Organisation information
Recruitment licences
From Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA)
Published on
Last updated on
From Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA)
Published on
Last updated on
A recruitment licence is a permit allowing you, as a public body, to carry out your own external recruitment.
If an appointment must be made under the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointment) Act 2004, the selection process must be carried out by an approved licence holder. You can apply to us for a licence.
You must show you have:
Licences are issued with terms and conditions. A licence may be terminated if you do not adhere to these terms and conditions.
The Public Appointments Service will often carry out a recruitment process on your behalf. In such cases you do not need to apply for a licence. You only need a licence if you want to carry out your own external recruitment process.
In cases where the AP in CPSA refuses an application and the applicant seeks a review of the decision, a more senior official in the CPSA will review the case. In doing so they will look at any points made by the Recruiter where they consider the licence should have been granted. The senior official will consider these and will then make a decision and inform the recruiter of the decision in writing giving reasons for the decision made.
In cases where a more senior official agrees that the licence application should be refused, a report on this will be made to the next Commission meeting.