The proportion of senior civil service jobs going to people brought in from the private sector is on the rise, according to new figures from the Civil Service Commission.
The CSC oversees competitions for the most senior roles in the civil service – at director, director general, and permanent secretary level – and aims to ensure that key posts are filled on merit.
The watchdog's latest annual report shows that there was a 5% year-on-year increase in the proportion of top roles going to candidates drawn from the private sector, with a 5% drop in existing civil servants being appointed.
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According to the CSC's figures, 41% of the competitions it oversaw in 2015-16 led to existing civil servants being appointed. That was down from 46% in 2014-15.
Meanwhile, 26% of CSC-chaired competitions led to an external, private sector appointee getting the job, up from 21% in the previous year.
There was also a 2% rise in the proportion of top civil service roles going to candidates drawn from the wider public sector, with a third of CSC-chaired competitions now going to such candidates.
The CSC's report comes as the Cabinet Office looks to open up all civil service recruitment to external candidates by the end of the parliament.
"Many, but not all, of these jobs required specialist commercial or digital skills, and there continues to be a challenge to recruit to these kinds of roles in the civil service" – Civil Service Commission
According to the Civil Service Workforce Plan, published earlier this month, external-by-default recruitment, already the norm for senior civil service appointments, will be extended to the entire workforce by the end of the parliament.
"This will give every talented individual the opportunity to apply and compete for roles in the civil service and ensure we have the most skilled and capable people delivering national priorities," the Cabinet Office document said.
However, civil service unions have already warned that such a move could exacerbate the pay gap between officials promoted internally and those brought in from the outside, with external hires often having to be tempted in from the private sector on better pay and terms than their homegrown counterparts.
Commercial recruitment push "ambitious"
Despite this year's rise in external hires, the Civil Service Commission points out that all seven of the civil service's most senior roles – that of permanent secretary – went to internally-promoted staff.
At the rung below that – director-general level – almost half (48%) of all appointments overseen by the CSC went to to existing civil servants, while 19% went to those from the wider public sector and a third went went to private sector candidates.
For director-level jobs, the watchog records a sharp drop in the proportion going to civil servants this year, down from 46% to 35% year-on-year. Meanwhile, 39% of jobs were filled by public sector staff – an 8% rise on the year before – and 26% were drawn from the private sector, up 5% on last year.
There were no successful candidates from the voluntary sector for any senior civil service post overseen by the CSC, the figures show.
The rise in the proportion of top civil service jobs going to private sector recruits is set against the backdrop of an overall fall in civil service recruitment over the year.
According to the Commission, "around 28,000" staff were recruited to the civil service in 2015-16, down from 39,000 brought in in the previous year.
The watchdog said that the "majority" of those were recruited through open competition.
The CSC's annual report also shows that almost of quarter (22%) of the 158 posts overseen by the regulator over the year were not filled "as the selection panel did not find a sufficient number of appointable candidates" – although it urges caution in interpreting those findings.
"This looks high, especially compared to last year when the equivalent figure was 8%," the CSC says.
"However, as noted above, this year’s figures include an ambitious recruitment drive by the commercial function to recruit up to 25 commercial directors.
"This was always seen to be an ambitious target and in the event 12 commercial directors were recruited through this campaign.
"However, even with this competition excluded, 16% of the 133 roles advertised (other than the 25 commercial directors) were not filled. Many, but not all, of these jobs required specialist commercial or digital skills, and there continues to be a challenge to recruit to these kinds of roles in the civil service. "