Francis Maude and Sir Jeremy Heywood to give evidence

• Parliament TV: The Accountability of Civil Servants
• Inquiry: The Accountability of Civil Servants
• The Constitution Committee

Witnesses

At 2.40pm, Wednesday 18 July, Committee Room 2, Palace of Westminster

• Rt Hon. Lord Butler of Brockwell KG GCB CVO, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service, 1988–98
• Sir Jeremy Heywood CB CVO, Cabinet Secretary, Sir Bob Kerslake, Head of the Home Civil Service
• Rt Hon. Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General

The House of Lords Constitution Committee held the final evidence session in their inquiry into the accountability of civil servants.

The Committee finished by taking evidence first from Lord Butler of Brockwell, Cabinet Secretary from 1988 to 1998, then from Sir Jeremy Heywood, Cabinet Secretary, and Sir Bob Kerslake, Head of the Home Civil Service, and finally from Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office.

The Committee asked the witnesses about the Government’s civil service reform proposals, including the intention to strengthen the role of secretaries of state in the appointment of departmental permanent secretaries and the suggestion that ministers could be allowed to ask permanent secretaries to appoint particular civil servants on fixed-term contracts.

The witnesses were asked whether the risks politicising the civil service. The witnesses will also be asked about the accountability of senior civil servants both to ministers and Parliament and whether the mechanisms in place are still appropriate.