17th Report - Permanent secretaries: their appointment and removal
- HC No.
- —
- Published
- 20 Oct 2023
- Items
- 0
- Response
- Response document linked Read government response ↗
Select Committee · Constitution Committee
The appointment and dismissal of permanent secretaries and other senior civil servants
Status: Closed
Opened: 27 Feb 2023
Closed: 9 May 2024
1 report
Inquiry scope
Permanent secretaries are the most senior civil servants in each government department. As accounting officers, permanent secretaries are responsible for running the department day-to-day––including by managing the budget––and report to Parliament on these matters. They also provide support to the government minister in charge of the department, who is accountable to Parliament for the department’s performance and actions. The inquiry will focus on the degree of ministerial involvement in the recruitment process for these positions and the extent to which ministers and prime ministers have become more involved in the dismissal of post-holders. In particular, it will consider whether an informal shift has taken place in the appointment and dismissal of permanent secretaries and other senior civil servants and if so, whether this indicates a desire on the part of ministers to appoint candidates more sympathetic to their views.Reports
Oral evidence sessions
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| Date | Session and witnesses | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Jul 2023 | Rt Hon Jeremy Quin · Cabinet Office, Simon Case · Cabinet Office | View ↗ |
| 7 Jun 2023 | The Rt Hon. the Lord Maude of Horsham | View ↗ |
| 3 May 2023 | The Rt Hon. the Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston · Civil Service Commission | View ↗ |
| 26 Apr 2023 | The Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court GCB · HM Treasury, The Lord Sedwill GCMG · Cabinet Office, The Rt Hon. the Baroness Prashar CBE · Civil Service Commission | View ↗ |
| 19 Apr 2023 | Dr Conor Casey · School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool, Yuan Yi Zhu · Leiden University | View ↗ |
| 29 Mar 2023 | Professor Dennis Grube · University of Cambridge | View ↗ |
| 22 Mar 2023 | Alex Thomas · Institute for Government, Jill Rutter · Institute for Government | View ↗ |
Who gave evidence
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| Witness | Organisation | Sessions |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Thomas · Programme Director | Institute for Government | 1 |
| Dr Conor Casey · Assistant Professor of Public Law | School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool | 1 |
| Jill Rutter · Senior Fellow | Institute for Government | 1 |
| Professor Dennis Grube · Professor of Politics and Public Policy | University of Cambridge | 1 |
| Rt Hon Jeremy Quin · Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office | Cabinet Office | 1 |
| Simon Case · Cabinet Secretary | Cabinet Office | 1 |
| The Lord Macpherson of Earl's Court GCB · Permanent Secretary, 2005–16 | HM Treasury | 1 |
| The Lord Sedwill GCMG · Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service, 2018–20 | Cabinet Office | 1 |
| The Rt Hon. the Baroness Prashar CBE · First Civil Service Commissioner, 2000–05 | Civil Service Commission | 1 |
| The Rt Hon. the Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston · First Civil Service Commissioner | Civil Service Commission | 1 |
| The Rt Hon. the Lord Maude of Horsham | — | 1 |
| Yuan Yi Zhu · Assistant Professor of International Relations and International Law | Leiden University | 1 |
Correspondence
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