Civil Service Commission (United Kingdom)

The Civil Service Commission regulates recruitment to the United Kingdom Civil Service, providing assurance that appointments are on merit after fair and open competition, and hears appeals under the Civil Service Code. The commission is independent of government and the Civil Service.

The Civil Service Commission was established by Gladstone through an order in council on 21 May 1855^[1] following publication of the Northcote–Trevelyan Report by Charles Trevelyan and Stafford Northcote that advocated the decoupling of appointments of senior civil servants from ministers to ensure the impartiality of the Civil Service.^[2]

Following a report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, "Defining the Boundaries within the Executive: Ministers, special advisers and the permanent Civil Service" in 2003, the appointment of the First Civil Service Commissioner is made by Government after consultation with the leaders of the main opposition parties.^[3] They are then appointed by the King under royal prerogative.^[4] The First Civil Service Commissioner is appointed for a fixed term of five years, although another commissioner may act as an interim First Commissioner when necessary.

Civil Service Code[edit]

The Civil Service Code is a set of regulations that govern the conduct of civil servants in the UK.^[5] The regulations are broadly based on the Seven Principles of Public Life.^[6] First introduced in 2006 and later updated in 2015, the code has four main principals that public sector workers must be held accountable to: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.^[5]

Sir (1855–75)

Edward Ryan

(1875–1880)^[7]

John Pakington, 1st Baron Hampton

Viscount Enfield (later 3rd Earl of Strafford) (1880–88)

George Byng

...

William Courthope (1892–1907)^[9]

[8]

(1907-1909)^[10]^[9]

Lord Francis Hervey

(1910–1927)^[11]

Sir Stanley Leathes

KBE CB (1927–1939)^[12]

Sir Roderick Meiklejohn

(1939–1951)^[13]

Sir Percival Waterfield

(1951–1954)^[14]

Sir Paul Sinker

(1954–1959)^[15]

Laurence Helsby, Baron Helsby

(1959–1964)^[16]

Sir George Mallaby

Sir (1964-1967)^[17]

George Abell

John Hunt (1967–1971)^[19]

[18]

(1971–1974)^[19]

K. H. Clucas

(1974–1981)^[20]

Dr Fergus Allen

(1981–1983)^[21]

Angus Fraser

Dennis Trevelyan (1983–1989)

[22]

(1989–1993)^[23]

John Holroyd

(1993–1995)^[24]

Dame Ann Bowtell

(1995–2000)^[25]

Sir Michael Bett

(2000–2005)^[26]

Usha Prashar, Baroness Prashar

(2006–2010)^[4]

Janet Paraskeva

Mark Addison (2011) (Interim)

[27]

Sir (2011–2016)

David Normington

Kathryn Bishop (2016) (Interim)

(2016–2021)

Ian Watmore

Rosie Glazebrook (2021) (Interim)

Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston (2022 -

Gisela Stuart

Chapman, Richard A (2004). The Civil Service Commission, 1855–1991 : From Patronage to Proficiency. London: Frank Cass. 978-0-7146-5340-2. OCLC 56457389.