Civil Service: Recruitment
Debate between Baroness Finn and Baroness Smith of Basildon(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)
My noble friend makes a powerful point. It was similar to the first point made by the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth: it is for Ministers to get a range of views and to make decisions. It is dangerous for us to think that civil servants are not impartial. They are impartial. That does not mean that they are neutral and have no views, but they bring impartiality to their posts. That is why we have to bring in outside, as well as existing, expertise.
Baroness Finn (Con)
My Lords, I am a strong supporter of external appointments to the Civil Service and of strengthening Ministers’ powers to bring in people, where there are skills shortages, to achieve their agenda. As my noble friend said, transparency is key to these appointments. Will the Minister therefore commit to publishing a list of all the external appointments requested by Ministers, at all grades?
Baroness Smith of Basildon (Lab)
This Government should follow the normal practice of publishing appointments in government and we will do so.