David Walker

W hat will the forthcoming departure of Dennis Trevelyan from White - hall mean for the Civil Service Commission, of which he is First Commis - sioner ? Trevelyan bears a famous Whitehall name — George Trevelyan was co-author with Stafford Northcote of the great Victorian report that established a neutral, meritocratic Civil Service — and has actively upheld the vetting of Whitehall appointments to ensure they are made on the basis of fair and open competition. It was he who made a fuss when Michael Heseltine jumped the gun by appointing Peter Levene as the MoD procurement supremo, insisting that the commission had to examine the candidate's suitability. Levene, after examination, turned out to be the man for the job. Trevelyan is a Whitelawish figure both in looks and in career. This has been spent in and around the Home Office, including a spell as first director-general of the Prison

Service during Whitelaw's tenure as Home Secretary. At the commission he has tried (without much success) to recruit more polytechnic and redbrick graduates. Against the odds, the intake of potential high-flyers as administration trainees has been main - tained . Trevelyan's explanation: Mrs Thatcher has demonstrably wielded power, and proximity to power is what the Civii Service offers. Trevelyan is due to be replaced by a Cabinet Office official, John Holroyd, whose background is Ministry of Agri - culture . But will Holroyd have the same job to do? Moves are afoot to break up the Commission as now constituted, though no one has (yet) suggested that the First Commissioner loses his letter from the Queen enjoining him to make sure the minister's nephew doesn't get a job unless he has gone through a competitive exam.