Differentiate between civil servants and ministers? ( in points)
Class 9 Social Science Civics chapter 5 working of institutions. plz yaar bahut important hai bhai / bahen
Answers
5. Who are ministers? • Around 100 government members including Cabinet ministers, ministers of state and parliamentary under-secretaries. Initially prove themselves in the House of Commons. • Ministers have no training and they study their new brief quickly and then need to work themselves into their job. • Typically been from House of Commons or Lords although Gordon Brown has brought in non-political advisors e.g. Sir Digby Jones – former director of CBI who became minister for trade and investment in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. • Work in departments of state or ministries – most of which are headed by non-Cabinet ministers. Major ministries headed by Cabinet ministers. The more important the department the more ministers it will have. • Supported in their work by junior ministers and parliamentary private secretaries. Very reliant on the performance of the civil servants who work in their department who organise their day, appointments and offer advice.
6. What role do they carry out? • Politician with duties in Cabinet and parliament and also administrator of a large Whitehall department consisting of civil servants. • As politicians, normal constituency duties as MPS but also speak in House of Commons debates, appear in committees and pilot any legislation through the House of Commons which is relevant to their department. • Also need to supervise and take an interest in their department ensuring it runs effectively. Make key decisions and take responsibility for actions of civil servants. Need to ensure run a smooth, well-oiled machine with people they can rely on. • In theory listen to advice put before them and make their judgement. In practice perhaps only decide 15% of issues that come up. • Since Next Step Programme of 1980s Executive Agencies have been set up to separate areas of policy and implementation for efficiency and day- to-day running.
7. What are the limitations of ministers powers? • Outnumbered by their senior officials by around six or seven to one. • Lack permanency staying in one department for on average two years. • Non-specialist often lacking knowledge of the department’s work – rarely have clear objectives and priorities. Never ‘master their brief’. • Have multiple demands on their time – Cabinet, parliament, media and role in European Union. 65% of work is non-departmental. • May find it difficult to get key information as dependent on what officials tell them or what data they are presented. Officials control supply of information and may purposely embarrass officials. • May find it difficult to get their policies implemented and their decisions carried out as officials developed art of delay to frustrate ministerial initiatives.
8. What is the structure of the civil service? • It is the governmental bureaucracy made up of professional and permanent paid officials who administer/run the government departments. Those at the top are known as the ‘higher civil service’ or ‘mandarins’. They are based mainly in Whitehall ministries. • The highest civil servant is the Cabinet Secretary but in each department there will be a Permanent Secretary, Deputy Secretaries, Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Senior Principals and Principals. • There are Ministerial departments which are led by a government minister and cover matters that require direct political oversight. • There are Non-Ministerial departments which cover matters for which direct political oversight is judged unnecessary or it is unsuitable for there to be political interference. These are led by senior civil servants. Examples include the Assets Recovery Agency, the British Council and the Export Credits Guarantee Departments. • There are also executive agencies who work and report back to ministerial departments. They carry out an operational function for them. For example Her Majesty’s Prison Service works for the Home Office, Jobcentre Plus for the Department of Work and Pensions and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for the Department of Transport
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