Special advisers - Commons Library Standard Note

Published 07 August 2012 | Standard notes SN03813

Authors: Oonagh Gay

Topic: Central government, Civil Service, Ministers

The topic of special advisers in Government has been the focus of attention for several years. Much of the history of their use in Whitehall has been described in Library Research Paper 00/42 Advisers to Ministers, but this Standard Note summarises developments since then, specifically the introduction of legislation by the Brown Government to govern their appointment and conduct in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. This gave a statutory underpinning to the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers introduced in 2001, and the Order in Council which governs their role as temporary civil servants. The Note also looks at trends in numbers of special advisers, based on data from parliamentary questions. The Coalition Government announced plans to release such data on a quarterly basis, together with the names of special advisers. Further guidance was issued by the Cabinet Secretary following the resignation of the Defence Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, over the behaviour of a personal friend, Adam Werritty.

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