We are looking for new independent Commissioners to regulate appointments into Civil Service roles across the UK. We are particularly keen to hear from you if you have senior experience in local government or have interest and expertise in Wales.
Find out more and apply here: https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/7653#about-the-role
Watch: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A2ya69apHZ6htebCkEcQIZ1vlyGji3bE/view?usp=drive_link
First Civil Service Commissioner, Baroness Gisela Stuart, gave evidence to the House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee about the work of the Commission on 18th April 2023.
You can watch the First Commissioner’s evidence session here: https://committees.parliament.uk/event/17824/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/
“People wanting to come into government at a fairly senior level know they may have to take a considerable cut in salary. But they’ve reached a stage in their professional career where they relish the complex and complicated issues they can get involved in. Government is a challenge. But they regard that challenge as a privilege.”
First Civil Service Commissioner, Baroness Gisela Stuart, was interviewed by Civil Service World about her first year leading the Commission and her priorities as a regulator.
Download the Commission’s annual report
“External recruitment strengthens the skills and abilities available to serve the country. There should be continual interchange - people moving in, back out to other sectors and returning to the Civil Service. There needs to be more interchange with local government and with the devolved administrations. This shouldn’t just be a one way traffic. And if the Civil Service is successful in recruiting people from other sectors and backgrounds, they also need to be ready to utilise their skills and not reject them because they sometimes do things differently. The aim is to learn from each other. Central government will only be able to deliver if it understands and responds to the needs of the whole of the United Kingdom. Local government, devolved administrations and the private sector have a lot to offer. In turn, they benefit from having first hand experience of the business of government.
“As its regulator, the Commission’s principles apply to recruitment into the Civil Service. Within that, we want departments to be innovative and try new approaches to attract a wider range of candidates. Last year we launched the Commissioner’s Mark of Excellence to celebrate recruitment campaigns that tried new ways to hire diverse talent and share innovative practice across departments.“
Gisela was speaking at an event at the Institute for Government on ‘Opening Up the Civil Service: how to improve external recruitment’ on 8 March. She was joined on the panel by Katherine Braddick, a former civil servant now Group Head of Strategic Policy at Barclays, Jonathan Simons, Partner at Public First and former civil servant, and Alex Thomas and Jordan Urban from the Institute for Government.
Watch the livestream of this event
Find out more about the Commissioners’ Mark of Excellence
“If we are serious about external recruitment by default, those coming in from outside the Civil Service at a senior level, need to be properly supported and inducted. There is no point in looking for talent and professional experience to complement the work of the Civil Service, only to see people leave after a short period because they feel their skills aren’t utilised. The Civil Service has to show that it is open to ideas and challenges from outside. At the same time, we should celebrate civil servants’ skills and experience and encourage them to spend some time in the private sector or local government before returning. Arms Lengths Bodies, some of them represented here today, can play an important role in opening entry routes”
“The Commission chaired 246 open recruitment campaigns for some of the most senior leaders in the country last year. There are incredible roles available in the Civil Service including some of the most complex, fascinating challenges facing our country; we don’t do enough to celebrate the opportunities available, nor to we acknowledge how rewarding public service at the highest level can be.”
The First Civil Service Commissioner, Baroness Gisela Stuart, spoke at the Association of Chief Executives and Public Chairs’ Forum Annual Conference on the subject of ‘Change and the public body leader’ on Wednesday 1st February. She joined a panel discussion with Sir Jon Thompson (Chief Executive of the Financial Reporting Council and deputy chair of HS2) and Oliver Griffiths (Chief Executive of the Trade Remedies Authority).
Cabinet Office Minister, Rt Hon Jeremy Quin MP, gave the opening keynote speech on the need for public bodies to focus on efficiency and effectiveness, recruitment and reducing the footprint in London and accountability.
Lord Evans, Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, gave the closing speech about ethical leadership in the public sector and the importance of organisational values.
From January 2023, the Civil Service Commission is delivering regular training open to all Civil Servants, but specifically aimed at those working in HR and recruitment.
The slides used during these sessions are below followed by an accessible plain text version:
Exceptions Refresher
This lunchtime refresher course is being run from January 2023. It is open to all Civil Servants, but specifically aimed at those working in HR and recruitment.
The First Civil Service Commissioner Baroness Stuart (Gisela) gave a speech to directors interested in Non-Executive Director (NED) roles at the Institute of Directors in London on 8 December.
Gisela talked about her experience as the Lead NED on the Cabinet Office Departmental board and her role as the First Civil Service Commissioner to which she was appointed in April this year.
Commissioners, like NEDs bring effective external challenge and support to the Civil Service and Gisela talked about both the Commission’s role and the privilege of being involved in the recruitment of senior leaders that support Ministers to run the country. She trailed that a campaign would shortly be launched to recruit additional Commissioners.
On the role of NEDs and departmental boards, Gisela emphasised the importance of the role of NEDs in ensuring good governance and challenge in relation to policy matters but also external recruitment, values and leadership of the Civil Service.
Gisela encourages Departments to make greater use of the external expertise and challenge that a NED can bring to a recruitment panel, particularly following the Ministerial emphasis on ensuring that all Senior Civil Service roles must be advertised externally by default. NEDs are also instrumental in both challenging and supporting the Government’s Reform Agenda.
Gisela went on to take questions from the audience and signposted to the Government Public Appointments website for current Government NED vacancies: https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/all/ and the Civil Service Commission’s website where the next recruitment for Civil Service Commissioners will be advertised: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk
The Commission has today published its annual report and accounts for the financial year 2021-22. The report contains a range of statistics and information about the Commission’s work in regulating appointments into the Civil Service and hearing appeals under the Civil Service Code.
2021/22 Annual Report & Accounts
The First Civil Service Commissioner, Baroness Gisela Stuart, has also written to all departmental Lead Non-Executive Directors and Permanent Secretaries regarding forthcoming changes to the Commission’s regulatory model in response to the government’s new External by Default policy, which will mean a significant increase in open recruitment competitions across the Civil Service.
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION - ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2021 – 2022
“BRINGING IN NEW SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE STRENGTHENS THE CIVIL SERVICE” – BARONESS GISELA STUART, FIRST CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSIONER
The Civil Service Commission, which regulates Civil Service appointments to provide assurance that they are made on merit after fair and open competition, has today published its annual report and accounts for 2021 – 22.
In her foreword to the report, Baroness Gisela Stuart, who was appointed as First Civil Service Commissioner in March 2022, said:
“Delivering the government’s priorities at a time of major national and global challenges requires adaptability, resilience and commitment; qualities we see regularly in our dealings with departments. Bringing in people who have emerging and different skills and experiences strengthens the Civil Service. When it comes to the most senior roles, commissioners chair competitions to help recruitment panels to test candidates fairly against the specified criteria and identify the best overall candidate for a specific position.
“This year the number of competitions chaired by commissioners was at an all-time high of 246. With the introduction of ‘external by default’ for all Civil Service posts, first announced in the Declaration on Government Reform, the Commission’s operational model will develop to provide assurance across a wider number of roles in future. The Commission is working on a framework to ensure that this is implemented to meet this challenge. We want to enable departments to will benefit from this new policy that is taking shape.”
The First Commissioner has also written to all Permanent Secretaries and departmental Lead Non-Executive Directors to encourage greater oversight of recruitment and signal forthcoming changes to the Commission’s regulatory model in response to the government’s “External by Default” policy.
Baroness Gisela Stuart continued:
“We also awarded the first Commissioners’ Mark of Excellence this year, highlighting innovation and commitment in the recruitment of diverse candidates across all grades into the Civil Service, with the winning campaigns featured in our report. We were delighted that so many departments entered examples and case studies showcasing new ideas that can be shared across government. The Commission will continue to drive and enable the Civil Service – at all levels – to become more representative of the country it serves.”
“The past year has seen a lot of change at the Commission; I would like to pay tribute to my predecessor, Ian Watmore, and warmly thank Rosie Glazebrook, who acted as interim First Commissioner until my appointment in March. I must also thank the Commissioners who finished their 5-year terms this year - Natalie Campbell DBE, Rosie Glazebrook, June Milligan and Joe Montgomery and welcome four Commissioners - Paul Gray, Paul Kernaghan, Sarah Pittam and Martin Spencer - who joined our board in October 2021. I also want to thank the outgoing Chief Executive, Pete Lawrence, and wish him continued success supporting the Going Forward into Employment scheme as it moves into the Cabinet Office.”
The annual report contains a range of statistics about the Commission’s work in regulating recruitment and hearing appeals from civil servants under the Civil Service Code including:
- 83,520 people were recruited through fair and open competition, up 38% from 60,487 in 2020 – 21
- 246 competitions were chaired by Civil Service Commissioners (up 50.9% from 163 in 2020/21) with 11,415 applicants.
- Where declared, 57% of people recruited were female and 43% were male ((SCS Pay Band 2 and below)
- 8% of people recruited declared a disability, no change from 2020 - 21
- 70 Civil Service Code appeals received, of which 33 were referred back to departments for investigation.
Download the 2021 – 2022 annual report (PDF, Opens in a new window)
Find out more about the Commissioners’ Mark of Excellence
Ends//
Notes to Editors
- Media enquiries about the work of the Commission to be sent to Maggie O’Boyle on 07880 740 627.
- More information about the work of the Commission is available on the website www.civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk
- You can follow the Commission on twitter @CivServComm and Linkedin
- The Civil Service Commission was established as a statutory body in November 2010 under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. The Commission is independent of Ministers and the Civil Service. It is responsible for upholding the requirement that recruitment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.
- The Commission comprises senior figures from the private, public and third sectors. Civil Service Commissioners are appointed by the Crown for five-year non-renewable terms of office.Read Commissioners biographies.
- The Commission’s annual report and accounts are usually published in July but were delayed this year due to delays by the National Audit Office.
Want to know more about innovative recruitment campaigns?
On Thursday 20 October @1400 - 1530, the Civil Service Commission is hosting a free online event which you can register to attend to hear from the teams that have been recognised by the Commissioners’ Mark of Excellence award.
This event was originally due to take place in September but was rescheduled following the death of Her Majesty the Queen.
The event is open to all and is a chance to hear about the campaigns and initiatives that were recognised for their outstanding innovation and commitment in recruiting diverse candidates across all grades into the Civil Service.
The event will be chaired by former Civil Service Commissioner- Natalie Campbell MBE along with Gerri Clement MBE (co-founder and Vice-Chair of the Cross-Government Social Mobility Network), Roxanne Ohene (co-Chair of the Senior Civil Service Race to the Top Network) and Paul Willgoss MBE (Vice-Chair of the Civil Service Disability Network) who were members of the Commissioners' Mark of Excellence judging panel 2022.
The overall winner was the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with highly commended entries also from the Scottish Government, Department for International Trade, Ministry of Justice, Office for National Statistics, the Crown Prosecution Service and HM Revenue and Customs.
There will be short presentations on each innovative campaign followed by an opportunity to ask questions via ‘Slido’.
Register via Eventbrite using the link below:
More detail on the winning departments
The event will be recorded and published on the Commission’s website for those who cannot attend on the - day: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/news-and-blog/
