EXTRA-Government Departments Flashcards
The civil service is the governmental __________
bureaucracy
Although most government departments are run by ministers who are elected politicians, however what was the job of paid officials (civil servants)?
the departments are administered by professional and permanent paid officials
What are the paid officials called who belong to the top administrative grades?
mandarins or collectively, the higher civil service
Who is the top civil service also known as?
the Cabinet Secretary
although the top civil servant is the Cabinet Secretary, what is there in a typical department? (4)
- a Permanent Secretary at the helm
- Deputy Secretaries
- Under Secretaries
- Assistant Secretaries, Senior Principles and Principals
Why do the majority of the civil service staff in fact now work?
in executive agencies
What are executive agencies?
these are separate operational organisations reporting to particular government departments
What is Whitehall often used a synonym for?
the central core of the civil service
Why is Whitehall often used as a synonym for the central core of the civil service?
this is because most government departments have headquarters in and around the former Royal Palace of Whitehalll
What is bureaucracy?
this is a government by non-elected salaried administrative officers. In Britian it is more usual to speak of the civil service.
Who are ministers generally supported by?
a team of junior ministers.
in ministerial departments headed by a Secretary of State, who is the administrative management of the department led by?
the Permanent Secretary
What is the position of executive agencies in comparison to ministerial departments?
they are subordinate
What does an executive agency have a degree of to perform an operational function?
autonomy (self government)
What is the executive agency which looks after prisons for the Home Secretary?
Her Majesty’s Prison Service
What is the executive agency is linked to the Department for Work and Pensions?
Job centre Plus
Who is usually responsible for the efficient management of the organisation and for meeting ministerially imposed targets?
the Chief Executive
What matters do non-ministerial departments generally cover?
those matters which direct political oversight is judged as unnecessary or inappropriate
Who are non-ministerial departments headed by? (3)
- civli servants
- Permanent Secretaries
- Second Permanent Secretaries
What is the function of some of the civil servants who head a non-ministerial department?
strictly regulatory or inspection in order to protect them from political interference
What are 2 examples of a non-ministerial department?
- British Council
- Assets Recovery Agency
What functions do the executive agencies carry out?
they carry out administrative functions of government previously the responsibility of civil service departments
How do executive agencies operate?
as a semi-autonomous agency at arms length from the sponsoring department
What are executive agencies also known as?
‘Next step’
Why are executive agencies also known as “next step”?
this is because they were first suggested in the 1988 report which called them a Next Step
