What permanent secretaries are supposed to be for is one of the many obscurities around the centre of British government, which Labour has demonstrated little interest in illuminating. At least so far. Pressure is growing on Tony Blair to interest himself in the machinery. Foot and mouth has brought critical attention on the geography of Whitehall's departments. A spate of recent reports have mapped out alternatives, while warning that boundary changes may just be deckchair rearrangement.
Officials work with a host of different performance measurements.
Ministers' political fate depends on delivery but they have been unwilling to rethink the disarticulated system that produces health care, education or social inclusion. Meanwhile, e-government is coming. No wonder civil servants have identity problems. Tony Wright, Labour chairman of the public administration committee, says it adds up to a case for a royal com mission or similar thoroughgoing, external look - not just at Whitehall but public service as a whole. You cannot just confine the argument to paid officials.