Quote:
Originally Posted by jfman
I’m not sure what this has to do with asking Richard if he injects or snorts.
I’m with you though, more power to our leading Civil Servants like the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientific Adviser. True experts in their fields. Knob politicians in the 1922 Committee and others in the pockets of big business and property developers are ill experienced and lack the knowledge to deal with a global pandemic.
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The chief medical and scientific officers of the UK are not civil servants, as in they are not permanent employees of HM Civil Service. They are government advisers. They feed in to the policy making process (very visibly so in the case of Covid response) but they lack the expertise to convert policy intentions into workable practices with a statutory or regulatory footing.
It is the employees permanently salaried to develop and operate the policies of HMG that do this, and therefore hold often unappreciated levels of power and influence. Many of these people remain in the same place for decades and are thoroughly immersed in their department’s culture (especially those serving the Great Offices). They develop a deeply-held belief in what can and cannot be done and it can be very difficult for any but the most skilled politician to truly control their department.