Exceptions permitted by the Commissioners
The Commissioners may also approve appointments under the provisions of the Orders in Council in circumstances not covered by the Commissioners’ Recruitment Code.
During 2007-08 the Commissioners approved 51 appointments as exceptions. These were:
- seven appointments under flexibilities introduced in 2006 to facilitate transfers from non-departmental public bodies
- seven extensions of secondments beyond the usual maximum periods provided by the Commissioners’ Recruitment Code to allow completion of projects and to maintain continuity on a business critical programme during a period of staff change
- one conversion of a short-term appointment made without open competition to permanency because the field was specialised and the need for continuity was critical
- eight extensions of short-term appointments without fair and open competition beyond the usual maximum periods provided by the Commissioners’ Recruitment Code. There were a number of operationally valid reasons for these extensions including: completion of a review of the work leading to open competition for the redefined posts; to allow the completion of open competition processes; to enable a grievance procedure to be concluded; to allow a handover to a new staff member recruited through open competition; to allow completion of a highly specialised business critical phase of a programme
- two fixed-term senior appointments requiring a highly specialised mix of skills and experience
- two conversions of secondments to fixed-term appointments
- 24 conversions of secondments to permanent appointments. These were nearly all at Grade 7 (the grade just below the Senior Civil Service). The reasons for these exemptions are outlined in the following section