New civil service head to be paid up to £200k

29 Jul 14
The new chief executive of the civil service is to be paid up to £200,000 and should have significant private sector experience, according to the job description for the post.

By Richard Johnstone | 29 July 2014

The new chief executive of the civil service is to be paid up to £200,000 and should have significant private sector experience, according to the job description for the post.

The office holder will also be responsible for boosting the Cabinet Office efficiency and reform programme as well as improving the Whitehall’s commercial and project management.

Published yesterday, the job description revealed a salary of between £180,000 to £200,000 with candidates expected to have a proven track record of running complex organisations and cutting costs. This was ‘likely to be in the private sector’, the description stated.

The role is being established as part of a shake-up of the leadership of the civil service, revealed at the same time as Prime Minister David Cameron reshuffled his government earlier this month.

Civil service chief Sir Bob Kerslake announced he would step down in the autumn. Following this, the post of head of the civil service will be reintegrated with Sir Jeremy Heywood’s job as cabinet secretary – as it was until 2011 – with a new chief executive then appointed to lead the coalition’s civil service reform programme

According to the job description, the chief executive will also lead on Whitehall efficiency, which it stated had saved taxpayers over £14bn a year.

‘These efficiencies and reforms need to accelerate, as the government continually seeks new and better ways of delivering public services to ensure better outcomes at lower costs,’ the description stated.

In addition, the chief executive will work with departmental permanent secretaries to ensure the government’s programme is implemented with ‘pace and rigour’.

The closing date for applications is September 5, with a likely start date of November 1.

Institute for Government director Peter Riddell commented that it would ‘not be a chief executive in any sense normally recognised in either the private or public sectors’.

He said: ‘The holder of the new post will not be responsible for either running the civil service or line managing permanent secretaries. The role, while important, will be more modest – in control of the commercial, supplier management, digital, property, HR, project management and civil service reform functions in the Cabinet Office to help drive forward change in departments across Whitehall.’

Riddell also warned the appointment was being rushed, with only two weeks between the closing date for applications and final interviews, and a proposed start date only six weeks later.

This is ‘a far more compressed timetable than would be normal for a senior corporate leader in the private sector’, he said.

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