Not anonymous: ministerial responsibility and the British accounting officers

Article Abstract:

The doctrine of ministerial responsibility has three components: the collective responsibility of the cabinet; the individual responsibility of ministers; and the anonymity of the public servants. This paper examines one important exception to the doctrine of anonymity, the British accounting officers. These officers, normally the permanent secretaries (equivalent to deputy ministers), are responsible for the financial administration of departments and are held accountable for this by the Public Accounts Committee. A similar practice was proposed for Canada by the Lambert Commission but was rejected by the government, especially by the Privy Council Office. This paper argues that the PCO did not adequately represent the structure or importance of the British practice of assigning direct responsibility to accounting officers and in so doing has foreclosed serious consideration of an important area of reform to the machinery of government: identification of areas of government where public servants rather than ministers should hold responsibility and accountability. As a result, Canada has lagged behind other parliamentary democracies in moving into this important area of reform. At the same time, the theory that ministers should be responsible for administration has not led to effective accountability to Parliament in Canada. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Administration of Human Resource Programs (except Education, Public Health, and Veterans' Affairs Programs), Public Services Administration, Laws, regulations and rules, Accounting, Civil service reform

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Les sous-ministres du Nouveau-Brunswick: de l'ere des techniciens a l'ere des gestionnaires

Article Abstract:

At the top of the civil service in New Brunswick, as with the federal government, major changes in composition and functions have occurred over the last twenty years or so. It had been said therefore that the technocrats were becoming managers. By looking at the changes in the career and background profiles of New Brunswick deputy ministers and at the evolution of their functions an attempt is made to determine the differences between their evolution and the evolution within the federal government, and to see whether the deputy ministers have become managers instead of technocrats. This overview is completed by a survey of political-administrative relations. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Public Finance Activities, Public Administration, Evaluation, New Brunswick

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Ministers of state to assist: weighing the costs and the benefits

Article Abstract:

The establishment of the posts of ministers of state and their assistants in Canada (by the 1970 Ministries and Ministers of State Act) has been a mixed blessing. The assistant officials are specifically assigned to various ministries to help the ministers carry out their duties. While the purpose was to enable the minister to have more control over policies and programs, as well as appointed officials, difficulties have arisen because often there has not been a clear hierarchical structure, and accountability has been hard to ascertain. It seems apparent that, if the idea is to work, changes must be made in the present system giving junior ministers more autonomy.

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