HC Deb 16 June 1969 vol 785 cc4-5
3. Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

asked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will make a statement as to the circumstances in which, under the regulations now operating in the Civil Service, Permanent Secretaries have authority to overrule the decisions of Ministers.

Mrs. Hart

I would refer the right hon. Gentleman to the Answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 20th May to the hon. Member for Farnham (Mr. Maurice Macmillan).—[Vol. 784, c. 65–6.]

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

Does it follow that if a Minister wishes to get out of a pledge given upstairs, there are better ways of doing it than trying to hide behind his civil servant?

Mrs. Hart

I should think that nobody was more familiar with the convention governing this matter than the right hon. Gentleman. I am sure that he is well aware that neither Ministers nor civil servants are above the law. Indeed, he would be the last person to wish to change that.