Audit of departments

Systematic approach

In April 2009, with the support of the Cabinet Secretary, we commissioned the first full audit of departments’ activities to promote and uphold the values in the Civil Service Code.

In last year’s Annual Report we reported on the results of the audit. We also made a commitment to continue our consideration of the returns and the supporting material provided by departments, in order to produce further analysis and provide examples of good practice.

This on-going analytical work produced three major outputs: 

• High level messages in four key areas: Policy, Procedure, Support and Training
• Detailed recommendations and examples of good practice identified for each of the thirty questions in the audit
• A databank of the individual returns for use in providing individually tailored feedback to departments

Janet Paraskeva, the First Civil Service Commissioner, wrote to Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executives in January 2010 to make them aware of the high level messages. At the same time, departmental Human Resource Directors and Agency Executives were sent our recommendations and good practice examples for use as a resource.

Commissioners have also made use of their ‘link’ meetings with Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executives and Human Resource Directors to provide tailored feedback based on individual departmental audit returns.

POLICY

• There should be a clear policy on how and when the Code, the values, and procedures for raising concerns are communicated.

PROCEDURE

• There should be a clear procedure for raising concerns under the Code which is fully compliant with the 2006 edition of the Code.
• The procedure should make a clear distinction between concerns raised under the Code and human resources grievances.
  
• The policy should have appropriate and proportionate references to the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA).

SUPPORT

• There should be a Nominated Officer Network that is appropriate to the organisation with particular regard to:
  • the number of staff in the organisation
  • their geographical spread
  • their grade profile - not all in the top grades of the SCS
    
• Nominated Officers should be provided with appropriate support with a senior HR official responsible for them.

TRAINING

• The Code and the values should be built into appropriate training at all levels from induction onwards.
• Additional training should be provided for staff with specific needs, e.g.:
  • Nominated Officers
  • HR Nominated Officer co-ordinator