Committee take evidence on Civil Service impartiality and referendums

• Parliament TV: Civil Service impartiality and referendums
• Inquiry: Civil Service impartiality and referendums
• Public Administration Select Committee

Witnesses

Tuesday 6 May, Committee Room 15, Palace of Westminster

At 9.30am

• Sir Bob Kerslake, Head of the Civil Service
• Sir Peter Housden, Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government

At 10.30am

• David Maddox, The Scotsman
• Michael Settle, The Herald
• Professor James Mitchell, Professor of Public Policy, Politics and International Relations, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh

The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) will hold the third evidence session of Civil Service impartiality and referendums inquiry on Tuesday 6 May at 9:30 am. 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 in the evidence sessions may include:

• 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
• 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

Further Information

• About Parliament: Select Committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch Committees