But he was overruled by the culture secretary Chris Smith, who argued that it would cost much more money and damage the country's image to close the dome early. Ministers often overrule officials if there are wider considerations than just money. Two years ago it emerged that hundreds of disabled people were receiving welfare benefits to which they were not actually entitled, because of errors in the benefits system. The disabled people were not at fault, but were faced with having to repay the money, sometimes amounting to thousands of pounds. Legislation was later introduced to correct the errors.
Ministerial directions come in all shapes and sizes, and some are quite minor.
Civil servants pointed out last August that, strictly speaking, this sum fell outside the scope of expenditure that could be officially authorised. Similarly, in the previous year, the Ministry of Defence sold off a property to a local childcare group for a slightly lower price than had been offered by a commercial company. The convention of ministerial directions exists in some thing of a constitutional vacuum. During the Thatcher era Robert Armstrong, the head of the civil service, issued his much-criticised doctrine that civil servants are employed merely to execute the wishes of ministers and have no wider responsibilities. It seemed to leave no room for whistleblowing.