Mr. MALONEasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether confidential reports are kept on civil servants employed in the various Government Departments; whether these reports are communicated to the individuals concerned; and whether the individual has any means of appealing against the terms of any such report?
Mr. SAMUELUnder procedure agreed by the Civil Service National Whitley Council, reports on civil servants are made annually on a standard form. These reports are confidential, and are not communicated to the individual concerned. But if an officer is marked below the average of his grade in any of the qualifications mentioned in the headings of the report or not considered fit for promotion at present for some cause other than inexperience or—exceptionally—ill-health, the civil servant must be given a written intimation that he has been so assessed with the reasons where stated. Every civil servant has the right of appeal to the head of his Department.