14 November 2022: Panel of Senior Civil Servants - C

Core participant questions;

On the duty to report someone who did not report something under a duty of candour; they said such a duty was inherent in the process.

On the involvement of service-users in England; he said there was a process for emerging bills, but there had to be quicker ways if it was not actual legislation being developed.

On there being guidance on when an apology should be made; they said there was not specific guidance or criteria. Northern Ireland said they had a track record of making apologies when things go wrong. Is that true though, is it? (Huge elephant enters room.) UK said there had to be not just an apology but also lessons learned, steps taken to right the wrong, and provide what compensation is appropriate. He will be held to that. An initial reluctance to contribute by all was then forced by weight of Counsel waiting. Scotland and Wales have a policy for complaints. How nice for them. Northern Ireland mentioned the apology recently about historical institutional abuse which was not just given by the party in power but all partys.

On the scrutiny of Governments to adopt and move forward with Inquiry recommendations; they UK man said that in his experience Government quite quickly accepted and adopted recommendations. Yes folks, he really did say that. A muffled laugh was heard. Scotland was a bit more reflective and mentioned the value of committees for holding Government to account. Northern Ireland reflected on the RHI Inquiry, again.

The Chair spoke about his role in assessing the evidence related to “the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS” and the apology given by a former Secretary of State. He asked firstly the UK witness about what had happened so far in response to the Infected Blood Inquiry and what continued to not happen subsequently. The UK man could not say too much, maybe because there was not much he could say. The Chair said Nolan-type Principles were in place back when the problems happened but obviously failed. Mr UK again couldn’t say much other than a mumble about how things are better now, allegedly. The Chair was really pressing the UK guy on what he was doing in light of the regret at movement not being forthcoming. UK guy tried to get out of jail by describing what should have happened, but the Chair was not satisfied and kept at it. He was laying a solid groundwork for the UK Government having nowhere to hide when the Infected Blood Inquiry report and recommendations land on desks in Whitehall and Downing Street (and at the other nations). Northern Ireland went back to the RHI Inquiry (surprise, surprise) to show how the outcomes of that investigation were being taken forward, but they are still “in the foothills” of responding to identified problems. She looked forward to receiving the Infected Blood Inquiry report and responding to it. Scotland also wanted to appear ready to move ahead based on how good a job they had done with the Alex Salmond investigation. Ha-ha. Wales tried to respond but his video link saved everyone from his cosy agreement with his colleagues.

The Chair noted how “openness” was within Nolan but not the Civil Service Code. The UK man tried to wriggle out of the omission but was forced to recognise that it might need to be re-visited once the Inquiry report is completed.

The witnesses mostly had nothing to add. The UK person spoke on behalf of the others on how sympathetic they were about how people had suffered and that the Civil Service was committed to act on the findings of the Inquiry. The others also committed to work with the Inquiry and looked forward to seeing the recommendations. Bet you are.

The Chair said it had been instructive and interesting and he thanked them for their contributions, and for finding the time during a very busy period to come to give evidence.

These people are what is sometimes described as “The Permanent Government”. They are very close to the top of the pile when it comes to running the country. They will occasionally let a Minister appear on a screen to look like they are in charge. Civil servants have also been described as “gifted amateurs” and this is perhaps fondly seen as a classically British way of doing things. It must be great to have a harmless handle under which to hide the undemocratic presupposition of well-crafted escape from responsibility.

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