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The Personalisation of Appointments

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Abstract

The principle of appointment on merit is at the core of the Whitehall paradigm. Merit-based appointment was intended to attract the ‘brightest and the best’ into the British civil service. Following the Northcote-Trevelyan reforms of 1854, officials no longer depended on ministerial patronage. There is evidence the Northcote-Trevelyan settlement is now being undermined. In the Anglophone democracies, Ministers are intervening to influence the appointment of civil servants. In the UK, both Cameron and May sought a formal role in the appointment of permanent secretaries. The evidence is officials who lose the confidence of Ministers are likely to be removed. As a consequence, civil service careers are more fluid; officials are dependent on ministerial patronage as never before.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-civil-service-and-the-constitution Accessed 19th December 2017.

  2. 2.

    The theory of ‘bureau-shaping’ was developed by Professor Patrick Dunleavy in response to New Right ideas about budget maximisation.

  3. 3.

    http://www.civilservant.org.uk/index.html#reform Accessed 6th February 2016.

  4. 4.

    http://www.bettergovernmentinitiative.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Civil-Service-final.pdf Accessed 18th December 2017.

  5. 5.

    https://fas.org/irp/world/uk/huttonreport.pdf Accessed 18th November 2017.

  6. 6.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/apr/09/Whitehall.uk Accessed 19th December 2017.

  7. 7.

    https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/140116-0001.htm Accessed 6th February 2018.

  8. 8.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9874960/Ministers-new-plan-to-steamroller-civil-servants.html Accessed 8th February 2018.

  9. 9.

    Interview with a former departmental permanent secretary, 6th April 2018.

  10. 10.

    Cited in https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/140116-0001.htm Accessed 6th February 2018.

  11. 11.

    http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CB-13-31-ANNEX-IFG-Report.pdf Accessed 23rd February 2018.

  12. 12.

    Interview with a departmental special adviser, 20th October 2016.

  13. 13.

    Interview with Whitehall Think-Tank Director, 30th September 2016.

  14. 14.

    http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CB-13-31-ANNEX-IFG-Report.pdf Accessed 7th March 2018.

  15. 15.

    Interview with Whitehall Think-Tank Director, 30th September 2016.

  16. 16.

    Interview with former Treasury and Cabinet Office official, 11th January 2018.

  17. 17.

    https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmpubadm/253/253.pdf Accessed 2nd February 2018.

  18. 18.

    http://www.civilservant.org.uk/index.html#reform Accessed 6th February 2016.

  19. 19.

    http://www.civilservant.org.uk/index.html#reform Accessed 6th February 2016.

  20. 20.

    Interview with Whitehall Think-Tank research fellow, 12th December 2017.

  21. 21.

    Interview with Whitehall Think-Tank Director, 30th September 2016.

  22. 22.

    Interview with a senior official in the Department for Education and the Ministry of Justice, 7th October 2016.

  23. 23.

    Interview with Whitehall Think-Tank Director, 30th September 2016.

  24. 24.

    Interview with a former departmental permanent secretary, 6th April 2018.

  25. 25.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/28/civil-service-john-manzoni-job-sabmiller Accessed 5th February 2018.

  26. 26.

    Interview with a departmental permanent secretary, 19th October 2016.

  27. 27.

    https://www.civilserviceworld.com/articles/opinion/nick-pearce-when-government-has-agreed-position-–-eu-referendum-–-civil-servants Accessed 6th February 2018.

  28. 28.

    http://www.civilservant.org.uk/csr_detail-note18.html Accessed 12th December 2017.

  29. 29.

    Interview with Whitehall Think-Tank research fellow, 12th December 2017.

  30. 30.

    https://www.civilserviceworld.com/profile-peter-hennessy Accessed 15th December 2017.

  31. 31.

    https://www.civilserviceworld.com/profile-peter-hennessy Accessed 15th December 2017.

  32. 32.

    Interview with former Treasury and Cabinet Office official, 11th January 2018.

  33. 33.

    Interview with former Head of the Number Ten Policy Unit, 12th February 2012.

  34. 34.

    Interview with Whitehall Think-Tank research fellow, 12th December 2017.

  35. 35.

    Interview with former Treasury and Cabinet Office official, 11th January 2018.

  36. 36.

    Cited in https://www.civilserviceworld.com/articles/opinion/sir-leigh-lewis-so-whitehalls-fighting-back-good-–-civil-service-shouldnt-be Accessed 2nd February 2018.

  37. 37.

    Interview with a former departmental permanent secretary, 6th April 2018.

  38. 38.

    Cited in http://www.civilservant.org.uk/csr_detail-note18.html Accessed 12th December 2017.

  39. 39.

    Cited in http://www.civilservant.org.uk/csr_detail-note18.html Accessed 12th December 2017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Patrick Diamond

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  1. Patrick Diamond
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Diamond, P. (2019). The Personalisation of Appointments. In: The End of Whitehall?. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96101-9_4

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