1.   Amendment: Civil Service Commission power to conduct investigations

To be added to clause 2--

"(3A)  The Commission may investigate any matters that are relevant to the functioning of the civil service codes of conduct set out in sections 5, 6 and 8 if it believes it appropriate to do so.

(3B)  For the purposes of an investigation under subsection (3A), the civil service management authorities and any civil servant whose conduct is believed by the Commission to be relevant to the investigation must provide the Commission with any information it reasonably requires.".

Explanation

This amendment would allow the Civil Service Commission to conduct investigations without needing to have received a complaint from a civil servant first. It is supported by the Civil Service Commissioners themselves, who wrote to us in October, stating:

"Both your Committee and the Joint Committee on the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill recommended that the Government considers providing the Commission with the power to initiate investigations. Despite some concerns, about the potential for politicisation and resource constraints, the Commissioners recognise that there may be occasions where it would be right for the Commission to carry out such an investigation: if there were clear evidence of a significant breach of the Code. We would therefore support an approach which gave the Commission, in addition to the duty to consider a complaint from a civil servant, the discretion to investigate matters at its own initiation. We would envisage that the Commission would want to exercise this discretion only in cases where the burden of suspicion was substantial."

2.  New clause: Promotion on merit

  To move the following Clause:--

  (1)  This section applies to the promotion of civil servants within the civil service.

  (2)  A person's promotion must be on merit.

  (3)  The Commission must publish a set of principles to be applied for the purposes of the requirement in subsection (2).

(4)  Before publishing the set of principles (or any revision of it), the Commission must consult the Minister for the Civil Service.

(5)  In this Chapter "promotion principles" means the set of principles published under subsection (3) as it is in force for the time being.

(6)  Civil service management authorities must comply with the promotion principles.

  (7)  The promotion principles may include provision--

(a)  identifying the 200 most senior posts within the Civil Service, and

(b)  requiring the Commission's approval to be obtained for a promotion to a post identified by the provision in paragraph (a).

(8)  The Commission may participate in the process for a promotion to a post for which its approval is required by paragraph 7(b).

(9)  It is for the Commission to decide how it will participate under the provision in subsection (8).

(10)  The Commission must carry out whatever reviews of promotion policies and practices it thinks are necessary to establish—

(a)  that the principle of promotion on merit is being upheld in accordance with the requirement in subsection (2), and

(b)  that the requirement in subsection (2) is not being undermined in any way (apart from non-compliance).

(11)  For this purpose, civil service management authorities must provide the Commission with any information it reasonably requires.

Explanation

This new clause would require promotion within the civil service to be on merit, with the Civil Service Commission's involvement in promotions to the top 200 posts set out in statute. Currently, only appointment to the civil service would be statutorily regulated, and this is a loophole which in PASC's view needs to be closed. The Civil Service Commissioners agree, and have written to us that:

"It is a generally accepted principle that civil servants are not only appointed on merit, but also are promoted on merit. As you know the Commissioners believe that Civil Service legislation offers the opportunity to enshrine this principle in statute, and to provide for regulatory oversight of its application."

3.  Amendment: Diplomatic appointments

To be added to clause 10--

"(6)  Provision within paragraph (3)(a) applies only to a selection if--

(a)  The Secretary of State has informed the Commission of his intention to apply the provision, and

(b)  there would be no more than three people in post who were selected in reliance on paragraph 3(a), were the person to be appointed.".

Explanation

This amendment would limit to three the number of people that the Foreign Secretary could appoint to senior diplomatic posts from outside the diplomatic service without holding an open competition. The exemption is currently far too widely drafted. Although the Government has undertaken to use the exemption only rarely, the purpose of this part of the bill is to put similar undertakings on a more secure, statutory footing, and we believe the diplomatic service deserves statutory protection as much as the rest of the civil service. The Civil Service Commissioners have not expressed a view on this issue, but have highlighted it as one deserving further consideration during the passage of the bill.