Civil Service impartiality and referendums
9 April 2014
The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) launches its Civil Service impartiality and referendums inquiry with sessions on Tuesday 8 April and Wednesday 9 April 2014.
Witnesses
Tuesday 8 April 2014, Committee Room 16, Palace of Westminster
At 9.45am
- Professor Jim Gallagher, University of Oxford
- Professor Michael Keating, University of Aberdeen
Wednesday 9 April 2014, Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
At 9.30am
- Sir Nicholas Macpherson, Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury
Timings are approximate.
Purpose of the inquiry
The inquiry aims to consider the dual obligations of civil servants in the Scottish government to their ministers and to the UK Civil Service as a whole and to explore what "impartiality and objectivity" mean in practice for civil servants working on the referendum on independence. It will also scrutinise the leadership of the Civil Service in relation to the referendum on independence.
Particular issues to be explored
- historical and comparative perspectives on the implications of devolution for civil servants in the UK;
- examples of challenges in upholding the principle of civil service impartiality; and
- tensions in the policy advice role of officials in the context of the referendum on Scottish independence.
The @CommonsPASC Twitter account will be live tweeting the session, using the hashtag #CSScotland.