The most senior civil servant at the Ministry of Justice has declined to reveal whether she has had to take additional steps to support staff said to be the victims of ‘bad behaviour’ as the media spotlight intensifies over the investigation into the conduct of lord chancellor and justice secretary Dominic Raab.

Today, The Times reported that Raab had been formally criticised by a permanent secretary he worked with in evidence to an inquiry being conducted by Adam Tolley KC into Raab’s behaviour during his time at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and during his first stint as justice secretary. Raab denies any wrongdoing.

Appearing before the House of Commons justice select committee today, Antonia Romeo, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice, was asked by committee chair Sir Bob Neill MP about the state of morale among staff in her department.

Dominic Raab

The Times reported that Raab had been formally criticised by a permanent secretary he worked with

Source: Mark Thomas/Shutterstock

Neill said: ‘It has been reported – I’m sure you’ll have seen it in the press as much as we have - that almost a third of the people in your department’s private office directorate have said to have been the victims of bad behaviour over the last 12 months. That’s the report. I appreciate there are some things you may not be able to say at the moment, but I just wonder, have you had to take additional steps in relation to supporting staff in such matters,’ Neill said.

Romeo replied that it would not be appropriate to comment while an independent KC-led process was ongoing.

Asked by Neill if the number of people leaving the private office directorate has increased over the last year, Romeo said: ‘There’s always a flow, in and out. People tend to come into private office for 18 months, two years, and then move on. That’s normal. We try and manage the flow in and out. We also try and recruit in advance. We have a list of people, who as it were on a merit list, who we then move in as needed. We often do significant numbers of recruitment so that we can draw on them as and when vacancies arise.’

Neill continued: ‘The suggestion in the press is that the turnover has been greater than normal over the last few months.’

Romeo replied: ‘As you’d expect, I don’t think I can comment on that while the independent process is ongoing.’

On attrition rates, Romeo said: ‘The whole group is 90 people. In the traditions of statistics, one wouldn’t normally comment on numbers because they are so small as to how many people are leaving or not.’