Complaints under the Commissioners’ Recruitment Code (from April 2009 Recruitment Principles)

Individuals can complain if they believe the requirements of the Recruitment Principles (previously the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Code) have been breached.  They should first complain to the department or agency concerned.  If they are not satisfied with the response, they can bring their complaint to us. If we uphold a complaint, we make recommendations both in relation to the specific case and to guard against future breaches of the Recruitment Principles.

Our Office handled sixteen complaints during the year, slightly fewer than the number dealt with in 2008/09.  Four of the complaints brought to us this year are still under investigation. We will include them in our next Annual Report.

In the remaining 12 cases, no breach of the Recruitment Code was identified.  As a result of an investigation of a complaint, we have sometimes written to departments and agencies to say, that while no breach of the Recruitment Code had been identified, there were nonetheless areas where their practice could be improved.

In particular, a number of departments have run volume recruitment exercises and, in good faith, made offers of appointment to applicants out of strict merit order before the competition had ended.  Unexpected fiscal restrictions have then meant that fewer posts were available than were originally anticipated, There is a danger that the merit principle may be compromised if all applicants higher on the merit list are not ultimately offered positions.  We recommend that departments concerned about volume exercises should contact the Commissioners’ office for advice.