Constitutional Renewal Bill

The Prime Minister announced to the House of Commons on 3 July 2007 his intention to enshrine the core values of the Civil Service in statute.  This commitment, and the linked commitment, to make the Commissioners a statutory body - the Civil Service Commission – were set out in the Green Paper,

The Governance of Britain

, published on the same day.

In March 2008 the Government published the White Paper ‘The Governance of Britain –Constitutional Renewal’ and at the same time published the text of the Constitutional Renewal Bill. Part Five of the Bill concerns the Civil Service and proposes that there should be a Civil Service Commission comprising the Civil Service Commissioners and their staff. The Bill also places on a statutory footing the principle that recruitment to the Civil Service must be on merit on the basis of fair and open competition and gives the Civil Service Commission important functions to ensure that recruitment into the Civil Service is in accordance with this principle. The Bill also requires the Commission to hear appeals under the Civil Service Code if brought in line with the Commission’s procedures.

The Commissioners welcome the publication of the White Paper and the Constitutional Renewal Bill. The Commissioners have argued for some time that it is right that the core values of the Civil Service and the principle of recruitment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition should be placed on a statutory footing.

The Commissioners look forward to participating in the process of consideration and comment on the White Paper and Bill