§ Mr. HammondTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office (1) if ministerial special advisers are fixed-term workers within the scope of the EU Fixed-Term Workers Directive; [73683]
(2) what assessment he has made of the impact of the EU Fixed Term Workers Directive on the employment of special advisers, with particular reference to the provision that fixed term contracts will become permanent after four years. [73819]
§ Mr. AlexanderSpecial advisers are temporary civil servants appointed under Article 3 of the Civil Service Order in Council 1995. The Government's view is that they cannot be employed on a permanent basis on the grounds that they have been recruited outside the Civil Service rules of fair and open competition, and they are not required to be politically impartial or serve a future Administration of a different political party. Special advisers are employed on fixed term contracts for the purposes of the Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 but the Government believes that special advisers' contracts cannot be converted to permanent ones by virtue of Regulation 8. Employing special advisers on a temporary basis is justified on objective grounds due to the special nature of their employment.