THERE is a very well-paid job going in Whitehall. But the Government cannot seem to fill the post and has been forced to call in headhunters.

It is difficult to imagine why. Home Secretary David Blunkett is only looking for someone to run the country's crisis-hit immigration and asylum system - including overseeing the Throckmorton centre.

Employment consultants have been scouring the ranks of local government and business as well as the more traditional civil servants, to find someone willing to take on the title of director-general of the immigration and nationality directorate.

The job carries a salary of £124,000 a year plus "substantial" bonuses to manage an organisation with a staff of 10,500 and a budget of £1.5bn, and which deals with 400,000 immigration, asylum and citizenship applications a year.

The Home Office describes the job as "one of the most significant senior posts below permanent secretary in the civil service. It is a leadership and management role of national importance".

But applicants have not been queueing up to follow Stephen Boys Smith, a career civil servant who has held the job for the past four years and is now moving on to head the Home Office's organised crime unit.

The job description states: "Its responsibilities, especially but not solely in the management of asylum, are a top political priority. Its work is exposed to continuing scrutiny in parliament and in the media and frequently excites strongly held views, with both the public and those seeking its support and assistance."