The Cabinet Office is currently drawing up proposals for how secretaries of state will be allowed to expand their private offices, mainly by appointing policy advisers on short-term civil service contracts.
But the report by the Better Government Initiative, set to be published this week and seen by CSW, warns that the move could substantially weaken the role of the civil service.
Report author Phillip Ward, former director of local government performance in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, said: “There would need to be an external panel operating in a similar way to the Civil Service Commission” as a “protection against cronyism.”
The process for ministerial appointment should include verification that appointees have the relevant skills and experience for the role, according to the report.
Ward said: “If these EMOs have an executive role, there needs to be clarity on their status.”
However, speaking to CSW, former Cabinet Office permanent secretary and BGI executive committee member Richard Mottram said it would not be realistic for all posts to be advertised. He said: “If I am in the business department and I want a real whizzo to do X or Y, I may need to headhunt them.”
The report says care should be taken to avoid “lobbyists” being placed in sensitive positions – for example, by way of secondments.
Ward explained: “These posts will be attractive to a certain type of person to put on their CV and pass through the revolving doors back to consultancy, having gained valuable inside knowledge.”
The report says that the size of the teams should be limited so they don’t become so large that they seek to operate independently of the civil service.
Ward also voiced fears that ministers would try to grade the posts too highly, leading to conflict with senior civil servants.
He said: “When the permanent secretary intervenes to say: ‘We have to have consistency and fair treatment of staff,’ there is a danger that they will be labelled as troublemakers.”
The report says that civil servants chosen by ministers to join EMOs should remain under the authority of the permanent secretary, who should retain responsibility for decisions about their grading and promotion.
Ward said: “It is very important that the civil servant regards their career as being overseen by the civil service structure.”