Contrasting roles of Whitehall's most powerful mandarins
Jill Rutter of the has done an .
This is based on official diaries of the two men's activities from the last three months of 2010.
Sir Gus is not involved in the specifics of government policy that much, Rutter concludes, but in "representational activities", in his dual role both as Cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, both in and out of government.
"But if you want to talk policy specifics," says Rutter, "you come to see Jeremy Heywood. Jeremy spends no time at all on representational roles, does no external speaking and does barely any official socialising.
But he is in frequent discussion on both general policy issues and on policy specifics."
I'm Michael Crick, and I'm Newsnight's political editor. My guiding rule is that in any story there's usually something the politicians would prefer the world not to know. My job is to find that out. Follow me on
Comment number 1.
At 17th Mar 2011, threnodio_II wrote:"specifics of government", "representational activities", "policy specifics, "representational roles", "official socialising", "policy specifics"?
When and if anybody can be bothered to "reconnect" with the English language, you be sure to let me know. In the meantime, is there any humane way of dispensing permanently with the services of those to whom the language is clearly a complete mystery?
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Comment number 2.
At 17th Mar 2011, barr wrote:Various articles regarding mandarins make it appear that they are roadblocks to change. Perhaps they believe that the status quo is preferred, and their function is just to keep things as they are. I suppose their departments are easier to run if everything stays the same.
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Comment number 3.
At 17th Mar 2011, TheGingerF wrote:Contrasting roles of mandarins - sounds about as exciting as working out the difference between a tangerine and a satsuma.
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