The Whitehall watchdog last night launched a probe into civil service appointments in the wake of the ‘cronyism’ row engulfing Labour.
The Civil Service Commission said it would review appointments made between July 1, four days before Labour won the election, and August 31.
Baroness Gisela Stuart, First Civil Service Commissioner, wrote to government department chiefs reminding them that appointments should take place ‘on merit on the basis of fair and open competition’.
She said the probe was being launched ‘given [the] interest in a number of recent Civil Service appointments’ and because of the ‘importance of public trust in these appointments’.
Departments have been told to hand over details of all appointments made by the ‘Exception’ process, which allows officials to recruit people directly and bypass the normal procedure of advertising roles.
Baroness Gisela Stuart, First Civil Service Commissioner, wrote to government department chiefs reminding them that appointments should take place ‘on merit on the basis of fair and open competition’
It emerged earlier this month that former banker Ian Corfield was given a top Treasury job after donating £20,000 to the Labour Party,
They can only use this process for people earning salaries over £97,000 if the Commission gives them the green light. However, they don’t have to seek the watchdog’s permission for people earning under this amount. It is these cases which the Commission has asked for details of.
Kate Owen, the Commission’s interim chief executive, wrote: ‘This review will examine whether departments have made appointments in line with the expectations set out in the Recruitment Principles.’
It emerged this month that Ian Corfield, a former banker, was given a top Treasury job after donating £20,000 to the Labour Party, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
It later emerged that the Commission was not told about his £20,000 donation before it signed off on the appointment.
He will no longer do the role and will become an unpaid adviser to Ms Reeves instead.
Meanwhile businesswoman Emily Middleton, whose firm donated £67,000 to the party, was appointed a director general in the Department for Science and Technology weeks after the money was declared.
Businesswoman Emily Middleton, whose firm donated £67,000 to the party, was appointed a director general in the Department for Science and Technology
Shadow Treasury spokesman Laura Trott said that Mr Corfield’s decision to accept an adviser role rather than a civil service one underlined the ‘s
Shadow Treasury spokesman Laura Trott said the decision for Mr Corfield to take up an adviser role instead of a Civil Service one ‘only seeks to underline how serious this scandal is’.
John Glen, shadow paymaster general, has been calling for a probe for weeks after becoming concerned that ministers may be trying to ‘circumvent’ the rules around civil service appointments to parachute in party sympathisers.
Last night he said: ‘I welcome that the Commission has backed our calls for a review into Labour’s crony appointments… Keir Starmer can no longer try to brush this under the carpet.’
The Labour leader has pledged to ‘clean up’ politics but has also been mired in controversy when Lord Waheed Alli was given a pass to Number 10 after donating nearly £20,000 of ‘work clothing’ to the PM.