Civil Service Commission
Joanna Abeyie and Lea Paterson have been appointed as Commissioners as part of the Civil Service Commission. Together they bring valuable skills and experience from both public and private sector backgrounds.
The Civil Service Commission is an independent statutory body that oversees appointments to the Civil Service, ensuring that they are made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. Commissioners also promote and hear appeals brought under the Civil Service Code.
The new Civil Service Commissioners have been appointed by Her Majesty on the recommendation of the Minister for the Civil Service after an open competition which took place in 2021.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Rt Hon. Steve Barclay said:
Joanna and Lea will bring with them decades of experience from across the public and private sectors and I am delighted to have them on board at a really important time for the development of the Commission and its work.
Baroness Gisela Stuart, the First Civil Service Commissioner, said:
Lea and Joanna bring a wealth of expertise from other sectors in recruiting talented people from a wide range of backgrounds to senior and specialist roles. Their knowledge and experience will be invaluable to our team of Commissioners and we look forward to them joining our board.
The new Commissioners announced today join the Commission from 13 June for a 5 year non-renewable term. Commissioners work part-time, typically between 4 and 8 days a month.
Notes to editors
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The Civil Service Commission was established as a statutory body in November 2010 under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. The Commission is independent of Ministers and the Civil Service. It is responsible for upholding the requirement that recruitment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.
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Joanna Abeyie MBE is a social impact entrepreneur and champion of diversity, as well as an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. In 2018, she founded Blue Moon, an inclusive Executive Search Business and Diversity and Inclusion Consultancy Practice. Joanna has a strong track record of increasing the employment diversity through inclusive hiring practices and launched her first charity, Elevation Networks Charitable Trust, when she was 18. Following this, she started Social Enterprise Shine Media, placing over 3000 people from diverse backgrounds into work within the creative industries. She recently completed a 6-month role as interim Head of Creative Diversity at the BBC. Joanna is a Non-Executive Director for Investors in People, a Trustee for The Lord Mayors Appeal, and was the first black person to be made a Trustee and Director of The Media Society. She helped establish the Creative Diversity All-Party- Parliamentary Group with Baroness (Deborah) Bull and advises organisations and bodies including the UK Research and Innovation Arts and Humanities Council and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Expert Advisory Panel. Joanna was awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Years Honours list for her services to diversity and inclusion in the creative and media industries. (Due to Joannas other ongoing roles, she will be recused from chairing all DCMS recruitment campaigns as a Commissioner.).
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Lea Paterson - Leas career has spanned public policy, regulation, HR and financial journalism. She has held a number of senior roles at the Bank of England, including serving as the Banks Executive Director of People & Culture, and as the organisations first Director of Independent Evaluation. As a financial journalist, Lea worked at The Independent and at The Times, where she was Economics Editor. Lea is currently a Board Member at the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), an independent member of Warwick Universitys Remuneration Committee and holds a number of voluntary and community roles.
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The Cabinet Office is also currently recruiting at least four new Commissioners to join the Board later this year. The deadline for appli