The role of the UK civil service, and its values of independence and impartiality, have been placed on a statutory footing, after a key constitutional Bill received Royal Assent during parliament's pre-election ‘wash up'.
Civil service leaders celebrated the introduction of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act on 8 April. It follows years of campaigning, aimed at getting the independence of the civil service enshrined in law by mandarins and backbench MPs. The Bill was heavily backed by justice secretary, Jack Straw .
Jonathan Baume, general secretary of the FDA, which represents 18,000 senior public servants, said: ‘With the announcement of the general election and the dissolution of parliament [on 12 April], there was a real danger that this important Bill could have been lost.
‘The [mandarins' trade union] FDA has waged a long campaign for this legislation, which puts the civil service and its values on to a statutory footing.'
The new Bill, which has its origins in the 2007 ‘Governance of Britain' Green Paper, is wide-ranging. As well as protecting civil service values, it:
