Whitehall appointments regulator the Civil Service Commission has launched a rapid review of departments' hiring of staff under "exception" rules in the wake of growing accusations of cronyism on the part of the new government.
Three high-profile appointments of directors with links to the Labour Party have attracted negative attention in recent weeks. The first case was Ian Corfield, who was made director of investment at HM Treasury after donating £20,000 to the party over the course of the past decade. He has reportedly now stepped back from the role and is instead working as an adviser.
The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 requires recruitment to the civil service to be conducted on the basis of "fair and open competition". However "exceptional" appointments are also permitted, provided they meet certain criteria and are temporary.
Under the rules, the Civil Service Commission only needs to be informed of such appointments if the role in question is at the highest levels of the civil service: SCS Pay Band 2 and above. Appointments by exception below that level – so-called "delegated grades" – do not need to be flagged to the commission immediately, although the data is collected through audits.
In an unsual move – reflecting concerns about recent practices, First Civil Service Commissioner Baroness Gisela Stuart has asked all departments to detail delegated appointments by exception made during July and August this year.
She acknowledged that some departments had already been audited by the commission for 2023-24. But she said that while those audits would include an assessment of the use exceptions, recent decisions – such as those since 5 July's change of government – might not fall into the scope of the process for some time.
"Given interest in a number of recent civil service appointments by exception and the importance of public trust in these appointments, the commission has decided to undertake a short review of appointments by exception at delegated grades since 1 July 2024 and the departmental processes in place to make such appointments under the recruitment principles," she said.
A letter to departmental HR directors from Civil Service Commission interim chief executive Kate Owen gives departments until Friday next week to respond with details of any delegated-grade appointments by exception over the past two months, and the departmental processes by which they were made.
"The commission will conduct an initial review of the material you provide and may then request further information from you on a sample of appointments," she said.
"We intend to publish a short report on our findings including any resulting recommendations."
Last week, Institute for Government director Hannah White described the cronyism affair as an "unforced error" on the part of the new government that "poses risks to the impartiality of the civil service".
White said there were well-established routes for ministers to bring in advisers and other trusted helpers that did not involve appointments to the civil service by exception.
On Tuesday, prime minister Keir Starmer dismissed accusations of wrongdoing and suggested concerns being raised were politically motivated on the part of the Conservatives.
"I'm not really going to take lectures on this from the people who dragged our country so far down in the last few years," he told a press conference at Downing Street.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "All civil service appointments must follow the correct rules and processes. The Civil Service Commission is independent of government and is able to conduct regular reviews of recruitment processes, in line with their powers as set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. We will fully support the commission with their review."