Publication Scheme

Status & Role

The Civil Service Commissioners are appointed by Order in Council under the Royal Prerogative. They are independent of Ministers and the Civil Service. None is a serving civil servant. The First Commissioner serves for three days a week. The other Commissioners work two to eight days a month.

The Commissioners derive their responsibilities and powers from the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 and the Diplomatic Service Order in Council 1991, as amended.

They have two responsibilities:

to maintain the fundamental principle in recruitment to the Civil Service of selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, including the approval of appointments by recruitment to the most senior levels in the Civil Service;
to hear and determine appeals under the Civil Service Code.

The Commissioners are supported by a small unit in the Cabinet Office: the Office of the Civil Service Commissioners (OCSC).

Purpose

This publication scheme responds to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which requires all public bodies to adopt and maintain a scheme for the proactive publication of information. The schemes are intended to ensure that information is made available without the need for a specific request. Information which would be exempt under Part II of the Act, for example because it is sensitive or confidential, is not included in our scheme. Such information may be edited out of documents published under the scheme.

The scheme sets out the classes under which information will be made available, how to obtain it and the cost.

Responsibility for administering the scheme rests with the Secretary to the Civil Service Commissioners (Tel: 020 7276 2604). For more detailed enquiries about the Commissioners' publication scheme contact Steve Pares at the OCSC (Tel: 020 7276 2615)

Address:

35 Great Smith Street,
London SW1P 3BQ
Fax: 020 7276 2606

Email: info@civilservicecommissioners.org

Classes of Information and Description

Role, history and biographical details of Civil Service Commissioners
Current issues/developments - provided in the form of What's New information on website
Recruitment regulation
Regulatory documents, including Civil Service Orders in Council, Commissioners'
Recruitment Code and Guidance on Senior Recruitment
Details of current senior competitions requiring the Commissioners' approval of the appointment and senior appointments approved
Summary accounts of audits of departments' recruitment policies and practices against the Commissioners' requirements in their Recruitment Code
Summary of recent queries and answers on the interpretation of the Commissioners' requirements
Details of complaints procedure
Details (excluding personal details) of exceptions to selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition approved by the Commissioners

Appeals under the Civil Service Code
Text of Civil Service Code and leaflet on appealing to the Commissioners
Published details of appeals ie summary accounts excluding the names of the department and appellant
Summary of complaints not covered by the Code
Press notices - press notices released by the Commissioners relating to their work
Annual Reports - the Commissioners' Annual Reports
Evidence to committees - evidence given in public examination by the First Civil Service Commissioner to Parliamentary committees and the Committee on Standards in Public Life
Speeches given by the First Civil Service Commissioner
Details of OCSC staff - Contact details of officials by area of responsibility

How to Obtain the Information and Charges

Most of the information contained in our scheme is available free of charge on our website. For those without Internet access, a single printout (or bound copy, in the case of some types of document) can be obtained - also free of charge - by post, bycontacting the Office of the Civil Service Commissioners, as set out above.

Reproduction for sale or other commercial purposes is not permitted. For any other use, or if in doubt, further information and guidance notes on publishing and copyright are available from HMSO's Licensing Division (Tel: 01603 621000).