Head of the civil service Sir Bob Kerslake, Treasury permanent secretary Sir Nicholas Macpherson, and Cabinet Office permanent secretary Richard Heaton made their stand in correspondence seen by Civil Service World.
In January, Hodge wrote to the triumvirate to complain about the official government response to a PAC report into civil service reform: published last year, it recommended greater central direction.
But a strongly-worded response from the senior civil servants said that “the high degree of central direction and integration that you appear to recommend does not reflect the model that this government and previous governments have operated. This is a matter of policy, on which the government differs from both the National Audit Office and PAC.”
The letter said that current arrangements reflect the reality of cabinet government, in which secretaries of state enjoy autonomy subject to collective responsibility. “This is complementary to the century-old model of the accounting officer, who is personally responsible for the activity of the organisation he or she leads,” it added.
In her January letter, Hodge said that the original government response, made through Treasury Notes, “showed a poor understanding of our fundamental point that the Cabinet Office and Treasury aren’t demonstrating real leadership in their role as government’s corporate centre”.