IDPM Archived Publications
Public Policy and Management Working Papers
The Bureaucrat Who Fell Under a Bus: Ministerial Responsibility, Executive Agencies and the Derek Lewis Affair in Britain
Charles Polidano
Various concerns have been raised about the practicability of Next Steps and the adequacy of accountability mechanisms in Britain, particularly after a high-profile prison escape led to the dismissal of Derek Lewis as chief executive of the prison service agency. The issues raised are relevant to other countries which have implemented management reforms in government.
This article reviews these concerns. It argues that the agency model is viable notwithstanding doubts about the practicability of the policy-operations distinction; that Next Steps is not the cause of defective accountability or the scapegoating of bureaucrats by ministers; and that a commonly proposed solution - making agency heads accountable to parliamentary select committees - has fundamental drawbacks of its own, as Canadian experience demonstrates. The search for an ideal accountability mechanism may, in truth, be a fruitless undertaking.
Please note : this working paper is part of a series that has been discontinued and archived.
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