Annex 9 External Recruitment
Policy Summary
10.1 The control on external recruitment has been in place since May 2010 as a measure to manage pay bill costs.
What is in scope of this control?
10.2 The control applies to all external recruitment excluding consultants, which includes:
•any new permanent recruitment;
•any new direct temporary recruitment (i.e. fixed-term appointments);
•any new indirect temporary recruitment (i.e. agency staff, interim managers, specialist contractors and all professional services, excluding consultancy which is subject to a separate control);
•any inward secondment or loan from an external organisation; and
•extensions of existing temporary recruitment.
10.3 The following are excluded:
•Civil Service Fast Stream;
•apprenticeships;
•vacancies arising through a poor performance-related exit;
•existing staff - organisations may continue to advertise posts to staff working in other Departments, agencies, and accredited NDPBs; and
•consultancy, which is subject to a separate control.
Cabinet Office Controls Thresholds
10.4 In ministerial Departments and in scope NDPBs, approval is the responsibility of the Secretary of State. In non-ministerial Departments, it is the responsibility of the chief executive.
10.5 Secretaries of State may choose to delegate sign-off responsibility for exceptions to chief executives, permanent secretaries or to directors general. Where Secretaries of State choose to do this, they must review the process regularly by requiring delegates to submit reports at least monthly via the Permanent Secretary.
10.6 The Cabinet Office is not directly involved in recruitment approvals. However, Departments are required to submit quarterly recruitment forecasts and accompanying narrative to the Cabinet Office using the template below. This is to enable ongoing monitoring of the effectiveness of the control. The reports also set the basis for ongoing dialogue between the Cabinet Office and Departmental strategic workforce contacts.
Process
10.7 Departments are responsible for applying the control to their own workforce and ALBs and must ensure that robust internal monitoring processes are in place.
10.8 Organisations must follow the normal internal recruitment process before moving to external recruitment.
10.9 An additional monitoring process is in place for recruiting to performance and attendance-related exits. Please refer to the guidance below for more information.
10.10 Approvals will be made only in cases where:
•there is an urgent need for front-line operational staff; and/or
•the post is deemed business-critical
10.11 For further guidance, please contact:
Templates
10.12 The Cabinet Office will provide templates for recruitment forecasts each quarter.
Contacts
10.13 All queries should be directed to: