Department of Health and Social Care: Civil Servants
(asked on 4th October 2024) - View Source
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.
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 |