By David Williams
19 November 2010
Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude has come under fire from MPs for not consulting fully over the appointment of a senior civil servant to oversee public service recruitment.
The public administration select committee has raised a series of objections to the appointment of the current Home Office permanent secretary Sir David Normington as both First Civil Service Commissioner and Commissioner for Public Appointments.
The committee held its pre-appointment hearing on November 16, having been given two working days after Maude confirmed his preferred candidate.
In a report published yesterday, the committee said it was satisfied that Normington was both competent and independent enough to meet the demands of both roles. However, it expressed concern at the ‘lack of consultation surrounding the proposal to combine these two roles’.
The committee also expressed ‘serious concerns’ about appointing a senior civil servant to the posts.
Although Maude announced in July that both posts would become vacant at the end of this year, the committee said slips in the Cabinet Office’s timetable left them with only two working days to scrutinise the appointment.
The MPs also raised objections that they had not been kept informed about the recruitment process, and said that in future the relevant minister should supply information about the backgrounds of other shortlisted candidates.
The committee also objected to the use of recruitment consultancy Saxton Bamfylde to fill the posts. It called for a ‘proper explanation of the role of such consultants’, and to be notified of their fees and costs.
The First Civil Service Commissioner oversees top-level Whitehall recruitment and human resources issues, while the Commissioner for Public Appointments regulates ministerial board appointments. The Civil Service Commission became a statutory body on November 11, when the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 came into effect.
The PASC has reserved judgement on whether the roles should have been combined, but noted there was a ‘severe risk’ that one or both offices would not be given enough attention.
Normington will retire from the Home Office before taking up the new roles. The committee expressed ‘reservations’ that a civil servant should be able to benefit from a ‘significant public sector pension’ immediately before taking on another public appointment.
He will take up both posts on January 1. Although not pensionable, it is of equivalent status to a Whitehall department’s permanent secretary, and Normington will be paid at a similar level – £85,080 for a three-day week.