Special Advisers: Civil Service Legislation (Hansard, 8 January 2004)

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, in their response to the ninth report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, the Government committed themselves to publishing a draft Civil Service Bill for consultation, once they had received the Public Administration Select Committee's proposals. We now have its proposals and will give them very careful and detailed consideration. We will publish our draft Bill in due course.

§ Lord Sheldon
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply and the promise of the draft Bill which we still await. But will he respond to the comments of Sir Nigel Wicks that there need to be proper boundaries between the roles of Ministers, civil servants and special advisers? He said that a special adviser should be a source of additional advice, not a replacement. Is the Minister aware that there is real concern that giving executive powers to special advisers is a serious step away from the political neutrality of the Civil Service, about which the Fulton committee on the Civil Service warned so many years ago?

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, we are well aware of the concerns of Sir Nigel Wicks, which have been expressed clearly. That is undoubtedly one of the issues on which we shall consult when the draft Bill is published. Sir Nigel Wicks was also very positive about the role of special advisers. I quote from the amendment to the code of conduct which the Government published: Special advisers must ensure that while they may comment on advice being prepared for ministers by officials, they do not suppress or supplant that advice". The role of special advisers is well understood by the Government and, of course, we must respect the impartiality that civil servants bring to the nature of their advice to Ministers.

§ Lord McNally
My Lords, I listened carefully to the Minister's reply. "In due course" is Whitehall-speak for mañana, without the same sense of urgency. Is he aware that the idea of a Civil Service Act was first recommended by Northcote-Trevelyan in 1854; it was further recommended by Cook-Maclennan in 1997; and it is now recommended by the Public Administration Select Committee in 2004? Even with the Fabian influence on the Government, is not that taking the inevitability of gradualness too far? Why on 255 earth do this Government not bring forward a radical Civil Service Act for which they could take due credit? Instead, the Prime Minister is stuck in his bunker at No.10, surrounded by his policy wonks and refusing movement. However, everyone knows that, when he left office, the noble Lord, Lord Wilson, left a draft Civil Service Bill ready for the statute book. When will the Government return to their radical roots and give us a Civil Service Act?

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, this is a radical Government. As a former policy wonk, I am sure that when he was at No.10 the noble Lord had the opportunity to advise the Prime Minister of the day about the importance of having a Civil Service Act. Our process of advice to Ministers, which, as the noble Lord said, goes back to the Northcote-Trevelyan report of 1854, is very good. I believe your Lordships will agree that, in the 150 years that have passed since then, our Civil Service has provided some of the very best advice to Ministers.

§ Lord Marlesford
My Lords, returning to the Question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Sheldon, which surely has not been addressed at all, does the Minister agree that the role of the special adviser is to help Ministers to do what they want to do, often in the face of much intrinsic obstruction from civil servants, particularly in departments such as the Home Office? Does he recognise that it is for Parliament to stop Ministers doing what they should not do?

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, I cannot do other than agree with the noble Lord. Of course, he is right: that is exactly the role of special advisers. Civil servants respect that role and understand its importance. They understand, too, that special advisers give to Ministers a distinct quality of advice in order to cut through the sometimes mind-boggling bureaucracy.

Lord Clark of Windermere
My Lords, will the Minister confirm that governments from both sides of this House have used special advisers? Will he also confirm that, used correctly, they aid and assist the Minister in carrying out his work? Will he further confirm that many civil servants welcome the addition of special advisers in helping the department to progress its work?

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, the important point to remember is that, because of their special nature, special advisers offer a measure of political protection to civil servants. I believe that civil servants understand and respect that and rather value it.

§ Lord Cope of Berkeley
My Lords, we all agree that special advisers have an important and special role, but that role is not to supervise the Civil Service or to take executive decisions. That is what the provisions of the Civil Service Bill, to which we are referring, are all about. Has the order of, I believe, 7 May 1997, which gave executive power to special advisers in various circumstances, been rescinded yet?

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, my understanding is that only two or three special advisers are to have any executive powers. I believe that the noble Lord will recall that the Prime Minister accepted the recommendation of the independent review of government communications—the Phyllis review—that it was no longer necessary for the Director of Communications to have executive power. Therefore, only a tightly defined group of special advisers will benefit from that.

§ Lord MacGregor of Pulham Market
My Lords, I declare an interest as a former member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, which drew up the last report and the one before that and which recommended just such a Bill. Is the Minister aware that we took substantial evidence not only from Sir Nigel Wicks but from a wide range of sources? They all recommended such a Bill, not least because of the problem of the blurring of responsibilities and powers between civil servants and special advisers, although that was not the only reason. Thus, does the Minister agree that this Bill should command widespread all-party support in both Houses? Will he therefore consider whether the Government should bring forward their draft Bill this Session in time for a Joint Committee of both Houses to consider it with a view to speedy implementation in the next Session?

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, I have certainly heard the noble Lord's view expressed, and it was expressed very forcefully in your Lordships' House. It is a matter that we are actively considering, but I do not believe that it is right for me, at the Dispatch Box, to give a timetable which could be misleading. We are considering the draft Bill very carefully and we shall also consider carefully how we may best consult on it. As the noble Lord rightly said, there are many wide-ranging views on this issue and those views need to be carefully judged and balanced.

§ Lord Alton of Liverpool
My Lords, does the Minister accept that the principle of a Select Committee bringing forward a draft Bill rather than simply a report is a very welcome development in itself? Does he also accept that at the heart of these recommendations is a shift away from the Government and back to Parliament in who will decide on the number of special advisers? Will he say whether that principle, enshrined in this week's recommendations, is one that the Government accept?

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, I cannot go so far as the noble Lord would like with regard to the second part of his question. I acknowledge that this is a very novel, if not unique, departure by the Select Committee and that is welcome. I believe that it certainly helps the Government to focus on the primary issues to be considered in bringing forward their own draft legislation.

§ Lord Peyton of Yeovil
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that his comment that the role of the special 257 adviser is to cut through mind-boggling bureaucracy is one that is not calculated to allay the alarms and suspicions which are widely felt?

§ Lord Bassam of Brighton
My Lords, I am not always here to allay alarms and suspicions.