Written evidence submitted by the Head of the Civil Service (SIR0013)

1. In its report Truth to Power[1], the Public Administration Select Committee recognised that a politically impartial civil service was “the most effective way of supporting the democratically elected Government and future administrations in the UK”. Impartiality, along with the other core civil service values of integrity, honesty, and objectivity, are set out in the Civil Service Code, which has been placed on a statutory footing by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010[2].

2. The Civil Service Code sets out the duty of the civil service to serve, to the best of its abilities, the government of the United Kingdom, regardless of which political party or parties form that government and future administrations. Civil servants working for the United Kingdom government have a duty to support that government in developing and implementing its policies. The UK Government’s policy is to maintain the United Kingdom. It is therefore legitimate and necessary for civil servants to support Ministers as fully as possible in pursuit of this objective, in a way which maintains political impartiality and the other core values, and is in line with the requirements of the Civil Service Code.

3. Similarly, civil servants working for the Scottish Government have a duty under the Civil Service Code[3] to support the Scottish Government regardless of which party or parties make up that government and future administrations. The current Scottish Government’s policy is to have an independent Scotland. The obligation to support and serve elected administrations, which is imposed by each of the Civil Service Codes in all of the parts of the United Kingdom, extends to issues where those governments may take conflicting positions and to matters of constitutional change. The Minister for the Cabinet office in a debate in the House of Commons on 3 April 2014, said:

“Impartiality is, of course, important. That does not mean and has never meant being impartial to the Government of the day. The civil service must be very partial towards the Government’s getting their programme implemented; otherwise, the bargain starts to fall apart. The essence of impartiality is not indifference to the Government of the day but the ability to be equally passionate and committed to implementing a future Government’s priorities and programme. It is important that this impartiality does not turn in to a cold indifference. It must be a passionate commitment to delivering the Government of the day’s priorities. This is hugely important.”[4]

4. Both the UK Government and Scottish Government have circulated guidance to their civil servants. Intentionally, the two sets of advice closely follow each other, and were the subject of close consultation at official level. The advice is firmly rooted in the Civil Service Code and offers guidance on its application in the run-up to the referendum. The UK Cabinet Office guidance [5]says it is ‘both legitimate and necessary for civil servants to support Ministers as fully as possible in pursuit of those objectives’. The Scottish Government’s advice[6] states that the requirements of the Code ‘apply to work on constitutional reform as much as in any other area of the respective Governments’ work’. This advice applies whether the two Government’s objectives are aligned or opposed.

5. Through the Edinburgh Agreement, both the UK Government and the Scottish Government are committed to an informed debate leading to a referendum that is legal, fair and decisive. To inform the debate, civil servants have supported Ministers in both governments in forming, describing and explaining their policy positions on both sides of the debate. It is the role of the Civil Service to provide Ministers with advice that is robust and based on the merits of the case, uninfluenced by party political considerations. It is for Ministers to decide, explain and defend their political choices.

6. The Code places a duty on Civil Service departments to make staff aware of the Code and its values, to consider any concerns raised by staff members who believe they are being required to act in a way which conflicts with the Code. Nominated officers exist in each department if a staff member feels unable to raise concerns with someone in their line management chain.

7. The annual People Survey[7] conducted throughout the Civil Service tests awareness of the Civil Service Code. The most recent survey found that 89% of staff were aware of the Code; 64% of staff were aware of how to raise a concern; and 67% were confident that a concern would be investigated properly.

8. The arrangements for investigating alleged breaches of the Civil Service Code in relation to the referendum on independence remain the same, both for civil servants working for The UK Government and the Scottish Government. Those arrangements are set out clearly in the Civil Service Code.

9. The Head of the Civil Service is responsible for providing professional and corporate leadership to the Civil Service, and Permanent Secretaries are responsible for providing that leadership within their organisations. That does not change in the run up to the referendum on Scottish independence. As noted at paragraph 5, the Head of the Civil Service issued guidance to civil servants on conduct and supporting UK Ministers around the referendum in July 2012, with similar guidance being issued to Scottish Government staff. He will issue further guidance to civil servants on conduct and the restricted period before the referendum. Similar guidance will also issue within the Scottish Government in advance of the referendum.

10. In October 2011, the Head of the Civil Service and Cabinet Secretary, then Sir Gus O’Donnell combining the two roles, wrote that:

The job of civil servants is to support the elected government of the day. […] Within Scotland there is an elected Government with a policy programme for, amongst other things, very significant constitutional change. The UK Government takes a different view on some of these issues. It is right and proper that civil servants working to their respective administrations undertake the relevant work to support Ministers to pursue their aims, whether or not those aims are the subject of political controversy[8].

11. Sir Bob Kerslake (Head of the Civil Service) and Sir Jeremy Heywood (Cabinet Secretary) wrote in February 2012 that:

The debate on independence will no doubt be a lively one. But we are a single civil service and we will continue to support our respective administrations through this period according to our core values of honesty, impartiality, integrity and objectivity[9].

12. One key lesson that can be drawn from the significant constitutional changes that have taken place in the United Kingdom over the last 15 years is that the core values of the Civil Service are enduring and as relevant today as at any time. Values, of course, need to be allied with behaviours and the Civil Service seeks to bring pride and professionalism to all that it does on behalf of the governments it serves.

April 2014