Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many civil servants, other than special advisers, have been appointed in his department without open competition since 4 July 2024; what their (a) job titles and (b) salary bands are; and on what basis each was appointed.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 sets out the requirement for the Civil Service Commission to establish recruitment principles which departments must follow. The Recruitment Principles 2018 provide the legal requirement for the selection of appointments to the Civil Service to be made on merit and on the basis of fair and open competition. In addition, under section 12 of this act, it allows for exceptions to these principles.
Appointments by exception are an important part of how we bring talent and expertise into the Civil Service. These routes are long established and have been used properly and extensively by all modern administrations to bring in individuals with relevant experience and skills for a time-limited basis.
In the latest year across the civil service for which data is available, the year ending March 2023, approximately 80,000 people were hired through open competitions and approximately 9,000 people were hired through the different exception routes. Full details are available at the following link:
In the period from the 4 July 2024 to 6 October 2024, the Department made 29 new appointments by exception to the recruitment principles. In line with our policy and data protection obligations, we are unable to confirm the job titles of those appointed at delegated grades, however we have provided the relevant pay bands and the exception used.
It should be noted that in the case of appointments by exception from senior civil servants at or above Payband 2, the Civil Service Commission publishes this information on a yearly basis, at the start of the financial year. Further information is available at the following link:
https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/publications/pb2-recruitmentexceptions/
The following table shows the number of appointments, as well as the pay band of the appointments:
Number of appointments | Pay Band |
4 | Senior Civil Servant |
25 | Delegated Grades from Grade 6 to Administrative Officer |
4 | G6 |
6 | G7 |
2 | Senior Executive Officer |
7 | Higher Executive Officer |
6 | Executive Officer |
Note: job titles include Director General of the 10-Year Health Plan, Regional Director, Clinical Advisor to the Alcohol and Drugs Treatment and Recovery Team, Leading on Medical Interventions, Clinical Advisor to the Alcohol and Drugs Treatment and Recovery Team, and Leading on Psychosocial Interventions.
The following table shows the number of appointments made via exemption routes, broken down by the type of exemption route:
Number of appointments | Exception |
6 | Exception 1 temporary appointments |
22 | Exception 3 secondments |
1 | Exception 5 former civil servants |
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Mr Alan Milburn is a Ministerial or departmental adviser; and what meetings Mr Milburn has had with Ministers since the general election.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst Alan Milburn is neither a Ministerial nor Departmental adviser, he is a Privy Councillor and a former Secretary of State for Health. As my rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, stated in Parliament on 9 September 2024, details of meetings will be published on GOV.UK in the usual manner.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans (a) NICE and (b) NHS England has to issue a consultation on changes to the highly specialised technologies evaluation programme.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England launched a joint consultation on 13 October 2016 setting out proposed changes to the arrangements for the evaluation and adoption of new technologies, including on the methodology for the evaluation of highly specialised technologies.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to appeal NICE's draft guidance on asfotase alfa for treating paediatric-onset hypophosphatasia, issued in September 2016.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently evaluating the costs and benefits of asfotase alfa (Strensiq) for treating paediatric-onset hypophosphatasia to determine whether it can be recommended for national commissioning by NHS England.
There has not yet been an opportunity for stakeholders to appeal NICE’s recommendations on the use of asfotase alfa for treating paediatric-onset hypophosphatasia. NICE published a second iteration of draft guidance for consultation on 22 September 2016 and the closing date for comments was 13 October 2016. NICE’s independent Evaluation Committee will now consider the comments received in response to the consultation before deciding on the next steps for the evaluation.