Civil service draws up new HR rules ‘to protect ministers’ advisers’ as maverick No10 aide Dominic Cummings tightens grip
- The civil service is recruiting an official to help draw up new HR rules for Spads
- Move comes amid crackdown on advisers by No10 chief Dominic Cummings
- Sajid Javid resigned as Chancellor after he was ordered to axe his own advisers
The civil service is drawing up new HR rules for ministerial advisers amid anger at a crackdown by No10 chief Dominic Cummings.
The Cabinet Office is recruiting an official to help ‘establish the cross-government special adviser HR function’.
The ‘high-profile and stretching role’ – with a salary of up to £60,635 – would see the successful candidate being asked to ‘revise and embed a full suite of HR policies, processes and principles ensuring they are fit for purpose’.
Buzzfeed News cited a senior Whitehall official claiming the new role had been created in response to concerns within the civil service about the treatment of Spads by No10.
The civil service is drawing up new HR rules for ministerial advisers amid anger at a crackdown by No10 chief Dominic Cummings (pictured last week)
A brutal turf war between Mr Cummings and Treasury aides resulted in the dramatic resignation of Chancellor Sajid Javid (pictured) earlier this month
It is understood an overhaul to the arrangements for political advisers has been going on for some time. No10 sources said it was a ‘routine appointment’.
The move follows a brutal turf war between Mr Cummings and Treasury aides, that resulted in the dramatic resignation of Chancellor Sajid Javid earlier this month.
Mr Javid was given an ultimatum by Boris Johnson during the reshuffle that he must accept his political advisers being ousted.
Another aide to Mr Javid, Sonia Khan, was frogmarched out of Downing Street by police officers after being sacked by Mr Cummings last year.
Mr Cummings also swiped during a meeting of Spads before the government overhaul that he would see some of them the following week – a remark that one adviser told him was ‘unkind’.
The maverick No10 strategist has tried to implement a ban on Spads accepting drinks or meals from reporters.
Mr Cummings has launched a drive to recruit ‘misfits and weirdos’ to government, saying he wants people with off-the-wall talents to work alongside conventional officials.
He suggested last week that so-called ‘Superforecasters’ were preferable to political pundits.
Mr Javid was given an ultimatum by Boris Johnson (pictured with a post-Brexit blue passport) during the reshuffle that he must accept his political advisers being ousted