Civil Service Appeal Board
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:
Contact details for the Secretariat of the Civil Service Appeal Board can be found in the Contact us section of the web site.
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:
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.
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.