Not all senior civil service roles should be open to external competition, the Commons public administration select committee (PASC) said in report published last week.

The civil service’s “reliance” on outside appointments should end, MPs said, partly because of the “widespread dissatisfaction” caused by incomers being paid on average 20 per cent more than those promoted from within the service.

External recruits do not necessarily perform better than internally-promoted civil servants, and often quickly leave the service, the report said. MPs said that those who do join from outside should get more support in making the move across sectors.

The committee also suggested that external appointments should be to junior senior civil service (SCS) roles “so that outside recruits have the chance to develop the skills they need to operate effectively at senior levels if promoted”.

And they argued that candidates from the wider public sector are preferable to those from the private sector, because they understand working in a political environment.

One solution to the pay differential problem, the report argued, would be to place “stricter controls” on departments’ freedom to deviate from advertised salaries.

The Cabinet Office, the report added, should make it a priority to produce a plan for how it intends to develop the skills of its existing workforce. The performance, pay and retention of external recruits should also be monitored, it recommended.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said it has made changes to its fast stream system, extending it to specialists in areas such as IT and procurement, to address the skills shortage. Four out of five SCS members are appointed from within the service, he added, but external recruits are appointed when a skills gap makes it necessary.

Civil service commissioner Janet Paraskeva, who oversees recruitment, said the overriding concern is that appointments are made on merit, “irrespective of whether they derive from opportunities limited to internal candidates or are opened up to wider competition”.