§ 56. Captain A. REIDasked the President of the Board of Education whether 2489 his attention has been called to the severe strictures on the attitude of the Ministry of Health in regard to the Warrington water scheme that were made by the secretary of the Welsh Department of the Board of Education; and whether, since it is a violation of the Regulations of the Civil Service for a paid official in one Government Department to criticise publicly another Department, he proposes to take any action in the matter?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of EDUCATION (Mr. Edward Wood)My attention has been drawn to the fact that this officer acted as stated in the question. The Regulations affecting the conduct of civil servants in such matters necessarily leave considerable latitude to individual discretion, and it might be held that, inasmuch as the occasion was that of a Private Bill affecting the rights and property of the officer in question (who was a petitioner against it to this House) those limits should in this case be somewhat more widely drawn. But I have informed the officer that, in my judgment, his action in reflecting publicly upon the conduct of another Government Department exceeded the limits that discretion would impose, and can scarcely be regarded as being in accordance with the best traditions of the Civil Service.