Whitehall's recruitment policies have come under fire again, after auditors reported Civil Service appointments were too expensive and time consuming. A study by the National Audit Office concluded that around £35m a year could be saved, if Whitehall's six largest departments reformed their recruitment processes. Auditors studied 40,000 appointments below senior level in 2007, across the ministries of Justice and Defence, Revenue and Customs, the Prison Service, UK Border Agency and the Department for Work and Pensions. They account for 70% of the Civil Service, and have strong links with local authorities, often working alongside councils to deliver crucial services. ‘The NAO's analysis identifies three common issues – the costs of staff used in the recruitment process are too high, the length of the recruitment process is too long, and the quality of the recruitment process needs to be improved.' The average cost of recruiting staff varied from £596 per individual to £1,921, and the NAO believed those figures could be slashed by up to 68% without compromising the quality of candidates. ‘There is little evidence that central government organisations systematically test the quality or effectiveness of their recruitment process. ‘Information on turnover of staff or surveys of candidates and managers are not routinely used to identify the successes and failings of the recruitment process,' the study warned. Tim Burr, head of the NAO, said: ‘External recruitment is a key component of ensuring that the Civil Service has the right skills and capacity to deliver. Departments often pay too little attention to how they manage the recruitment process.'
