Listening to the advisors

John Key addressed the PSA conference yesterday. A cap on the number of public servants is probably not the most popular policy there, but one pledge went down well:

“National will expect a high degree of professionalism from the public service, part of which is telling ministers what they are not comfortable hearing,” Mr Key said. “As part of this openness, policy advisers will be able to take part in Cabinet committee discussions where it is appropriate.

“That’s because advisers can exercise better judgment if they have a better understanding of the context in which they are making those judgments.”

Under the previous National government, senior officials sat in on Cabinet committee meetings, but this changed when Labour took power and the officials were made to wait outside, called in only when they were needed.

I wasn’t aware that even the Cabinet Committees had got so politicised that officials were excluded from them.