Gov’t Permanent Secretaries: The Unsung Heroes
"While governments and ministers come and go, the permanent secretary remains the permanent custodian of permanent problems" Former senior Canadian permanent secretary
One of the relatively unknown heroes and heroines in the civil service are the permanent secretaries. If the government’s entire workforce was taken over by a robot army, the few remaining human employees would be permanent secretaries. They are simply the unsung heroes of the government. They are the cogs in the machine that keeps it running. The performance of permanent secretaries will come into more scrutiny because President Mnangagwa has called on the civil service to demonstrate tangible results. Permanent secretaries will be expected to fortify monitoring, evaluation and reporting on policies, projects and programmes. The department of policy monitoring and evaluation should put in place better capacity for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) or develop M&E where it does not exist.
We have seen news articles hinting on government’s crackdown on the civil service as it emerged that 13 permanent secretaries and dozens of other senior bureaucrats are facing the chop. Interest and curiosity has been generated on the role that permanent secretaries play in government. I will attempt to assuage the interest by explaining what they do.
The permanent secretary is the administrative head of a department or ministry. They are “permanent” in the sense that they are normally career civil servants who have tenure beyond the life of any particular government. They ensure administrative continuity, without which governing becomes unpredictable and difficult. The permanent secretary is inescapably caught between the partisan political world of the minister and the rational, impartial and scientific world of the public servant.
The permanent secretary has four basic roles: providing policy advice to the minister, implementing ministerial policy priorities, leading the department as administrative head, and participating in the collective management of the public service as a whole.
As principal policy advisor to the minister, the permanent secretary is expected to provide objective advice on policy issues, on the government’s options in dealing with them, and on the implications of each option. Policy advice is always based on a combination of hard evidence and intuitive assessment. The role of principal policy adviser does not necessarily require the permanent secretary to be an expert in the policy area in question. Rather the requisite expertise lies in ensuring the department can synthesise the relevant evidence and technocratic advice from elsewhere, develop a thorough understanding of ministerial objectives, and assess the political as well as technical and financial feasibility of any potential policy decisions. The minister, of course, has other policy advisers. They are now able to access policy advice and ideas from a wider range of other sources – such as special advisers, think tanks, consultancies, better-resourced political-party policy units, and more extensive international links.
As policy implementer, the permanent secretary has to ensure that the department responds to ministerial priorities and that the administration of the department is carried out in a way that reflects the minister’s direction and interests. Successful implementation of policies and projects makes or breaks many ministerial careers. From time to time, this may require implementing policies which the permanent secretary has reservations about, or may even have advised against. Nonetheless, as a loyal public servant, the permanent secretary has the duty to respect the authority of the democratically elected political leader, and to carry out his or her policies to the fullest extent possible.
As head of a department, and ‘manager of the day-to-day business’ of the department, the permanent secretary must direct and manage, on the ministers behalf and within the law, a department of government. In part, this means ensuring that the work of the department is carried out effectively and efficiently. The permanent secretary must ensure that the key tasks of planning, organising, execution, control, and evaluation are carried out. The permanent secretary bears responsibility for the ‘financial control and propriety of spending’ within their department. As accounting officer, a permanent secretary has the right to express a formal objection to a ministerial decision if they feel the decision would lead to money being spent in a way that breaches the criteria of regularity and propriety.
As a member of the public service top management team, the permanent secretary is part of the ‘collective leadership of the Civil Service’ as a whole. Permanent secretaries are members of the larger collectivity of government and are expected to play a corporate role on behalf of the government. Part of this entails making sure that departmental initiatives are consistent with overall governmental objectives. Participating in the collective management of the public service may also include serving on special task forces investigating policy questions or perhaps matters of government organisation, heading corporate projects, or joining committees. Finally, permanent secretaries must observe and support government-wide management standards and regulations that have been set by ministers collectively.
The permanent secretary is always caught in a terrible vise: required by law to serve the minister and the minister’s needs, yet harshly judged by peers on his or her ability to bring a rational approach to departmental decisions and thus maintain moral authority. This matrixed relationship ensures that the permanent secretary is both responsive to and independent of the minister. It gives him or her the ability to “speak truth to power” when advice or counsel is called for. It also ensures that, in the final analysis, the democratic will of elected officials will carry the day.
One of the relatively unknown heroes and heroines in the civil service are the permanent secretaries. If the government’s entire workforce was taken over by a robot army, the few remaining human employees would be permanent secretaries. They are simply the unsung heroes of the government. They are the cogs in the machine that keeps it running. The performance of permanent secretaries will come into more scrutiny because President Mnangagwa has called on the civil service to demonstrate tangible results. Permanent secretaries will be expected to fortify monitoring, evaluation and reporting on policies, projects and programmes. The department of policy monitoring and evaluation should put in place better capacity for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) or develop M&E where it does not exist.
We have seen news articles hinting on government’s crackdown on the civil service as it emerged that 13 permanent secretaries and dozens of other senior bureaucrats are facing the chop. Interest and curiosity has been generated on the role that permanent secretaries play in government. I will attempt to assuage the interest by explaining what they do.
The permanent secretary is the administrative head of a department or ministry. They are “permanent” in the sense that they are normally career civil servants who have tenure beyond the life of any particular government. They ensure administrative continuity, without which governing becomes unpredictable and difficult. The permanent secretary is inescapably caught between the partisan political world of the minister and the rational, impartial and scientific world of the public servant.
The permanent secretary has four basic roles: providing policy advice to the minister, implementing ministerial policy priorities, leading the department as administrative head, and participating in the collective management of the public service as a whole.
As principal policy advisor to the minister, the permanent secretary is expected to provide objective advice on policy issues, on the government’s options in dealing with them, and on the implications of each option. Policy advice is always based on a combination of hard evidence and intuitive assessment. The role of principal policy adviser does not necessarily require the permanent secretary to be an expert in the policy area in question. Rather the requisite expertise lies in ensuring the department can synthesise the relevant evidence and technocratic advice from elsewhere, develop a thorough understanding of ministerial objectives, and assess the political as well as technical and financial feasibility of any potential policy decisions. The minister, of course, has other policy advisers. They are now able to access policy advice and ideas from a wider range of other sources – such as special advisers, think tanks, consultancies, better-resourced political-party policy units, and more extensive international links.
As policy implementer, the permanent secretary has to ensure that the department responds to ministerial priorities and that the administration of the department is carried out in a way that reflects the minister’s direction and interests. Successful implementation of policies and projects makes or breaks many ministerial careers. From time to time, this may require implementing policies which the permanent secretary has reservations about, or may even have advised against. Nonetheless, as a loyal public servant, the permanent secretary has the duty to respect the authority of the democratically elected political leader, and to carry out his or her policies to the fullest extent possible.
As head of a department, and ‘manager of the day-to-day business’ of the department, the permanent secretary must direct and manage, on the ministers behalf and within the law, a department of government. In part, this means ensuring that the work of the department is carried out effectively and efficiently. The permanent secretary must ensure that the key tasks of planning, organising, execution, control, and evaluation are carried out. The permanent secretary bears responsibility for the ‘financial control and propriety of spending’ within their department. As accounting officer, a permanent secretary has the right to express a formal objection to a ministerial decision if they feel the decision would lead to money being spent in a way that breaches the criteria of regularity and propriety.
As a member of the public service top management team, the permanent secretary is part of the ‘collective leadership of the Civil Service’ as a whole. Permanent secretaries are members of the larger collectivity of government and are expected to play a corporate role on behalf of the government. Part of this entails making sure that departmental initiatives are consistent with overall governmental objectives. Participating in the collective management of the public service may also include serving on special task forces investigating policy questions or perhaps matters of government organisation, heading corporate projects, or joining committees. Finally, permanent secretaries must observe and support government-wide management standards and regulations that have been set by ministers collectively.
The permanent secretary is always caught in a terrible vise: required by law to serve the minister and the minister’s needs, yet harshly judged by peers on his or her ability to bring a rational approach to departmental decisions and thus maintain moral authority. This matrixed relationship ensures that the permanent secretary is both responsive to and independent of the minister. It gives him or her the ability to “speak truth to power” when advice or counsel is called for. It also ensures that, in the final analysis, the democratic will of elected officials will carry the day.
Brilliant. Great information here.
ReplyDelete