Politics

5 biggest problems with Dominic Cummings' Downing Street job advert for 'weirdos'


Boris Johnson’s top aide has left unions infuriated with a bizarre 2,900-word job advert for “weirdos and misfits“.

Dominic Cummings posted his plan to shake up government on his personal blog, saying applicants would have no time for a boyfriend or girlfriend and adding: “I’ll bin you within weeks if you don’t fit — don’t complain later because I made it clear now.”

The problem is, some of what the No10 svengali wrote appears to run contrary to the rules.

And Mr Cummings – who was found in contempt of Parliament for refusing to give evidence to a fake news probe – has not clarified how he’ll get round these concerns, or whether he’ll try to.

Workers’ leaders said the bizarre plea risked undermining faith in the UK’s famously neutral and impartial Civil Service.

PCS union general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Comments by Dominic Cummings that imply he wants to hire and fire at will reveal an anti-trade union mentality and will be strenuously resisted by PCS.”

Former civil service chief Lord Kerslake, who now advises the Labour Party, told the Mirror: “Frankly it all smacks of a particular way of seeing the world. It is a rather Olympian, elitist model.” He added: “All of it is in the grey area… None of this would be allowed in a normal recruitment process.”

It called for “weirdos and misfits” to shake up 10 Downing Street

But Lord Kerslake said it was not necessarily clear-cut wrong.

“Special advisors are appointed through different processes,” Lord Kerslake said. “They are essentially at the confidence of the Prime Minister and Ministers, and they’re appointed by an Order in Council so to that extent the normal procedures don’t apply.

“What isn’t clear to me is how you are subject to the usual equalities legislation if you appoint people in that way.”

At one point Cummings writes: “We need to figure out how to use such people better without asking them to conform to the horrors of ‘Human Resources’ (which also obviously need a bonfire).”

In another passage, giving an example of the sort of people he wants, he names two men but refers to the woman in the example as “that girl”.

Read More

Latest UK politics news

Former Vote Leave director Mr Cummings said he hopes to be made “largely redundant” within a year by the recruitment drive. He claimed there are “some profound problems at the core of how the British state makes decisions”- and admitted he currently makes decisions “well outside” his “circle of competence”.

Mr Cummings admits: “It will seem chaotic and ‘not proper No10 process’ to some. But the point of this government is to do things differently and better and this always looks messy.”

But FDA general secretary Dave Penman warned against the unconventional approach to hiring officials. He added: “You are employed in the Civil Service because of what you can do, not what you believe.

“If you surround yourself with people who are recruited simply because they believe the same as you believe, and whose employment is at your behest, is that the best way for the Civil Service or advisers to speak truth unto power?

“I don’t think it is, and I think some of those approaches are quite dangerous as well.”

So what are the 5 biggest problems with the job advert? We’ve singled them out and looked at how they match up to the rules.

1. He suggests he wants to hire impartial civil servants. The law says he can’t

Who would actually be doing the hiring?

The job advert says “we” want to hire a range of people, “some as Spads as perhaps some as officials” – and that Mr Cummings will be responding to the applications personally.

The problem is, the law clearly says that Mr Cummings – who is a political Special Advisor (Spad) – cannot hire impartial officials into the civil service. He can only legally hire other Spads like himself.

The 2010 Constitutional Reform and Governance Act says clearly: “A special adviser may not exercise any power in relation to the management of any part of the civil service.”

Recruitment principles issued by the Civil Service Commission in 2018 make it even clearer: “[Spads] may therefore not be involved in the recruitment of civil servants.”

One clear exception under the law is for hiring fellow Spads.

2. You have to use a private e-mail address

Dominic Cummings with his phone

The job advert – not advertised on the official 10 Downing Street website – tells hopefuls to “send a max 1 page letter plus CV to ideasfornumber10@gmail.com.”

But using a private email alone would appear to run against guidance issued by the government in 2013.

That guidance said any government employee handling e-mails “should consider” if they contain “substantive discussions or decisions generated in the course of conducting Government business”.

If they do, the employees “take steps to ensure the relevant information is accessible (e.g. by copying it to a government email address)”. It’s not clear from the advert whether this will happen.

Fittingly, the 2013 guidance was issued after a row about top Tory Michael Gove using a private e-mail address… while Dominic Cummings was working for him.

Mr Gove lost a long-running battle when the Information Commissioner ruled private e-mails could be accessed by the public under the Freedom of Information Act.

Even if private e-mails can be accessed under FOI it can be a laborious process.

Lord Kerslake said: “Special Advisors are effectively temporary civil servants. That have their own code of conduct. I would be very surprised if they were allowed to use a private email address in this way.”

3. He suggests you are supposed to be 21

One part of the advert, the bit advertising for Mr Cummings’ own personal assistant, declares: “You will be involved in things at the age of ~21 that most people never see.”

This suggests his ideal candidate is 21 years old.

But the Equality and Human Rights Commission states: “The Equality Act 2010 says you must not be discriminated against because you are (or are not) a certain age or in a certain age group.

“Age groups can be quite wide (for example, ‘people under 50’ or ‘under 18s’). They can also be quite specific (for example, ‘people in their mid-40s’).”

4. You could be dumped after just two weeks

“I’ll bin you within weeks if you don’t fit,” Mr Cummings says

The advert boasts: “I’ll bin you within weeks if you don’t fit – don’t complain later because I made it clear now.”

The 2016 Civil Service management code does say government departments can set a probation period for new staff.

But beyond that the code is clear – that government departments “must follow the statutory dispute resolution procedures” when someone faces being sacked.

5. You’ll have no set hours or social life

One of the most eyebrow-raising parts of the job advert is for Mr Cummings’ young personal assistant.

“One of you will be a sort of personal assistant to me for a year,” he writes. “This will involve a mix of very interesting work and lots of uninteresting trivia that makes my life easier which you won’t enjoy.

“You will not have weekday date nights, you will sacrifice many weekends – frankly it will hard having a boy/girlfriend at all.”

While it’s no secret that Spads work punishing hours it’s highly unusual to spell it out like this in the job advert.

Lord Kerslake said: “There is a standard Special Advisor contract which refers to potential working hours and so on.

“And limiting a job to someone without a partner, let alone children, would be discriminatory wouldn’t it?”





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.