Ministers and Civil Servants

Abstract

In the intellectual ability of senior Civil Servants, in the closeness of their association with Ministers, in the extensive and important duties of the Civil Service, and in its permanence (for Governments change, but the Civil Service remains the same), there would seem to be strong reasons for believing that the influ­ence of the Civil Service may be a powerful factor in the formation of Government policy. That Civil Servants are sheltered by anony­mity does not make the situation any more reassuring. Nor does the fact that their numbers have increased by over half since pre-war days, partly because of the expansion of work of existing Government Departments, partly because of the creation of new Government Departments. The Ministries of Social Security, Technology, Employment and Productivity, Post and Telecom­munications, and the Department of the Environment, for instance, have all been set up since 1914. In the distant period of the eighteenth century it was considered sufficient at one period to have only two Secretaries of State. Now Government activity has developed so much that it is doubtful whether even the present large number of Government Departments is enough, and from time to time suggestions are made for new Ministries; Ministers for Coastal Protection (against oil pollution), and for Justice, are possibilities.

An assessment of the authority of Civil Servants based on their influence over Parliamentary legislation, their contacts with official organisations, and their influence over administrative decisions. Administrative tribunals. The doctrine of Ministerial Responsibility and its importance. The Fulton Report, 1968.

THEME: Civil Service powers are increasing, but the doctrine of Ministerial Responsibility gives reasonable safeguards for the individual citizen.