Chief training civil servant Jonathan Slater sacked after exams row

The chief civil servant on the Division for Schooling has been sacked following the row over A-level and GCSE leads to England.

Jonathan Slater was attributable to stand down subsequent 12 months, however will now depart the division by subsequent week.

A authorities assertion stated Boris Johnson “concluded that there’s a want for recent official management”.

However the civil service union accused No 10 of “discarding” its members to “maintain scrutiny from the federal government’s door”.

Mr Slater is the fifth everlasting secretary to depart his put up in six months.

The information comes a day after the top of examination regulator Ofqual, Sally Collier, additionally resigned from her function.

Hundreds of A-level college students noticed their outcomes downgraded earlier this month attributable to an algorithm designed to reasonable them.

It led to an enormous backlash and a u-turn by authorities forward of the publication of GCSE outcomes, reverting the grades again to these awarded by academics.

Schooling Secretary Gavin Williamson confronted calls to resign, however No 10 stated it had full confidence in him.

New chief

Mr Slater has been the everlasting secretary on the DfE for 4 years and was attributable to step down in Spring 2021.

He’ll now get replaced by Susan Acland-Hood, who was introduced into the division on a short lived contract final week to steer on its examination response.

Cupboard Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill thanked Mr Slater for his 35 years as a public servant and the federal government stated a everlasting alternative could be confirmed within the coming weeks.

‘Scapegoat’

The overall secretary of the FDA union, Dave Penman, criticised the choice to sack Mr Slater.

He stated: “If it wasn’t clear earlier than, then it definitely is now – this administration will throw civil service leaders underneath bus and not using a second’s hesitation to protect ministers from any sort of accountability.”

He accused the federal government of “scapegoating” civil servants and claimed belief between ministers and civil servants was “at an all-time low”.

The Labour Celebration additionally condemned the transfer, saying civil servants had “time and time once more taken the autumn for the incompetence and failures of ministers”.

Shadow training secretary Kate Inexperienced stated: “Dad and mom will likely be wanting on in dismay at a authorities in full chaos only a matter of days earlier than kids will return to colleges.

“Management requires a way of duty and a willingness to be held accountable, qualities this prime minister and his ministers completely lack.”

So, what does the departure of Jonathan Slater imply – and why does it matter?

For his union, the FDA – and for Labour – it’s straightforwardly an indication that, when issues go flawed, the buck now firmly stops with the officers and never authorities ministers.

Indignant Conservative MPs had been being privately reassured that “heads would roll” after the exams controversy.

And now, each a senior civil servant and the top of Ofqual have now departed, whereas Gavin Williamson and his training ministers stay in put up.

However one thing of a sample is now rising.

In February, probably the most senior official on the Residence Workplace resigned – and took the federal government to courtroom, claiming there had been a “vicious and orchestrated marketing campaign” towards him.

Different senior civil servants have made much less of a fuss, however have nonetheless left their jobs.

Probably the most senior Whitehall mandarin – Sir Mark Sedwill – lately moved, the top of the International Workplace introduced an sooner than anticipated departure, and it was confirmed final month that the everlasting secretary on the Ministry of Justice could be leaving too.

So, not-so-permanent secretaries appears to be a characteristic of this administration.

Cupboard Workplace Minister Michael Gove has talked about reforming the civil service. In a speech in June, he stated authorities departments recruited in their very own picture and their assumptions had been “inescapably metropolitan”.

So a strategic rethink and an elevated turnover of senior Whitehall personnel are most likely not solely unrelated.

However what may fear senior civil servants extra is that they could be sacrificed for short-term information administration, quite than as the results of any strategic grasp plan.

And there’s a threat that this, in flip, may have an effect on the standard of those that apply for senior civil service roles sooner or later.