Frequently asked questions
Lodging an appeal
What does the Civil Service Appeal Board do?
The Civil Service Appeal Board (CSAB is an advisory non-departmental
public body sponsored by the Cabinet Office). It was established in 1971 on
the basis of an agreement between the two sides of the National Whitley
Council to hear appeals by civil servants against dismissal and premature
retirement. Over time the role of the Board has evolved and its present
remit is to hear appeals against:
-
Dismissal and early retirement;
-
The withholding of compensation to civil servants dismissed on
inefficiency grounds;
-
Refusal to allow participation in political activities; and
-
Forfeiture of superannuation.
How do I contact the Civil Service Appeal Board?
The Secretariat of the Civil Service Appeal Board is based at Rm G32, 22
Whitehall, London, SW1A 2WH. There should be someone to take your call
most days between 9am and 5pm on the following numbers:
Keith Wright 020 7276 3832 (Secretary to the Board - who
deals with alphabetical splits A-G & T-Z)
Mail to:
keith.wright@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
Jane Allen 020 7276 3833 (Hearing Secretary – deals with
alphabetical split H-S)
Mail to:
jane.allen@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
Colin Bentley 020 7276 3834 (Hearing Clerk)
Mail to:
colin.bentley@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
Janet Outred 020 7276 3835 (who provides administrative
support)
Mail to:
janet.outred@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
Fax Number 020 7276 3836
Am I eligible to appeal?
Civil Servants must be given the opportunity to appeal to the CSAB if they are dismissed or
retired early if, at the date of termination of their employment:
-
they are UK based;
-
the dismissal is not on medical grounds;
-
they have been continuously employed in the Civil Service for at one
year;
-
they have not reached the minimum pensionable age;
-
their employment is not being terminated at the expiry of a fixed-term
appointment in respect of which they have already agreed in writing
before 25 October 1999 that they have no right of appeal
-
they were not taking part in industrial action, unless:
-
the dismissal was for taking part in protected industrial action: or
-
the department or agency has not dismissed all employees who were
taking part in the industrial action at the same establishment at the
date of dismissal or another of those dismissed at the time has been
offered re-engagement within 3 months of the dismissal; and
-
they were not taking part in unofficial industrial action at the time
of dismissal.
How do I lodge an appeal?
Appellants must lodge their intention to appeal to the CSAB either before their effective
date of termination or so that it is received by the CSAB Secretariat within three months
of that date.
Your intention to appeal must be made in writing and should contain as much
background information about yourself as is possible e.g. date of birth and the
governmental department/agency which employed you. THE BOARD WILL ALSO NEED
A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OF DISMISSAL.
How will my appeal be processed?
Once your appeal has been received the CSAB will send you a background
information form (CSAB97.5) for you to complete together with a request for
your main statement of case. A deadline for the submission of this
statement will be given and this must be met otherwise your appeal may be
struck out. On receipt of the CSAB97.5 form a check of your eligibility to
appeal to the CSAB
will be made and if there is any problem you will be informed as soon as
possible.
When your full statement is ready you should send it to the Appeal Board as
quickly as you can. It must not arrive later than the given deadline.
Getting your statement in on time is very important. Extra documentation
can be submitted to the Board at any point up to seven days before the
hearing. It is preferable that extra documents are received as early as
possible to ensure that they are circulated to all parties and considered
in a timely fashion. Papers forwarded on the seventh day before the hearing
must be received by the CSAB Secretariat by midday at the
latest. After midday and they will not be treated as having been received
on time. You should keep a copy of your main statement.
You do not have to prepare a main statement if you feel that you have said
what you wanted to say in your first letter to the Appeal Board. If you
have nothing to add to your first letter, you should let the CSAB Secretariat know as soon
as possible. Please remember that anything you wish the Board to consider
must be received in writing prior to the hearing. Additional documentation
cannot be put before the Board on the day of the hearing.
When the Appeal Board has received your statement a copy will be sent to
your Department/ Agency for their response, which they will also have to
submit to the CSAB
within a given deadline.
The department’s/agency’s statement will contain all the facts which it
thinks are relevant, and explain the reason for dismissing you. It will
also contain copies of relevant documents.
At the same time as the department/agency are asked to submit their
statement you will also be informed that the request has been made and
given a provisional date for the hearing; this date will usually be at
least three weeks after the department’s/agency’s statement is due.
Copies of the department’s/agency’s statement will be sent by the CSAB to you and your
representative.
If you want the department/agency to provide any other documents you should
ask the Appeal Board who will decide if they are relevant. If they consider
that they are, the department/agency will be asked to produce them, and
unless there is some special consideration of confidentiality they will be
copied to you.
You and one representative will be invited to appear before the Board on a
date arranged by the Secretariat. This date will, as far as possible, take
account of the wishes of both the appellant and the department/agency. You
are strongly advised to attend the hearing and to have the assistance of a
representative who is familiar with all aspects of the case.
If you are attending the hearing without representation, make sure that you
bring all the necessary documents with you and that they have been read
thoroughly.
The department/agency will be invited to send two people to the hearing;
one of those will usually be a member of your line management or the person
who took the decision to dismiss you. The other is usually from Human
Resources.
Once the date of the hearing is confirmed it will not be changed unless
there are very exceptional circumstances for so doing.
Compensation Where an Officer is Dismissed for Inefficiency
If an officer is dismissed on the grounds of inefficiency and he or she is
not paid compensation or is awarded only part payment under the discretion
allowed to a Department or Agency, the officer may appeal to the CSAB both against dismissal
and the decision made on the amount of compensation awarded. If an officer
appeals on both grounds, the appeals will be considered at separate
hearings, with the appeal against dismissal being heard first. (These can
be both heard on the same day if required). If, as a result of the first
appeal the officer is reinstated the second appeal will become unnecessary.
