Cabinet Office Homepage
Last updated: 21 November 2008
General
11. Staff of the National Assembly for Wales are Crown servants and part of a unified Home Civil Service. The Prime Minister as the Minister for the Civil Service is responsible for civil servants, advised by the Head of the Home Civil Service [External website]. The Minister for the Cabinet Office discharges, on a day-to-day basis, the responsibilities of the Minister for the Civil Service. As servants of the Crown all civil servants owe a duty of loyalty to the Crown. That duty, subject to the provisions of the Civil Service Code [External website], is owed to the duly constituted administration which they serve.
12. The management of the Home Civil Service is therefore a matter reserved to the UK Government. The National Assembly for Wales is bound by the legislative framework governing the Home Civil Service. This includes compliance with the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 (as amended), the Civil Service Management Code [External website] the Civil Service Code [External website], the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code and Guidance on Senior Recruitment, the Checklist of Processes for Senior Appointment Selection Committee Appointments, and the Superannuation Act 1972.
13. The Minister for the Civil Service has, however, delegated to the National Assembly for Wales the responsibility for a wide range of terms and conditions of service for staff of the National Assembly for Wales, subject to conditions set out in the Civil Service Management Code. These are matters previously delegated to the Secretary of State for Wales.
14. Both parties affirm their mutual commitment to working together to maintain a unified Home Civil Service and their recognition of the collective benefits derived from it. In particular, this includes a commitment to promoting inter-administration mobility of civil servants as a means of maintaining a cohesive and unified Civil Service. This co-operation is for the mutual benefit of both parties, nsuring that both administrations continue to be served by a highly professional, impartial, well-managed and unified Civil Service.
15. Both parties confirm their commitment to consult and exchange information on matters concerning the management of the Home Civil Service in a timely and helpful manner. The National Assembly for Wales is a member of the Civil Service Management Committee and of the network of main departmental Establishment Officers. This includes receipt of all papers, attendance at meetings and conferences, and representation, where appropriate, in inter-departmental working groups. Through membership of these bodies, the National Assembly for Wales will:
16. Where the Cabinet Office proposes major changes to the framework for management of the Home Civil Service, for example the general withdrawal of a delegation by the Minister for the Civil Service, this will be done, wherever possible, by mutual agreement with the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales. All informal dispute resolution procedures will be exhausted in seeking to reach agreement.
17. The Cabinet Office will consult the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales on recommendations to the Queen in Council for the appointment of Civil Service Commissioners [External website].
Senior Civil Service Pay
18. The pay arrangements for the Senior Civil Service are determined by the UK Government's response to recommendations made each year by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB). The rules for Senior Civil Service pay (set out in Chapter 7 of the Civil Service Management Code [External website], including 7.1 Annexes A and B) and guidance issued by the Cabinet Office on the operation of the pay system are designed to ensure cohesion on Senior Civil Service pay matters.
19. The National Assembly for Wales will be involved in the preparation of the UK Government's evidence to the SSRB through membership of the Civil Service Management Committee and through the departmental narrative (submitted by all departments) given to the SSRB. Once the SSRB reports, the Prime Minister, as Minister for the Civil Service, will respond for the UK Government in the context of the UK economy. The Senior Pay Liaison Group, and if necessary the Civil Service Management Committee, will then decide how to implement the Government's decision on the SSRB recommendations and with what degree of cohesion across the Senior Civil Service.
Pay and Allowances outside the Senior Civil Service
20. Remuneration of staff outside the Senior Civil Service is a matter delegated by the Minister for the Civil Service, subject to the conditions in the Civil Service Management Code. The National Assembly for Wales is not constrained in what it is able to pay staff other than by any procedures it puts in place. The National Assembly for Wales is, however, required to ensure that its pay arrangements for staff are consistent with the UK Government's policies on the Civil Service and take account of the UK Government's policies on public sector pay. Both parties will exchange information on Civil Service pay for comparative purposes.
Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme
21. As members of the Home Civil Service, staff in the National Assembly for Wales continue to be eligible to participate in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) [External website]. The administration of the Civil Service pension scheme by the National Assembly for Wales for their staff will be governed by the delegation instruments made under the Superannuation Act 1972.
Training and Development
22. The National Assembly for Wales affirms its commitment to agreed central standards and benchmarks reflecting good practice in development and training of civil servants, as currently set out, for example, in the Modernising Government White Paper, and by commitment to the Investors in People standard. This includes participation in Cabinet Office monitoring and evaluation arrangements for development and training initiatives and compliance with updated strategic frameworks and specific targets for development and training. The Cabinet Office will provide support to the National Assembly of Wales in meeting these commitments in the same way as it does for UK departments.
23. The Centre for Management and Policy Studies is a resource for the whole of the Home Civil Service and as such is available to the National Assembly for Wales. The National Assembly for Wales will be consulted on the same basis as UK departments on corporate training needs.
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