Treasury Control of Establishments Work
| Date | 01 March 1958 |
| Published date | 01 March 1958 |
| Author | |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1958.tb01327.x |
Treasury
ControZ
of
Establishments
Work
By
A.
J.
D.
WINNIFRITH,
C.B.
Mr. Winnifrith, Third Secretary at the Treasu
y,
gave this lecture to tho
Society
of
Civil Servants. It was printed in
‘‘
Civil
Service Opinion
”
for
April,
1957
and is reprinted
by
kind permission
of
the Editor
of
that
Journal.
PROPOSE
to discuss Treasury control of establishments work under three
1
heads:
(1)
Control of conditions
of
service, especially pay.
(2)
Control of numbers and grading.
(3)
Control of personnel questions-recruitment, cross-postings between
Under each head
I
shall start by describing the facts-the limits
of
the control
exercised. Then, with a pause for breath,
I
shall try to convince you that
this degree of control is necessary and reasonably exercised.
Departments, etc.
1.
CONTROL
OF
CONDITIONS
OF
SERVICE
The facts about this type of control can be described very simply. Treasury
control over the main conditions
of
service
is
absolute and without
limit.
Treasury approval is required for any alteration in the pay, hours or leave
not only of all the general service classes but of all the departmental classes
as well. That is also current practice, and
you will at once ask how does the Treasury, that small remote body
of
mandarins, set about this task. What do they know about pay and other
conditions of service, particularly
of
the Departmental classes
?
The answer to this question is that
no
one
will
hold his post in the
Establishments side of the Treasury unless he
soon
learns and continues
to remember that neither he nor any
of
his Treasury colleagues
is
a first-hand
expert on these questions and that
his
job is to pick the brains
of
those who
are. The real experts are to be found in the Establishment branches of
Departments and in the staff associations. Even
if
they were not expert,
they would still need to be consulted. They, unlike the Treasury, see the
effect of policy at first hand.
Before, therefore, the Treasury evolves its policy
on
any of these topics,
it
consults the Establishment branches of the Departments most likely to
be concerned. This is done either
ad
hoc
or
in
suitable cases by reference
to the standing committee
of
Principal Establishment Officers. One way
or another, policy wiIl not be settled until the Treasury knows the views
of those who will have to administer that policy.
Now don’t assume from this that the Treasury always takes the advice
of those they consult, or that their function is solely that of a post oflice
collecting and passing
on
opinions. Although the Treasury may not be
9
That is the constitutional position.
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