HEAD OF THE CIVIL SERVICE
Stn,—I have read with interest the letters appearing in your columns on the subject of the " Head of the Civil Service." Surely the facts are as suggested by Sir Walford Selby in his letter appearing in your issue of July 3rd that the King is the Head of the Civil Service, and, if this be so, no Civil Servant in any of the Departments can constitutionally be elevated to the position. It is earnestly to be hoped that the matter will be pursued and be thoroughly discussed, and that an authoritative decision will be arrived at. The present position is most unsatisfactory. No one knows whether or not there is a Head of the Civil Service or, if there is, what his functions are.
During my Membership of the House of Commons I had the privilege of acting as Parliamentary Private Secretary for five years to Lord Grey of Fallodon whilst he was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. During those years, and up to the time that I left the House of Commons in 1924, I never heard of the post of Head of the Civil Service, and I cannot believe for a moment that Lord Grey would have tolerated the intervention between him and his permanent officials of any Civil Servant belonging to the Treasury or any other Government Department.—Yours 23 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh.
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