UK Public Servants: International Secondments

Question

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what standards of behaviour apply to UK public servants on secondment to international organisations where UK civil service standards may be higher than those of the temporary secondment.

Civil servants seconded outside the Civil Service, including internationally, do not cease to be civil servants and are expected to carry out their role with dedication and a commitment to the Civil Service and its core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. The provisions in the Civil Service Code and of their employing department continue to apply to them at all times.

I thank the Minister. I should declare from the outset that my Question is not related to any individuals but, rather, is a question of policy. She will know about both the reputational damage to Civil Service morale and the fact that public confidence takes a hit when perceptions of lower standards take hold in public life. If, as the Minister explained, oversight by the home department continues and the Civil Service Code continues to apply, why is misconduct investigated not by the UK Civil Service but rather by the international organisation, which may represent lower standards than we would have? Are the Government minded to conduct a review to make sure that there is joined-up appraisal and performance assessment of people who may be away for several years?

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. Obviously, standards are an important part of the regime—not least because the Prime Minister has now given me responsibility for them. On the specifics that she asked for, whether the individual is on secondment nationally or internationally, as best practice, the department should continue to conduct the performance reviews of the secondee. The host will provide the department with appropriate input for these purposes, to agreed timescales. Alternatively, the department can agree that, for the duration of the secondment, the host conducts performance reviews. The host organisation is required to seek consent from the department to do so. The department must also consult the HR, pay and reward, and legal team where appropriate. This was reviewed last September, so we have no additional plans to review.

My Lords, it is right that we expect the highest standards of our civil servants, but what does my noble friend make of the statement that emanated from Reform UK that a Reform UK Government would expect to dismiss the top civil servants in every government department and replace them with people seen as more likely to implement the party’s priorities? Does she agree that if we go down that path, we will undermine the integrity of the Civil Service and do this country a great disservice?

My noble friend is absolutely right, and it suggests quite how unserious Reform UK is about governing. We have an independent Civil Service for a reason. It acts without fear or favour; it is subject to a stringent code of conduct, and it is there to make sure that our public services are delivered. Any suggestion otherwise is for the birds.

My Lords, the latest Civil Service staff survey, published last month, shows that, for example, more than one in 10 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office staff and one in 10 Cabinet Office staff report having experienced bullying or harassment in the workplace in the last year. Can the Minister tell us what safeguards the Government have in place to ensure that such highly inappropriate behaviour is not exported inadvertently to international organisations?

The noble Lord raises an interesting point. Every member of the Civil Service is subject to the Civil Service Code, regardless of seniority, and we expect them to be held accountable and to treat all staff with appropriate levels of respect. Obviously, Ministers are subject to the Ministerial Code. There is extensive HR support within government departments, both within the FCDO and my own department, and I would expect everyone to undertake the appropriate training—and to be dismissed, where appropriate, if such behaviour was found.

My Lords, as the Infected Blood and Grenfell Tower inquiries made clear, having a Civil Service Code is one thing but ensuring that it is properly followed is quite another. Can the Minister therefore set out what specific consequences apply when the code is breached—whether by those in conventional employment or by those on secondment—and confirm whether serious instances of non-compliance are routinely escalated to senior Ministers and to No. 10, including in cases involving secondees or officials posted overseas? Furthermore, will she also explain how conduct is reflected in performance management and in decisions about future appointments, in particular how an individual’s conduct and performance while on secondment is assessed and taken into account?

The noble Baroness has asked four questions, so I will answer as many as I can. For all of them, the answer is the same, which is that chapter 4 of the Civil Service management code outlines what conduct we expect, the disciplinary process and how civil servants should apply it. I would expect every civil servant to stick to everything within the code and, if not, to be managed appropriately.

Having worked in an international organisation for five years and having seen some shocking conduct, it crosses my mind that the Government could do well to ask the British-appointed directors of those organisations to keep a very close eye on what goes on with respect to standards and to report back regularly, and for the Government to make public reports where they can on such information. Will the Government consider putting such an arrangement in place?

I am not sure how many secondments would work on that basis, but we already have in place keeping-in-touch conversations, where those who have been seconded must have regular conversations with their home department, as well as everything determined within the secondment agreement. Every secondment undertaken, both into and out of the Civil Service, is done on a case-by-case basis, so there is a bespoke secondment agreement which would allow some of those conversations to be formalised.

My Lords, clearly, as my noble friend has said, there are procedures and codes in place for our own civil servants, whom I hold in the highest regard. The noble Lord mentioned our own civil servants who are working in international organisations. I wonder what, if anything, we can do to ensure that bullying and harassment, for example, are properly dealt with in international organisations when it is not happening to our own civil servants who have been seconded to those organisations.

My noble friend raises an interesting point. This is about who we end up seconding staff to and what happens while they are there, and the things they may see. There is a clear process for any concerns that arise during a secondment process. The secondment can be terminated early and we can withdraw people, especially in the international space. It is also one of the reasons why we have those keeping-in-touch conversations, because, as our employees, we still have a duty of care towards them regardless of where they are working. We need to make sure that we know what environment they are operating in and that we can protect them wherever they are.

My Lords, I do not believe the noble Baroness answered the last part of my question. Why are misconduct investigations undertaken by the international organisation, which may have lower standards, when the Civil Service Code applies, which may have higher standards? Should they not be undertaken by the home department from where the secondee goes abroad?

I apologise; I thought I had answered the question. If a member of our staff is on secondment elsewhere and there are disciplinary concerns, the secondment process is likely to end and the disciplinary process will be dealt with in their home department and not by where they are seconded.

My Lords, does the Minister agree that accountability of the Civil Service is crucial as well? It is important that Ministers can hold civil servants to account. Do we know how that is best managed? It seems to me as though we need to hold them to account, but there needs to be no bullying involved.

My Lords, I thank my noble friend, but I suggest that it is always about your individual management style; for example, as a Minister, working with people and bringing them on a journey with you, making sure that you are able to deliver collectively and collaboratively in your policy area. But it is also about ensuring that culture change exists both within the Civil Service and elsewhere, so that anything considered as bullying and harassment is not acceptable in the 21st century.

My Lords, is the Minister completely satisfied about the complexity and glacial progress which confronts civil servants who wish to make a complaint about another civil servant? In my experience, that seems to be a ponderous, unnecessarily arduous, distressing and very long-standing procedure.

The noble Baroness has had significant experience of ministerial office. I have not, but among the civil servants who I have worked with, if there are those who may have made complaints, I am not aware that they have faced that experience, but if she has specifics she would like to raise with me in terms of where there are challenges in the system, I would be more than happy to have that conversation with her outside the Chamber.