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    The Power of Civil Servants
    The Power of Civil Servants
    The Power of Civil Servants
    Ebook66 pages39 minutes

    The Power of Civil Servants

    By Claire Foster-Gilbert, Peter Hennessy and David Normington

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    About this ebook

     
    Throughout Britain, Civil Servants are exposed to public scrutiny today in unprecedented ways. What does it mean that the political neutrality of the Civil Service has only been enshrined in law since 2010, nearly 150 years after it was first proposed? Why is it so important for politicians to trust Civil Servants (and what difficulties arise when they do not)? 

    Coauthored by former First Civil Service Commissioner David Normington and historian Peter Hennessy, The Power of Whitehall provides answers through rich observations about the nature of the British Civil Service, its values and effectiveness, and how it should continue to adapt to a changing world.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHaus Publishing
    Release dateNov 15, 2018
    ISBN9781912208067
    The Power of Civil Servants

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    • 5/5
      A thought-provoking piece on the past, current place and future of the civil service in government, explored in dialogue between Professor Peter Hennessy and Sir David Normington, former Permanent Secretary and now First Civil Service Commissioner. An essential read for public servants.

    Book preview

    The Power of Civil Servants - Claire Foster-Gilbert

    HAUS CURIOSITIES

    The Power of Civil Servants

    About the Contributors

    Claire Foster-Gilbert is the founder director of the Westminster Abbey Institute. A current and former member of numerous ethics committees, Dr Foster-Gilbert has played an instrumental role in the medical research ethics field, and has led efforts to shift the Church’s thinking on environmental issues.

    Peter Hennessy is an independent cross-bench peer and Atlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary University of London. Formerly a prominent journalist, Lord Hennessy co-founded the Institute of Contemporary British History in 1986 and entered academia in 1992.

    David Normington was a civil servant for 37 years, and served as Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education and Skills (2001–05) and the Home Office (2006–11). After retiring from the Civil Service in 2011, Sir David became the First Civil Service Commissioner and Commissioner for Public Appointments.

    Edited and with an Introduction by Claire Foster-Gilbert

    THE POWER OF CIVIL SERVANTS

    A dialogue between David Normington and Peter Hennessy

    First published by Haus Publishing in 2018

    4 Cinnamon Row

    London SW11 3TW

    www.hauspublishing.com

    Copyright © Westminster Abbey, 2018

    The right of the author to be identified as the author

    of this work has been asserted in accordance with

    the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

    A CIP catalogue record for this book is

    available from the British Library

    Print ISBN: 978-1-912208-05-0

    Ebook ISBN: 978-1-912208-06-7

    Typeset in Garamond by MacGuru Ltd

    Printed in Spain

    All rights reserved

    Contents

    Acknowledgements

    Introduction

    Dialogue

    A Brexit Postscript

    Notes

    The Civil Service Code

    Westminster Abbey Institute

    Acknowledgements

    Sincere thanks are due to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, the Council of Reference and Steering Group of Westminster Abbey Institute, Martin Donnelly, Richard Sargeant, Curtis Juman, Kathleen James, Barbara Schwepcke, Harry Hall, Ruth Cairns, Seán Moore, Sunbeam House in Hastings and Moore’s Cottage in Knockanure, County Kerry.

    Introduction

    In 2015 and 2016 Westminster Abbey Institute held a series of dialogues on the subject of power as it is exercised in the institutions of Government, Parliament, the Judiciary and the media. This little book is based upon the dialogue about the power of civil servants. By way of introduction I will give some context for Westminster Abbey playing host to such a dialogue; describe the place of the Civil Service in the ecology of Government and Parliament; consider some of the challenges and stresses civil servants face; and introduce the dialogue partners, Sir David Normington and Lord Hennessy.

    Westminster Abbey sits on the south side of Parliament Square, with the Houses of Parliament to the east, the Treasury and all of Whitehall to the north, and, since 2009 when it moved out of the House of Lords, the Supreme Court to the west. Parliament Square thus consists of the Legislature, the Executive, the Judiciary… and an ancient church. Westminster Abbey may have had a finger in the ruling classes’ pies in the past, but these days its proximity to the corridors of power belies any privileged access. Nevertheless, when the idea for Westminster Abbey Institute was proposed in a feasibility study in 2012, it was welcomed by the Abbey’s neighbours. Not as another think tank or campaigning organisation, of which there are plenty, and not as an apologist for faith in the public square, but as a place of rest, reflection and challenge to all those who try to run the country. That everything is happening a great deal faster these days is a cliché because it is true, and the pressure on Government and Parliament to respond and decide and deliver speedily, with no quarter given for the unintended consequences of well-intended policies, is intense. It is rare to be given the chance to draw breath and recollect what the policies are really for, to reconnect to one’s vocation to public service and the values and virtues that underlie it, and to recharge one’s moral batteries thereby. Westminster Abbey Institute tries to provide the means for this refreshment of the souls of the people and institutions so engaged. The series of dialogues on the nature of power was offered in this spirit, as is this book.

    Ruling power is located among balancing forces of party politics, Cabinet responsibilities, the Prime Minister’s favour, the need to gain and retain votes, the politically impartial support of the Civil Service, public opinion as it is expressed through traditional and social media and ‘events, dear boy, events’. To what extent do the different forces support, curtail, outweigh or even completely scupper each other in the shared attempt to express and enact what should be done for the

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