First Civil Service Commissioner
Encyclopedia
The First Civil Service Commissioner heads the Office of Civil Service Commissioners, which ensures that the Civil Service
in the United Kingdom
is effective and impartial and that appointments are made on merit, and hears appeals under the Civil Service Code.
The post was created in 1855 following publication of the Northcote-Trevelyan Report
by Charles Trevelyan
and Stafford Northcote that advocated the decoupling of appointments of senior civil servants from ministers to insure the impartiality of the Civil Service. Following a report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life
, "Defining the Boundaries within the Executive: Ministers, special advisers and the permanent Civil Service" in 2003, the appointment of the First Civil Service Commissioner is made by Government after consultation with Leaders of the main opposition parties. They are then appointed by the Queen
under Royal Prerogative.
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
is effective and impartial and that appointments are made on merit, and hears appeals under the Civil Service Code.
The post was created in 1855 following publication of the Northcote-Trevelyan Report
Northcote-Trevelyan Report
The Northcote-Trevelyan Report was a document prepared by Stafford H. Northcote and C.E. Trevelyan in 1853 that catalyzed the development of Her Majesty's Civil Service in the United Kingdom due to the influence of the ancient Chinese Imperial Examination....
by Charles Trevelyan
Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet
Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, KCB was a British civil servant and colonial administrator. As a young man, he worked with the colonial government in Calcutta, India; in the late 1850s and 1860s he served there in senior-level appointments...
and Stafford Northcote that advocated the decoupling of appointments of senior civil servants from ministers to insure the impartiality of the Civil Service. Following a report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life
Committee on Standards in Public Life
The Committee on Standards in Public Life is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom Government.The Committee on Standards in Public Life is constituted as a standing body with its members appointed for up to three years.-History:...
, "Defining the Boundaries within the Executive: Ministers, special advisers and the permanent Civil Service" in 2003, the appointment of the First Civil Service Commissioner is made by Government after consultation with Leaders of the main opposition parties. They are then appointed by the Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
under Royal Prerogative.
List of First Civil Service Commissioners
- Sir Edward RyanEdward RyanSir Edward Ryan PC FRS was an English lawyer, judge, reformer of the British Civil Service and patron of science.-Early life:...
(1855-75) - John Pakington, 1st Baron HamptonJohn Pakington, 1st Baron HamptonJohn Somerset Pakington, 1st Baron Hampton GCB, PC FRS , known as Sir John Pakington, Bt from 1846 to 1874, was a British Conservative politician.-Background and education:...
(1875-1880) - George ByngGeorge Byng, 3rd Earl of StraffordGeorge Henry Charles Byng, 3rd Earl of Strafford , styled Viscount Enfield between 1860 and 1886, was a British Liberal politician.-Background and education:...
, Viscount Enfield (later 3rd Earl of Strafford) (1880-88) - ...
- William CourthopeWilliam John CourthopeWilliam John Courthope , was an English writer and historian of poetry, whose father was rector of South Malling, Essex....
(1892-1907) - Lord Francis HerveyLord Francis HerveyLord Francis Hervey JP was a British barrister and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1874 and 1892.-Background:...
(1907-1909) - Sir Stanley Leathes (1910-1927)
- Sir Roderick Meiklejohn, K.B.E.C.B (1927-1939)
- Sir Percival Waterfield (1939-1951)
- Sir Paul Sinker (1951-1954)
- Laurence Helsby, Baron HelsbyLaurence Helsby, Baron HelsbyLaurence Norman Helsby, Baron Helsby GCB KBE was a British civil servant.-Life:Laurence Norman Helsby was born on 27 April 1908 and educated at Sedbergh School in Cumbria, before studying at Keble College, Oxford...
(1954-1959) - Sir George Mallaby (1959-1964)
- Sir George AbellGeorge Abell (civil servant and cricketer)Sir George Edmond Brackenbury Abell, KCIE, OBE was an English civil servant and cricketer. Although his civil service career was the more significant, he was an excellent all-round sportsman, who won Blues for Oxford at cricket, rugby union and hockey as well as playing county cricket for...
(1964-1967) - John Hunt (1967-1971)
- K. H. Clucas (1971-1974)
- Dr Fergus Allen (1974-1981)
- Angus Fraser (1981-1983)
- Dennis Trevelyan (1983-1989)
- John Holroyd (1989-1993)
- Ann Bowtell (1993-1995)
- Sir Michael Bett (1995-2000)
- Usha Prashar, Baroness PrasharUsha Prashar, Baroness PrasharUsha Kumari Prashar, Baroness Prashar, CBE, is a Cross Bench member of the House of Lords. Since the 1970s, she has served as a director or chairman of a variety of public and private sector organisations...
(2000-2005) - Janet ParaskevaJanet ParaskevaThe Rt Hon. Dame Janet Paraskeva DBE is a British government official.She was appointed as the First Civil Service Commissioner on 1 January 2006. On 15 November 2007 Paraskeva was announced by Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, as first Chair of the Child Maintenance and...
(2006- )