1995 (the Nolan Report). The Committee
recommended the post in order to increase public confidence in
the public appointments process and the quality of appointments
made under it.
9. The role of the Commissioner for Public Appointments
is provided for in the Public Appointments Order in Council 2002
and subsequent amendments.[3]
Terms of appointment
10. The post will be equivalent in status to a Permanent
Secretary in a Government Department and will be paid pro-rata
on the same salary range. The dual post will require a time commitment
of 3 days per week and attract a payment of £85,080 p.a.
Appointment is on a single five year non-renewable term. The appointment
is not pensionable. It will take effect from 1 January 2011.[4]
The selection process
11. The appointment of Sir David has followed the
process set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act
2010 with regard to the post of First Civil Service Commissioner.
Appointment is by the Queen on recommendation of the Minister
for the Civil Service and after consultation with the First Ministers
in Scotland and Wales and the leader of the opposition party.
Both posts are also subject to pre-appointment hearings by this
Committee.[5] We had set
aside time in our programme to ensure that, for our part, the
process could be completed in an orderly and timely fashion. However,
slippage in the Cabinet Office's timetable meant that the Minister
was only able to confirm to the Committee the preferred candidate's
name barely two working days before the session.
12. Sufficient
time must be allowed if a committee is to discharge this scrutiny
role effectively. It is essential that the selection process accommodates
the pre-appointment hearings adequately. It is regrettable therefore
that this Committee has been given so little time to prepare for
and to hold a session with the candidate.
13. Moreover, the current system makes it difficult
for select committees to be properly informed about the qualities
of the preferred candidate. This is due to the late stage at which
they become involved in the process. It is essential that committees
have enough information to judge how the preferred candidate compares
to the rest of the field. We
recommend that in future, select committees be provided with a
brief memorandum on the type of career background and on the experience
of the other candidates who made the short-list. This will enable
them to make a more informed judgment.
14. The Cabinet Office appointed Saxton Bampfylde
as their advisers and search consultants to recruit candidates
for these posts.[6]
We have concerns about the use of recruitment consultants to identify
potential candidates for public sector posts. A proper explanation
of the role of such consultants and their fees and costs should
be included in the memorandum recommended above as part of the
scrutiny process.
The combined posts
15. According to the Cabinet Office, the reason for
combining these posts is to take forward work, initiated by the
current post holders, to maximise synergies and efficiencies between
the two appointments processes. It claims that the case for these
synergies has been made in the past by both the Committee on Standards
in Public Life (CSPL) and by this Committee.[7]
16. Our predecessor Committee's past consideration
of institutional change among the bodies regulating propriety
and ethics recognised the value of closer ties but favoured a
more collegiate arrangement to ensure closer working relationships
as "a more focused development of current trends whereby
the Public Appointments Commissioner is already a Civil Service
Commissioner."[8]
17. Moreover there has been no formal consultation
about the proposal to combine both posts. In evidence to us the
Minister for the Cabinet Office explained that consultation had
extended only as far as the current incumbents of the two posts.[9]
While combining the posts
may have merit, we condemn the lack of consultation surrounding
the proposal to do so. This might be the correct decision but
the Government has not made its case and nor does this proposal
reflect the recommendation of our predecessor committee. We reserve
our position about the wisdom of this reform, subject to our own
examination of the impact it will have on the two Offices.
Time commitment
18. Both the First Civil Service Commissioner and
the Commissioner for Public Appointments each work three days
a week in their respective posts. The time commitment for the
combined role is also three days. At the same time Sir David is
being asked to:
- develop and implement proposals
for a more proportionate, principled and risk-based regulatory
regime for public appointments, taking account of the current
system for civil service appointments and focussing, in particular,
on whether direct regulatory involvement is necessary for every
single appointment; and
- implement the change to a statutory Civil Service
Commission and maximise the contribution and expertise of the
body of Commissioners.
Moreover, these changes will be happening against
the backdrop of a Civil Service recruitment freeze; a major review
of public bodies involving the abolition or reform of a large
number of them and requiring the passage of enabling legislation;
a proposed restructuring of elements of the National Health Service
(including the abolition of the Appointments Commission which
has hitherto regulated appointments to Trusts and other health
bodies); and a Government's Spending Review which demands significant
administrative efficiencies in the public sector.
19. While we
recognise the constraints on the public purse, we have reservations
that Sir David will be able fulfil the two roles as adequately
as his predecessors on the basis of the same time commitment for
both jobs as his two predecessors gave to each of theirs. There
is a severe risk that one or both Offices will not receive the
requisite amount of attention.
The preferred candidate
20. Sir David Normington is currently the Permanent
Secretary at the Home Office. He was previously Permanent Secretary
at the Department for Education and Skills from 2001 to 2005.
Sir David has been in the Civil Service since 1973. His curriculum
vitae is appended to this Report.[10]
We recognise that Sir David has overseen significant change at
the Home Office. We note that he has also held posts which have
involved direct management of large numbers of staff and HR responsibilities.
He also chaired the steering group in 2008 which considered a
senior civil service workforce and reward strategy.
21. However, his experience has been gained entirely
from within the Civil Service. In contrast, the current and most
recent holders of the post of First Civil Service Commissioner
have all been recruited from outside the Civil Service. The current
incumbent, Rt Hon Dame Janet Paraskeva, was the Chief Executive
of the Law Society prior to her appointment; Baroness Prashar
(2000-2005) had been Director of the National Council for Voluntary
Organisations and Executive Chairman of the Parole Board of England
and Wales and Sir Michael Bett (1995-2000) came from a career
with BT.
22. The current and previous Commissioners for Public
Appointments, Dame Janet Gaymer QC and Baroness Fritchie have
also been recruited from outside the Civil Service.
23. There is
a view that these roles need to be perceived as independent if
they are to enjoy the confidence of civil servants and of the
public more widely. We are satisfied that Sir David has the professional
competence and personal independence for the posts of First Civil
Service Commissioner and Commissioner for Public Appointments.
However, these two posts regulate recruitment into public service
and are, respectively, the complaint authorities for breaches
of the Civil Service Code and the Code on Public Appointments.
Therefore, we have reservations about the desirability of moving
away from the recent practice of appointing from outside the Civil
Service, instead appointing a career civil servant to these posts,
who is in this case, moreover, being appointed directly on his
retirement.
Conclusion
24. In
the circumstances we believe both posts should remain under particular
scrutiny from this Committee. We invited Sir David to report on
progress within a year to assess the impact which the creation
of this dual post has had on the management of both Offices and
we are pleased that he agreed.
1 The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010
(Commencement No. 3) Order 2010 (SI2010/2703) Back
2
A fuller description of the role can be found in the position
specification at Error! Bookmark not defined. Back
3
Ibid Back
4
Ibid Back
5
The list of posts subject to pre-appointment hearings is published
in the Government's response to the Liaison Committee. Liaison
Committee, First Special Report of Session 2007-08, Pre-appointment
hearings by select committees: Government's response to the Committee's
First Report of Session 2007-08, HC 594. Back
6
Error! Bookmark not defined. Back
7
Ibid Back
8
Public Administration Select Committee, Ethics and Standards:
The Regulation of Conduct in Public Life, Fourth Report of
Session 2006-07, HC 121, para 101. Back
9
Uncorrected transcript of oral evidence taken before the Public
Administration Select Committee on 3 November 2010 HC (2010-11)537-i,
Q 143 Back
10
Appendix 1 Back
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