Lords Constitution Committee to hear from David Blunkett and Lord Fowler on Accountability of Civil Service
The House of Lords Constitution Committee will tomorrow take evidence from former Home Secretary David Blunkett MP and former Secretary of State for Social Services Lord Fowler as part of their inquiry into the accountability of civil servants.
The Committee is likely to ask Lord Fowler and Mr Blunkett for their views on whether Ministers should have any role in the hiring and disciplinary process for civil servants, whether individual ministerial responsibility is still an appropriate method of holding the government to account and whether there should be more direct accountability of civil servants to Parliament.
The Committee will also hear from Mark Davies, former special adviser to Jack Straw MP and Paul Richards, former special adviser to Hazel Blears MP and Patricia Hewitt. As part of the inquiry the Committee are also considering whether there are appropriate mechanisms of accountability in place to reflect the important role of special advisers in government.
The evidence sessions will start at 10.30am with Lord Fowler and David Blunkett giving evidence. The evidence session with Mark Davies and Paul Richards will start at around 11.15am. Both sessions will be in Committee Room 1 of the House of Lords.