The Junior Minister

Abstract

The broad structure of a British government department is familiar to most American readers. At the head is the Minister, a member of the Government and of one of the Houses of Parliament; under him is the Permanent Secretary, a top-flight career civil servant. In theory the Minister is responsible to Parliament for everything done in his department and this ensures that he deals personally with the biggest issues which arise or refers them to the Cabinet, whose members are collectively responsible for their decisions. Lesser matters are dealt with by the Permanent Secretary or some lower civil servant. Compared with the United States, this clear division between the political and temporary Minister and the impartial career administrators who serve him seems delightfully simple. This general picture, however, takes no account of the political Junior Minister, one or more of whom is appointed to each major department. Originally his main function was to explain the activities of the department to the particular House of Parliament in which he sat. Later he became more and more concerned in departmental business, sometimes being given particular topics to handle. His exact place in the departmental hierarchy has, however, been ignored in textbooks and its assessment is now overdue. Fresh light was thrown on this problem at the end of 1948 by the evidence given before the body known, after the name of its chairman, as the Lynskey Tribunal. Its purpose was to investigate allegations of corruption on the part of ministers or other public servants. Charges of this sort are so comparatively rare in Britain that the colorful proceedings attracted great public interest at a time of material drabness and austerity. In the end the Tribunal reported, clearing public servants of the more serious allegations but finding, inter alia, that Mr. Belcher, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Board of Trade (one of two Junior Ministers in that department) had received certain gifts and, in return, had used his official influence to benefit the givers. Mr. Belcher later resigned from office and from the House of Commons. [4371