Volume 15: Government and Public Administration
1. The purpose of this volume
Public administration

1.6 BSE presented baffling problems. It was not known how it was transmitted, whether it posed a threat to humans, or how best to contain it. Ministers and officials had to take decisions amidst considerable uncertainties in an area that straddled animal and human health, involved public and private sector interests and high economic stakes, and rapidly became the focus of continuing media scrutiny. It was a challenging test of the capabilities of the public administration process. Part of the remit of the Inquiry has been to consider whether the Government's response to BSE was adequate.

1.7 A point repeatedly made by witnesses giving evidence to the Inquiry was that decision-making on BSE, as on other major matters, was a 'collegiate' process involving both Ministers and officials and generally combining the inputs of many people. Some witnesses went on to argue from this that no individual should be regarded as responsible for the decisions taken.

1.8 This is not a view we share. While collective consideration is indeed a feature of public administration, Government Departments invest considerable management effort in defining roles and tasks so that responsibility is clear, and in assessing performance in discharging it. Nevertheless, we fully agree that judgements about individuals' responses to BSE require an understanding of the normal workings of government and of the expectations and constraints that these impose. This volume therefore describes these matters. It is not, however, being put forward as a benchmark defining standards against which individuals might be judged and criticised for the purposes of this Inquiry. That is dealt with in vol. 1: Findings and Conclusions.