Retuning the Treasury’s Historical Activities after Fulton, 1968–70

Abstract

During the late 1950s and the 1960s Britain is often characterized as beset by a period of self-examination prompted by a growing sense of decline and a perceived need for radical action in a modernizing direction. Nor was the machinery of government excluded from these debates, as highlighted by Thomas Balogh’s ‘The apotheosis of the dilettante’ (1959). Significantly, the Fabian Society’s contribution, ‘The Administrators’ (June 1964), was produced by a group including both Henderson and Ogilvy-Webb.1 In many respects, this phase of the debate culminated in the Fulton committee’s report on the Home Civil Service. Published in June 1968, this five-volume report possessed the most dramatic implications for the Treasury, whose longstanding control over expenditure had become intertwined over time with managerial responsibilities for the civil service.KeywordsSocial ServiceHistorical WorkHistorical ActivityEstablishment OfficerPrescription ChargeThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.