HC Deb 11 February 1964 vol 689 cc38-9W
52. Sir J. Lucas

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether members of the Civil Service are debarred from the privilege of writing to their Members of Parliament in cases of difficulty; and whether disciplinary action is taken in such cases.

Mr. Green

Members of the Civil Service are not debarred from writing to Members of Parliament about matters of general interest (including any general matter affecting the Civil Service so long as it is a problem affecting others besides the writer) or about a personal matter which is not connected with his job or his Department. Civil servants are not allowed to introduce outside influence to obtain personal advantage over other members of the Civil Service; attempts to do so would be treated as breaches of discipline, and the action taken on it by the Department would depend on how seriously they regarded the case in question.