Whitehall seeks HR chief amid concerns about how 'spads' are treated
The move comes amid concerns in the civil service at the treatment of special advisers to ministers, known as spads.
Monday 24 February 2020 13:47, UK
The Cabinet Office is looking for a civil servant to oversee HR policy for ministers' advisers, amid reported concerns about their treatment by Number 10.
A job advert on the government's website says the Cabinet Office is seeking a "HR policy lead" who will have a "key role in establishing the cross-government special adviser HR function".
It is described as a "high-profile and stretching role" which would involve the successful applicant being asked to "revise and embed a full suite of HR policies, processes and principles ensuring they are fit for purpose".
A salary of up to £60,635 is being offered.
In recent months, there have been concerns about the treatment of special advisers, known as spads.
BuzzFeed News, citing a senior Whitehall official, said the new role has been specifically created in response to concerns within the civil service about the treatment of spads.
Sonia Khan, an adviser to former chancellor Sajid Javid, was escorted from Downing Street by police after being sacked by Dominic Cummings in August.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson's chief adviser was challenged at a meeting of aides in Downing Street earlier this month, with one of them saying it was "unkind" for him to say that half of them would be sacked.
Mr Javid quit as chancellor earlier this month after being told by the PM to sack his aides, something which he said "any self-respecting minister" would reject.
His departure came after weeks of reported tensions between him and Mr Cummings.
Sources stressed to the Press Association that the appointment was not being made in response to any particular individual.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "In December 2018 the then government announced it would be reviewing how special advisers' terms could be made clearer and more consistent.
"This is a routine appointment to the existing team to support this ongoing work and does not constitute a change to the way special advisers are managed."