Editing Civil Service (United Kingdom) (section)

==Political neutrality==
The Civil Service is meant to be a politically neutral body, with the function of impartially implementing the policy programme of the elected government.<ref>James B. Christoph, "Political Rights and Administrative Impartiality in the British Civil Service", in ''Canadian Public Administration'', J. E. Hodgetts and D. C. Corbett (eds), (Toronto: Macmillan, 1960), 421.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=1986|title=Political Neutrality, The Duty of Silence and the Right To Publish in the Civil Service|url=http://pa.oxfordjournals.org/content/39/4/437.full.pdf|journal=Parliamentary Affairs|volume=39|issue=4}}{{dead link|date=May 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name="independent.co.uk">[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ministers-plot-end-to-civil-service-neutrality-7995033.html Ministers plot end to Civil Service neutrality – UK Politics – UK]. The Independent (1 August 2012). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.</ref>

Like all servants of the [[The Crown|Crown]], civil servants are legally barred from standing for election as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] as they must uphold the duty of being politically neutral.<ref name="c">Bradley and Ewing, pp. 279–80.</ref> Under regulations first adopted in 1954 and revised in 1984, members of the Senior Civil Service (the top management grades) are barred from holding office in a [[political party]] or publicly expressing controversial political viewpoints, while less senior civil servants at an intermediate (managerial) level must generally seek permission to participate in political activities. The most junior civil servants are permitted to participate in political activities, but must be politically neutral in the exercise of their duties.<ref name="c"/> In periods prior to General Elections, the Civil Service undergoes [[Purdah (pre-election period)|purdah]] which further restricts their activities.

All civil servants are subject to the [[Official Secrets Acts 1911 to 1989]], meaning that they may not disclose sensitive government information. Since 1998, there have also been restrictions on contact between civil servants and [[lobbyist]]s; this followed an incident known as [[Derek Draper|Lobbygate]], where an undercover reporter for ''[[The Observer]]'', posing as a [[business]] leader, was introduced by a lobbyist to a senior [[Downing Street]] official who promised privileged access to government ministers.<ref>Bradley and Ewing, p. 280.</ref><ref>[Chapter 7: Lobbying and All-Party Groups], Sixth Report of the [[Committee on Standards in Public Life]]</ref> The [[Committee on Standards in Public Life]], also created in 1998, is responsible for regulation of contacts between public officials and lobbyists.

The increasing influence of politically appointed [[Special adviser (UK)|special advisers]] in government departments can reduce the political neutrality of public administration. In Thatcher's government, [[Alan Walters]] was an official adviser from 1981 to 1984, and again in 1989.<ref name=2alans>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jan/06/sir-alan-walters-obituary|title=Obituary-Sir Alan Walters:Economic adviser to Margaret Thatcher, he opposed Britain joining the ERM|work=The Guardian|author=Alan Budd|date=6 January 2009|access-date=23 June 2012}}</ref> Walters' criticisms "of many aspects of Treasury policy, particularly in relation to exchange rate policy" and Thatcher's refusal to dismiss him led to Nigel Lawson's resignation as chancellor in 1989.<ref name=2alans/> Thatcher also claimed that the 1981 budget, which increased taxes during the recession and was criticised by 364 economists, had been devised by Walters.<ref name=2alans/>
In 2000, then-Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] was criticised for appointing 20 special advisers (compared to eight under his predecessor [[John Major]]) and for the fact that the total [[salary]] cost of special advisers across all government departments had reached £4 million.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/597687.stm The advisers: Modernisation or politicisation?], BBC News, 12 January 2000</ref> In 2001, [[Stephen Byers]], then [[Secretary of State for Transport]], was forced to resign because of the actions of his special adviser [[Jo Moore]], who instructed a departmental civil servant, [[Martin Sixsmith]], that [[9/11|September 11, 2001]], would be "[[a good day to bury bad news]]"; this was seen as inappropriate political manipulation of the Civil Service.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3368603.stm Spin doctor role under spotlight], BBC News, 5 January 2004</ref> In particular, under the administration of [[Tony Blair]], the influence of two [[Downing Street]] special advisers, [[Jonathan Powell (chief of staff to Tony Blair)|Jonathan Powell]] and [[Alastair Campbell]], both of whom were given formal power over Downing Street civil servants, provoked widespread criticism.<ref>[http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/s2.cfm?id=217432002 Uncivil to the servants] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071204065656/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/s2.cfm?id=217432002 |date=4 December 2007 }}, ''The Scotsman'', 26 February 2002</ref>

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government of 2010–2015 had proposed introducing a more American style system where senior civil servants, such as permanent secretaries, became political appointees.<ref name="independent.co.uk"/> However, this was dropped after it was considered that the existing permanent civil service style was better-suited to the government of the United Kingdom.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

The political neutrality of the civil service was called into question during the 2016–2019 [[Brexit negotiations]], with political figures such as [[Brexit Party]] Leader [[Nigel Farage]] accusing the civil service of having a "pro-Remain bias".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/03/18/believe-civil-service-trying-sink-brexit-have-seen-inside/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/03/18/believe-civil-service-trying-sink-brexit-have-seen-inside/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Believe me, the Civil Service is trying to sink Brexit. I have seen it from the inside|date=18 March 2019|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London|access-date=6 April 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/nigel-farage-on-the-civil-service-and-military-1-6154703|title=Nigel Farage wants any Remainers in the civil service and military removed|last=Read|first=Jonathan|date=11 July 2019|work=[[The New European]]|access-date=6 April 2020|archive-date=6 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406125000/https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/nigel-farage-on-the-civil-service-and-military-1-6154703|url-status=dead}}</ref> In response [[Mark Sedwill|Sir Mark Sedwill]], [[Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom)|Cabinet Secretary]] and Head of the Civil Service, issued a letter to all [[Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom|Department]] Chiefs warning that Brexit was having an "unsettling" effect on civil servants.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/358577c8-e3a9-11e9-b112-9624ec9edc59 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/358577c8-e3a9-11e9-b112-9624ec9edc59 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Civil service chief says Brexit is 'unsettling' Whitehall|last=Blitz|first=Jamie|date=30 September 2019|work=[[Financial Times]]|location=London|access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/oct/30/brexit-civil-servants-unfair-criticism-accusations-bias-whitehall|title=Brexit has brought civil servants a barrage of unfair criticism|last=Dudman|first=Jane|date=30 October 2019|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref>

In March 2023, [[Home Secretary]] [[Suella Braverman]], in an email sent to Conservative Party supporters, criticised civil servants as being part of an "activist blob of left-wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour Party" which blocked government efforts to stop small boat crossings. [[Dave Penman]], general secretary of the [[FDA (trade union)|Association of First Division Civil Servants]], accused Braverman of breaching the ministerial code. In response, a Conservative Party spokesperson said that the Home Secretary had not seen the wording of the email prior to its sending.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-03-08 |title=Suella Braverman: Civil servants demand apology over small boats email |language=en-GB |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64890882 |access-date=2023-03-09}}</ref>