The case for an authoritative, external look at the civil service has been strong for at least 15 years - ever since its then head, Sir Robert Armstrong, produced his notorious maxim to the effect that permanent officials are there to do their ministers' bidding and no more. Armstrong's memorandum on civil servants' duties raised the central one.
Officials have to be more than yes-people.
If the public cannot rely on them to say no when power is being abused and blow the whistle, our scheme of executive government becomes even more lopsided than it already is. But if civil servants are to have such a constitutional role it must be written down clearly and their accountability established. In recent years Giles Radice on the former Commons Treasury and civil service committee and now Tony Wright at the head of the public administration committee have made a start at doing just that. The latest report from Mr Wright's committee says the time has come to round out a wider plan for reform. Beneath the surface, there is rumbling discontent at the qualities and formation of top officials, their gender and backgrounds.