Strategic Management of Independent Committees and Fact-Finding Reports

 

MEMORANDUM

TOP SECRET - EYES ONLY: PRIVATE SECRETARY

FROM: CHIEF SECRETARY 

DATE: [Current Date] 

SUBJECT: Strategic Management of Independent Committees and Fact-Finding Reports

My Dear Private Secretary,

Following our recent discreet discussions, this memo outlines the strategic imperatives for managing independent committees and fact-finding reports to ensure outcomes favourable to the continued smooth functioning of the Civil Service. This information is strictly confidential and for your personal guidance only.

Setting Up an Independent Committee (To Our Advantage):

The establishment of an independent committee can be a useful tool for deflecting unwanted scrutiny or delaying potentially disruptive reforms. When such a necessity arises, the following principles should guide our approach:

• Careful Selection of Chairmanship: The selection of the committee chair is paramount. Our priority should be to identify an individual who is "sound". A sound individual, while ostensibly independent, will possess the necessary "sensitive and sympathetic insight into the overall problem" and will understand what is implicitly required to maintain stability. Considerations should include individuals nearing the end of their active careers, those receptive to subtle influence, or those who value maintaining good relationships with established institutions.
• Strategic Definition of Terms of Reference: The terms of reference must be carefully crafted to steer the committee towards pre-determined conclusions or, at the very least, to ensure a protracted and ultimately inconclusive process. Ambiguous language or an overly broad scope can be beneficial in this regard. Consider framing the remit in a way that necessitates extensive data gathering and complex analysis, thereby guaranteeing a lengthy deliberation period.
• Composition of the Committee: While the chair is crucial, the composition of the wider committee should also be considered. Including members with diverse perspectives can create internal disagreements and hinder the formation of a unified and potentially problematic report. The inclusion of individuals known to be sympathetic to the Civil Service ethos, or those with conflicting interests, can further dilute any dissenting voices.
• Resource Allocation and Secretarial Support: Ensure that the committee is provided with secretarial support from within the Civil Service. This allows for subtle guidance of the committee's work, control over the flow of information, and the careful drafting of minutes and discussion papers. Minutes should, where possible, be drafted in advance to subtly steer the direction of discussions and ensure key points (favourable to our position) are duly recorded.

Ending a Committee (When Necessary):

There may be occasions when an independent committee, despite our best efforts, threatens to produce findings that are not in our interest. In such circumstances, the following strategies can be employed to manage or conclude their work:

• Protraction and Delay: Encourage lengthy deliberations, requests for further information, and the scheduling of numerous meetings with significant intervals. "That would be to mistake lethargy for strategy" as Sir Humphrey astutely observed. The passage of time can often diminish the urgency or political salience of the issue under review.
• Internal Disagreements and Minority Reports: If a unified report is unavoidable, subtly encourage the emergence of significant internal disagreements leading to minority reports or dissenting opinions. This dilutes the impact of any potentially critical findings.
• "The Closed Season for Open Government": As Sir Arnold dryly noted, there are times when Open Government is less opportune. If the committee's work is becoming problematic, quietly deprioritise its activities and suggest that the current political climate or pressing priorities necessitate a postponement or indefinite suspension of its work.
• Strategic Reshuffles: Changes in Ministerial personnel can provide an opportunity to quietly shelve the work of a troublesome committee, with the new Minister able to claim a need to review all outstanding matters.

Writing an Independent Fact-Finding Report (To Our Advantage):

The final output of any committee or inquiry is the report itself. Ensuring this document serves our interests requires careful attention:

• Control of Drafting: While the report must appear to be the independent work of the committee, subtle influence over the drafting process is crucial. Civil Service members on the secretariat should play a key role in shaping the language, emphasis, and conclusions of the report.
• Presenting "Background Arguments, the Pros and Cons": Where a direct instruction to Ministers is inappropriate, the report should focus on presenting the "background arguments, the pros and cons" in a manner that subtly guides them towards our preferred course of action.
• Emphasis on "Unforeseen Consequences": Highlight potential "consequences which could be unfortunate, or even regrettable" if recommendations contrary to our interests are implemented.
• Utilising Civil Service Code Language: The report can subtly employ "Civil Service code language", the true meaning of which may not be immediately apparent to external readers, but which conveys our intended message internally. Remember, "Considered all the implications' means 'You are making a complete balls-up of your job.'".
• The Power of Premature Drafting: As with minutes, consider the strategic advantage of having elements of the report drafted prematurely to subtly influence the committee's thinking and ensure the final document aligns with our desired narrative.
• Managing Publication: If a report's findings are unfavourable, remember Sir Humphrey's distinction between "suppression" and "not publishing". While outright suppression is undesirable, a "democratic decision not to publish it" can be presented under various justifications, such as cost, public interest, or the need for further review. Alternatively, unwanted reports can be discredited through off-the-record briefings to the press.

By adhering to these principles with discretion and foresight, we can effectively manage the challenges posed by independent committees and fact-finding reports, ensuring that they ultimately serve the best interests of the Civil Service and the continued stability of the realm.

Please acknowledge receipt and understanding of this highly sensitive memorandum.

Chief Secretary

The Civil Service often employs a specific type of language, referred to as Civil Service Code Language, which can obscure the true meaning behind statements. This language serves various purposes, such as avoiding directness, delaying action, or subtly conveying a message different from the literal words used.

Here is a list of examples of Civil Service Code Language identified, with their wordings and actual meanings:

• Wording: "a phased reduction of about a hundred thousand people is ‘not in the public interest’".
  • Actual Meaning: it is in the public interest but it is not in the interest of the Civil Service.
• Wording: "Public opinion is not yet ready for such a step".
  • Actual Meaning: Public opinion is ready but the Civil Service is not.
• Wording: "However, this is an urgent problem and we therefore propose setting up a Royal Commission".
  • Actual Meaning: This problem is a bloody nuisance, but we hope that by the time a Royal Commission reports, four years from now, everyone will have forgotten about it or we can find someone else to blame.
• Wording: "I think we have to be very careful".
  • Actual Meaning: We are not going to do this.
• Wording: "Have you thought through all the implications?".
  • Actual Meaning: You are not going to do this.
• Wording: "It is a slightly puzzling decision".
  • Actual Meaning: Idiotic!.
• Wording: "Not entirely straightforward".
  • Actual Meaning: Criminal. According to Sir Humphrey, it could also mean "perhaps not entirely straightforward" when delicately implying that affairs are being conducted questionably.
• Wording: "With the greatest possible respect, Minister . . .".
  • Actual Meaning: Minister, that is the silliest idea I’ve ever heard.
• Wording: "Considered all the implications" [memo example].
  • Actual Meaning: You are making a complete balls-up of your job [memo example]. This phrase is not explicitly found in the provided excerpts but is mentioned in the initial secret memo.
• Wording: The use of "Civil Service code language" in a report [memo example].
  • Actual Meaning: Conveys the intended message internally while potentially being opaque to external readers [memo example].
• Silence:
  • Discreet Silence: The silence when they do not want to tell you the facts.
  • Stubborn Silence: The silence when they do not intend to take any action.
  • Courageous Silence: The silence when you catch them out and they haven’t a leg to stand on. They imply that they could vindicate themselves completely if only they were free to tell all, but they are too honourable to do so.

Furthermore, the civil servants have a "genius for wrapping up a simple idea to make it sound extremely complicated". This involves using a large number of words where few would suffice and employing language to "blur and fudge issues and events so that they became incomprehensible to others". Incomprehensibility itself can be a tactic for temporary safety.

The concept of "Soundness!" which suggesting it is a key compliment in the Civil Service vocabulary.

In the context of reports, the Civil Service might present "background arguments, the pros and cons" in a way that subtly guides Ministers towards a preferred course of action. They might also highlight potential "consequences which could be unfortunate, or even regrettable" if alternative recommendations are implemented.

Finally, the civil servants might use phrases like:

• "(a) they have changed their accounting system..."
• "(b) redrawn the boundaries, so that this year’s figures are not comparable."
• "(c) the money was compensation for special extra expenditure... which has now stopped."
• "(d) it is only a paper saving, so it will all have to be spent next year."
• "(e) a major expenditure is late in completion, and therefore the region will be correspondingly over budget next year. [Known technically as phasing]"
• "(f) there has been an unforeseen but important shift of personnel and industries to other regions"
• "(g) some large projects were cancelled for reasons of economy early in the accounting period..."

These are presented as possibilities to explain a saving of £32 million, suggesting they are ways to present information that may not be entirely straightforward or may obscure the actual situation.

Understanding this "Civil Service code" is crucial for anyone attempting to decipher official communications and understand the underlying intentions within the Civil Service.