Whitehall ‘must end jobs for the boys’ as think-tank urges mandarins to stop giving top roles to their personal favourites
- Policy Exchange calls for reforms to open up ‘closed shop’ of senior civil service
- Scandal over David Cameron’s boss Lex Greensill raised serious questions
- Cabinet Office minister Steve Barclay promised to study the report ‘carefully’
Mandarins must be banned from giving top Whitehall jobs to their personal favourites, a think-tank report backed by ministers urges today.
The Policy Exchange calls for major reforms to open up the ‘closed shop’ of senior civil service appointments.
Many posts are not advertised to outsiders and important changes demanded more than 150 years ago have still not been implemented, it warns.
The study says the scandal over David Cameron’s banker boss Lex Greensill – who was given a Downing Street pass and a CBE by the head of the civil service at the time – raised serious questions about the power of ‘personal patronage’.
Last night Cabinet Office minister Steve Barclay promised to study the report ‘carefully’.
Last night Cabinet Office minister Steve Barclay promised to study the report ‘carefully’
He said: ‘We must ensure that all civil service appointments are on merit and ensure that we attract the best outside talent.’
In a foreword to the think-tank paper, former Treasury mandarin Lord Macpherson says the role of officials demands more scrutiny and ‘self-regulation has failed’. He added that tougher powers are needed to safeguard against conflicts of interest.
The paper points out the principle of civil servants being chosen on the basis of open competition and merit was established by the landmark Northcote-Trevelyan report of 1854.
But its recommendation that internal promotions should be regulated by law has never been implemented.
Although all senior civil service roles are meant to be advertised externally, officials are allowed to ignore this guidance.
Even the post of ‘programme director for civil service modernisation and reform’ was filled last year without any competition at all.
In addition, there is no independent oversight of appointments unless they are advertised externally.
The study says the scandal over David Cameron’s banker boss Lex Greensill – who was given a Downing Street pass and a CBE by the head of the civil service at the time – raised serious questions about the power of ‘personal patronage’
Many posts are not advertised to outsiders and important changes demanded more than 150 years ago have still not been implemented, it warns
The Civil Service Commission watchdog has ‘no power to investigate internal competitions for vacancies’, which ‘arguably creates a powerful incentive for existing civil servants’ not to advertise prestigious posts.
Today’s report calls for this loophole to be closed, as well as demanding that all senior vacancies be advertised unless authorised by a Minister.
It says a recent constitution law should be amended to make it clear that the ‘merit principle’ applies to all Whitehall positions.
Report author Benjamin Barnard said: ‘The civil service is an international outlier in how some of its most senior members are appointed.
‘Too often it can operate like a closed shop, with far too little independent oversight or transparency and the top jobs in Whitehall being appointed without even being advertised to outsiders. The era of self-regulation looks outdated.’
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