Catalogue description Records of the Civil Service Commission

The Civil Service Commission was established in 1855 by order in Council as the result of the report on the organisation of the permanent Civil Service made in 1853 by Sir Stafford Northcote and Sir Charles Trevelyan. The Commission was required to test, according to fixed rules, the qualification of candidates for appointment to junior posts in any civil establishment and to issue certificates of candidates' qualifications as to age, health, character, knowledge and ability in respect of a proposed appointment. Until 1870 the requirements of knowledge and ability were settled according to the discretion of the government department concerned and even competitive examinations were limited to persons nominated by the heads of departments. By order in Council of 4 June 1870 open competition was introduced in accordance with regulations drawn up by the Commission and the Treasury and applied to most government departments as listed in Schedule A of the order. Schedule B dealt with exceptions to the general rule, namely direct crown appointments, situations included in the Treasury order or warrant made under the Superannuation Act 1859, and posts filled by the customary course of promotion. Other posts were later added to Schedule B, largely unpensionable, temporary or minor posts. Appointments to posts falling within Schedule B were made under rules made by the commission and the department concerned and approved by the Treasury. In 1905 a Treasury circular letter made it clear that aliens were not eligible for appointment to any permanent and established post.

An order in Council of 22 July 1920, which came into force on 1 May 1923, imposed on the commissioners the duty of certifying the qualifications, if approved by them, of all persons proposed for appointment to any established post or employment in any civil establishment and empowered them, subject to Treasury approval, to make regulations prescribing methods of entry. In addition to its function the Commission has also acted in a similar capacity for other authorities. Examinations for entry into the Indian Civil Service were conducted by the Commission from 1858 to 1947 primarily in this country but at various periods also in India. After 1927 examinations for candidates resident in India were conducted by the Indian Public Service Commission. Examinations have also been conducted for special entry to the Navy, the Royal Air Force and the Army on behalf of the Admiralty, the Air Ministry, the War Office and, since 1964, the Ministry of Defence; for interpreters in the services; for language allowances in the diplomatic service; for the civil services of Northern Ireland and for various colonies; and for promotion in the police services of the United Kingdom, India and Ceylon.

In 1855 first and second commissioners were appointed who were salaried after 1862. In 1918 the second commissioner was replaced by two assistant commissioners, acting as secretary and director of examinations respectively. From November 1968 to 1981 the Commission formed part of the Civil Service Department, under a first Civil Service commissioner, but its independence and political impartiality were safeguarded. In 1970 a Behavioural Sciences Research Division was formed to undertake research in connection with recruitment, personnel management and management reviews.

On the dissolution of the Civil Service Department in December 1981, the Civil Service Commission became part of the Recruitment Group of the newly established Management and Personnel Office and in 1982 the Management and Personnel Office was itself assimilated into the Cabinet Office.

In 1991 the Civil Service Commission was replaced by two discrete organisations: the Office of the Civil Service Commissioners and the Recruitment and Assessment Services Agency. Government departments and executive agencies became free to recruit their own staff below Grade 7 level, except for fast stream entry. The Commission's recruitment activities were assigned to the Agency, and became fully rechargeable to departments which choose to continue to use them. Autonomous departmental recruitment became subject to rules laid down by the Minister for the Civil Service and the Commissioners were given new legal duties, to advise the minister on the rules and on any subsequent changes to them, and to monitor the application of the rules in departments and to report accordingly. The minister's rules were to continue to embody the fundamental principles of recruitment and selection on merit by fair and open competition.