The Government of England (Vol. I)Lowell, A. Lawrence (Abbott Lawrence)
History
The Government of England (Vol. I)
Lowell, A. Lawrence (Abbott Lawrence)
Great Britain -- Politics and government
Besides the departments subordinate to the Treasury, there are a number
of outlying departments more or less closely connected with it which
have already been referred to as having nothing to do with financial
affairs; and, indeed, one may say that in theory, at least, every branch
of the public service--except the Ecclesiastical and Charity
Commissions[129:2]--that does not have a political chief of its own, and
is not connected with some other department, is under the supervision of
the Treasury and represented in Parliament thereby. But while the
commissioners, or other heads of such offices, are as a rule appointed
on the recommendation of the First Lord, or of the Prime Minister, the
degree of control exercised over them by the Treasury varies a great
deal; and in some cases its responsibility, apart from regulating the
amount of expenditure, is somewhat illusory. Several institutions in
this position are intended to be entirely outside the range of party
controversy; and the boards of trustees of the British Museum, the
National Gallery, and the National Portrait Gallery habitually contain
members of Parliament who would never think of resigning their posts by
reason of a change of ministry. The principal outlying departments of
the Treasury directly connected with national administration, are: the
Civil Service Commission, which examines the candidates for the various
branches of the civil service; the Parliamentary Counsel's office, which
drafts all the bills introduced by the ministers; and the stationery
office, which does all the government printing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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