The civil service Quiz

Rowena Hammal

The civil service: Quiz

How to do this quiz

• You will need a pen and paper.

• Make a note of your answers as you go.

• Work through the correct answers given at the end to discover your total score.

The civil service: Quiz

Questions 1: Principles

1. What are the three core principles of the civil service?

2. Which principle explains who is publicly responsible for the actions of civil

servants with a department?

3. Since the 1990s, the ‘Howard principle’ has been used by ministers to claim that

they are only responsible for policy decisions, while civil servants are responsible

for what?

4. Which secrecy act must civil servants all sign?

5. Fill in the blank: Civil servants are expected to have a strong _______ service

ethos.

The civil service: Quiz

Questions 2: Structure and organisation

1. Who is the current cabinet secretary and head of the civil service?

2. John Manzoni took on an important new role within the civil service in

November 2014. What was it?

3. Each government department is headed by a civil servant, who is responsible to

the minister in charge of the department. What title does this type of civil

servant hold?

4. Approximately how many civil servants are there?

5. Fill in the blank: The rise of semi-autonomous __________ , such as HM Prison

Service, has meant that some civil servants are publicly responsible for policy.

The civil service: Quiz

Questions 3: Special advisors

1. Which of these are former special advisors? Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, David

Cameron.

2. Jo Moore, special advisor to Stephen Byers, transport secretary, famously

described which day as ‘a good day to bury bad news’?

3. Which special advisor served as Tony Blair’s communications director and was

famous for his mastery of ‘spin’?

4. Which special advisor to David Cameron was paid more than every other member

of the cabinet, before losing his job as a result of the phone-hacking scandal?

5. Fill in the blank: SpAds are political advisors who are ___________ employed by the

civil service — when the government leaves office, so do they.

The civil service: Quiz

Questions 4: Reform

1. What has happened to the number of civil servants since Thatcher came to

power?

2. How was recruitment to the civil service changed under New Labour?

3. How has the private sector been used to reform the civil service?

4. What has the coalition government done to the size of the civil service?

5. Fill in the blank: The coalition’s Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude,

introduced public sector mutuals, which are organisations that are run directly by

their employees. These are popular with right-wingers as they reduce the _____ of

the bureaucracy and reduce central state control.

The civil service: Quiz

Mark your answers

Give yourself 1 mark per correct answer. Only 1 mark per question.

The civil service: Quiz

Answers 1: Principles

1. What are the three core principles of the civil service? Permanence, impartiality,

anonymity.

2. Which principle explains who is publicly responsible for the actions of civil

servants with a department? Individual ministerial responsibility.

3. Since the 1990s, the ‘Howard principle’ has been used by ministers to claim that

they are only responsible for policy decisions, while civil servants are responsible

for what? Implementing and operating those policies.

The civil service: Quiz

Answers 1: Principles (continued)

4. Which secrecy act must civil servants all sign? The Official Secrets Act. However,

there have been numerous instances of civil servants breaching confidentiality,

including Clive Ponting (who leaked information in 1985 relating to the sinking of

the Argentinian ship General Belgrano during the Falklands War), David Shayler

(who leaked MI5 reports in 1997), and Jonathan Hall (who leaked details of the

2010 budget).

5. Fill in the blank: Civil servants are expected to have a strong public service ethos.

The civil service: Quiz

Answers 2: Structure and organisation

1. Who is the current cabinet secretary and head of the civil service? Sir Jeremy

Heywood.

2. John Manzoni took on an important new role within the civil service in November

2014. What was it? He is the first ever chief executive of the civil service.

3. Each government department is headed by a civil servant, who is responsible to

the minister in charge of the department. What title does this type of civil servant

hold? Permanent secretary (they are also nicknamed ‘mandarins’).

4. Approximately how many civil servants are there? Approximately 450,000.

5. Fill in the blank: The rise of semi-autonomous agencies, such as HM Prison

Service, has meant that some civil servants are publicly responsible for policy.

The civil service: Quiz

Answers 3: Special advisors

1. Which of these are former special advisors? Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, David

Cameron. All of them. Ed Miliband and Ed Balls advised Gordon Brown when he

was chancellor of the exchequer, and David Cameron advised former chancellor

Norman Lamont.

2. Jo Moore, special advisor to Stephen Byers, transport secretary, famously

described which day as ‘a good day to bury bad news’? 9/11. Moore lost her job

as a result.

3. Which special advisor served as Tony Blair’s communications director and was

famous for his mastery of ‘spin’? Alastair Campbell.

The civil service: Quiz

Answers 3: Special advisors (continued)

4. Which special advisor to David Cameron was paid more than every other member

of the cabinet, before losing his job as a result of the phone-hacking scandal?

Andy Coulson.

5. Fill in the blank: SpAds are political advisors who are temporarily employed by the

civil service — when the government leaves office, so do they.

The civil service: Quiz

Answers 4: Reform

1. What has happened to the number of civil servants since Thatcher came to

power? They have been reduced from 732,000 in 1979 to about 450,000.

2. How was recruitment to the civil service changed under New Labour? The

recruitment process was opened up to allow a more diverse range of candidates

to apply, including women and ethnic minorities, and to encourage those with

private sector experience to apply for roles.

3. How has the private sector been used to reform the civil service? A process of

marketisation has been introduced, whereby many services are provided by the

private sector, which bids for civil service contracts.

The civil service: Quiz

Answers 4: Reform (continued)

4. What has the coalition government done to the size of the civil service? Reduced it

by about a fifth, cutting about 90,000 civil servant jobs.

5. Fill in the blank: The coalition’s Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, introduced

public sector mutuals, which are organisations that are run directly by their

employees. These are popular with right-wingers as they reduce the size of the

bureaucracy and reduce central state control.

The civil service: Quiz

Your score

20–17: An excellent result. Like Sir Humphrey Appleby, you can be smug in the

knowledge that you know your stuff.

16–13: Not bad, but room for improvement, rather like the civil service’s attempts to

recruit a more diverse workforce.

12–9: You know the basics, but more revision is required. If you want to become a

mandarin you’ll need to up your game.

8–5: Tony Blair said that he had ‘scars on his back’ from his tussle with the civil

service — you might feel the same after your exam if you don’t hit the books.

4–0: Thatcher focused on improving ‘efficiency’ within the civil service. Time to do

the same for your revision of this topic.