All Recruitment into the Prison Service must comply with the following:-
United Kingdom and European Union Law. Recruitment must be conducted within UK and EU law as it applies, including:-
Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Code. The Code requires selection for appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. The Code does, however, allow some appointments other than by selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition including: -
Equality of opportunity. The Prison Service is an equal opportunities employer and there must be no discrimination, either direct or indirect, during Recruitment. Governors/Heads of Group must develop a local outreach strategy taking account of the Home Secretary's set targets for the Recruitment of minority ethnic staff.
Levels of devolved authority. Responsibility for convening and managing the Recruitment process is devolved to all establishments and Headquarters Groups and Units outside central London. Personnel Management Group are responsible for all other Headquarters Recruitment. Devolved Recruitment may be at any grade except, senior civil service, senior officer, principal officer, operational manager, senior operational manager and full-time chaplaincy grades.
Openness, fairness and merit. This is about getting the best person for the job. When recruiting Civil Service rules require:-
- All posts must be advertised except appointments other than through selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. When advertising there is a presumption that Barkers or TMP Worldwide, framework suppliers of Recruitment services to the Prison Service, should be used to advise on advertising strategy and place adverts for major or important campaigns to attract suitable candidates and promote the Prison Service brand.
- prospective applicants must be given equal and reasonable access to adequate information about the job and its requirements; and about the selection process;
- applicants must be considered equally on merit at each stage of the selection process;
- selection must be based on relevant criteria applied consistently to all candidates; short-listing and all selection decisions must be conducted by at least two competent and suitable people to guard against individual bias;
- selection techniques must be objective, reliable and guard against bias. Assessment centre accreditation must be acquired prior to appointment to grades where it is mandatory;
- a complaints procedure must be set up.
Security procedures. Pre-appointment checks must be conducted on all successful candidates to confirm identity and determine whether they are likely to give satisfactory service in the future and whether there is anything in their recent past which might bring discredit on the Prison Service. A pre-appointment checklist must be signed off by a senior manager nominated by the Governor/Head of Group to confirm appropriate checks have been satisfactorily completed.
Appointment procedures. The Employment Rights Act requires employers to provide employees with a written statement of employment particulars. Staff recruited must be issued with a standard appointment letter containing generic terms and conditions of appointment.
Auditing and monitoring requirements. Arrangements for auditing and monitoring must be established at the start of the Recruitment process including:
- compliance with the requirements Standard 29 regarding KPI and KPT data quality to record receipt and monitor reply of public correspondence;
- compliance with Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment monitoring requirements;
- the requirements to carry out self-audits in accordance with auditing arrangements;
- Civil Service Commissioners' requirements to keep an exceptions register detailing appointments other than through selection on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.
Workforce Planning. Area Managers/Governors/Heads of Group are responsible for forecasting projected staffing needs in order to respond proactively to likely vacancies.
Training. Training is no longer mandatory (PSI 9/2003). However, Governors, Area Managers/Heads of Group must ensure that staff are competent to carry out the tasks to which they are allocated.
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