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Head of the Home Civil Service 1968–74

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William Armstrong and British Policy Making

Part of the book series: Understanding Governance ((TRG))

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Abstract

Giving leadership to Whitehall in a challenging period of change and reform, Armstrong had a major influence on the implementation of the Fulton Committee on the management and organisation of the civil service. He played a key part advising Prime Ministers Wilson and Heath on the reorganisation of the machinery of government and the departmental architecture of Whitehall. As Head of the Civil Service he also advised PMs on senior appointments and promotions, and was part of the small group of insiders handling Royal finances. He had more progressive views on ‘open government’ than many other senior officials.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Rodney Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the Civil Service, Volume 1: The Fulton Years, 1966–81 (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 6.

  2. 2.

    Peter Jay, ‘New man at the helm in Whitehall’, The Times, 1 May 1968; Trevor Woolston, ‘The machine’s new minder’, The Guardian, 30 April 1968; Eric Jacobs, ‘Cleaning up the corridors of power: Profile of Sir William Armstrong, the civil service chief with the job of revolutionising Whitehall’, The Sunday Times, 15 September 1968; ‘New head of home Civil Service: Sir William Armstrong plays crucial role’, The Times, 5 January 1968.

  3. 3.

    ‘Armstrong, bringer of civil service salvation’, The Guardian, 5 January 1968.

  4. 4.

    Geoffrey K. Fry, Reforming the Civil Service: The Fulton Committee on the British Home Civil Service 1966–1968 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993), pp. 73–98.

  5. 5.

    CCS (66) 17th meeting, Oral evidence of Sir William Armstrong, 5 July 1966, NA BA 1/3.

  6. 6.

    Interviews with former permanent secretaries (KT).

  7. 7.

    Alec Cairncross, The Wilson Years: A Treasury Diary, 1964–1969 (London: The Historians’ Press, 1997), p. 86.

  8. 8.

    Interview with former No.10 private secretary (KT).

  9. 9.

    Clive Priestley, ‘Official Head of the Home Civil Service’, 23 August 1976, Annex F, Remarks by Rt Hon Lord Armstrong on 23 October 1975, NA BA 7/22.

  10. 10.

    Clarke to Armstrong and Helsby, 22 March 1966; Note of a meeting in Sir Laurence Helsby’s room, 31 March 1966, NA T199/992.

  11. 11.

    Note of a conversation between the Prime Minister and Lord Armstrong, 26 October 1977, NA PREM 16/1658.

  12. 12.

    ‘The case for a Civil Service Department: Note of a meeting held in Sir Laurence Helsby’s room’, 29 July 1966; ‘The Pay and Management functions of the Treasury: Note of a meeting held in Sir Laurence Helsby’s room’, 10 August 1966, NA T199/992; ‘Central Management of the Civil Service’, meeting of 6 October 1966, NA T199/993; Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the Civil Service, p. 111; Cairncross , The Wilson Years, pp. 157–158.

  13. 13.

    Jon Davis, Prime Ministers and Whitehall 1960–74 (London: Hambledon Continuum, 2007), p. 69.

  14. 14.

    Interview with Lord Wilson of Dinton (PC).

  15. 15.

    Interview with Sir John Chilcot (PC).

  16. 16.

    ‘Sir William Armstrong, the new head of the Civil Service , in conversation with George Scott’, The Listener, 9 May 1968, p. 597.

  17. 17.

    Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the Civil Service, p. 135.

  18. 18.

    Interviews with former permanent secretaries (KT).

  19. 19.

    Clive Priestley, ‘Official Head of the Home Civil Service’, 23 August 1976, Annex F, Remarks by Rt Hon Lord Armstrong on 23 October 1975, NA BA 7/22.

  20. 20.

    ‘The Change Makers’, Robert McKenzie interview with Sir William Armstrong, BBC TV, 9 January 1969, transcript in Armstrong papers; see also: ‘Sir William Armstrong, head of the Civil Service , talks to Robert McKenzie about the Fulton Report’, The Listener, 30 January 1969, pp. 136–137.

  21. 21.

    See: NA T295/44.

  22. 22.

    Interview with Bill McCall (PC).

  23. 23.

    Sir William Armstrong, ‘Fulton and After’, Civil Service Opinion, 46 (537), June 1968, p. 178.

  24. 24.

    The ‘trendy topics’ remark was by Ian Bancroft ; see: de Berker to Lee, 4 September 1969, NA BA 6/66.

  25. 25.

    ‘Would you swop your son at 15?’, Daily Mail, 2 December 1970; ‘Who’d take on my two sons?’, Daily Mail, 3 December 1970; ‘Parents urged to swop teenage sons’, Daily Telegraph, 2 December 1970; ‘Parents advised to “swap” sons’, The Guardian, 2 December 1970; ‘Church and sex education’, BBC Radio ‘Today’ programme, 13 September 1972, transcript in Armstrong papers.

  26. 26.

    ‘Sir William Armstrong talking with Desmond Wilcox’, The Listener, 28 March 1974, p. 391.

  27. 27.

    Interview with former permanent secretary (KT).

  28. 28.

    Interview with Sir John Chilcot (PC).

  29. 29.

    ‘Memories of William Armstrong’, MEG 45, Mile End Group, Queen Mary University of London (2008).

  30. 30.

    Interview with Sir Alan Bailey (PC).

  31. 31.

    Peter Hennessy, Whitehall, (London: Secker & Warburg, 1989), p. 213.

  32. 32.

    Interview with former permanent secretary (KT).

  33. 33.

    Clive Priestley, ‘Official Head of the Home Civil Service’, 23 August 1976, Annex F, Remarks by Rt Hon Lord Armstrong on 23 October 1975, NA BA 7/22; correspondence with Lord Armstrong of Ilminster (KT).

  34. 34.

    Papers on Halls v Civil Service Department, 1974: statement by Sir William Armstrong, pp. 1–2 (Armstrong papers).

  35. 35.

    The Civil Service, Cmnd. 3638 (London: HMSO, 1968).

  36. 36.

    Peter Kellner and Lord Crowther-Hunt, The Civil Servants (London: Macdonald , 1980); Hugo Young, ‘Arch-mandarin who went public’, The Sunday Times, 13 July 1980; Michael Kandiah (ed), ‘Witness Seminar: The Heath government, Contemporary Record, 9 (1), 1995, pp. 211–12.

  37. 37.

    Interview with former permanent secretary (KT).

  38. 38.

    The Listener, 30 January 1969, p. 136.

  39. 39.

    Sixth report from the Estimates Committee, ‘Recruitment to the Civil Service’, HC 308, 1964–65, Minutes of Evidence, 3 May 1965, qs.738–797.

  40. 40.

    Oral evidence of Sir William Armstrong to Management Training Working Party, 17 June 1966, NA T249/242.

  41. 41.

    CCS (66) 17th meeting, Oral evidence of Sir William Armstrong, 5 July 1966, NA BA 1/3.

  42. 42.

    Davis Prime Ministers and Whitehall, p. 69.

  43. 43.

    Kevin Theakston, ‘Whitehall Reform’, in Peter Dorey (ed), The Labour Governments 1964–1970 (London: Routledge, 2006), p. 158.

  44. 44.

    Kellner and Crowther-Hunt, The Civil Servants, p. 57.

  45. 45.

    Armstrong to Halls, 3 April 1968; Halls to Armstrong, 6 May 1968; Armstrong to Halls, 9 May 1968, NA PREM 13/1970.

  46. 46.

    Fry, Reforming the Civil Service, pp. 238–239. There is no record of Armstrong/Simey correspondence on the matter in Simey’s private papers (Simey papers A202/4 and A202/5, Special Collections and Archives, Sydney Jones Library, University of Liverpool).

  47. 47.

    Armstrong to Halls, 9 May 1968, NA PREM 13/1970; Davis, Prime Ministers and Whitehall, p. 69.

  48. 48.

    Armstrong to Halls, 21 June 1968, NA PREM 13/1971.

  49. 49.

    Expenditure Committee, The Civil Service, vol. II (Part II), Minutes of Evidence, HC 535-II, 1976–77, qs.1497–1499.

  50. 50.

    E.O.M. (68) 7th meeting, 18 July 1968, NA BA 19/220.

  51. 51.

    Trend to Wilson, 11 November 1969, NA PREM 13/3135.

  52. 52.

    Armstrong to Halls, 9 May 1968; Armstrong to Halls, 14 June 1968, NA PREM 13/1970.

  53. 53.

    Spectator, 5 December 1970, p. 729 (letter from C.H. Sisson); Donald MacDougall, Don and Mandarin: Memoirs of an Economist (London: John Murray, 1987), p. 193; Fry, Reforming the Civil Service, p. 254; BBC 2, ‘Man Alive’, 9 May 1978.

  54. 54.

    Expenditure Committee, The Civil Service, vol. II (Part II), Minutes of Evidence, HC 535-II, 1976–77, q.1501.

  55. 55.

    John Garrett, Managing the Civil Service (London: Heinemann, 1980), p. 191.

  56. 56.

    Wilson to Halls, 15 February 1969, NA PREM 13/3098.

  57. 57.

    NA PREM 13/2692.

  58. 58.

    Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service, pp. 312–319; Fry, Reforming the Civil Service, pp. 267–272; Kellner and Crowther-Hunt, The Civil Servants, pp. 89–94.

  59. 59.

    The Listener, 30 January 1969, p. 137.

  60. 60.

    Armstrong to Halls, 9 May 1968, NA PREM 13/1970.

  61. 61.

    Halls to Wilson, 25 February 1968, NA PREM 13/1970.

  62. 62.

    Kellner and Crowther-Hunt, The Civil Servants, pp. 63–64.

  63. 63.

    Halls to Armstrong, 23 May 1968, NA PREM 13/1970; speech by Sir William Armstrong to the Standing Conference of University Appointments Services, 9 September 1969, NA BA 6/63.

  64. 64.

    Philip Ziegler, Wilson: The Authorised Life (London: HarperCollins, 1993), p. 315; Halls to Wilson, 16 January 1969, NA PREM 13/2527; Halls to Wilson, 11 May 1968, NA PREM 13/1970; Joe Haines, Glimmers of Twilight (London: Politico’s, 2003), p. 56; papers on Halls v Civil Service Department, 1974 (Armstrong papers).

  65. 65.

    NA PREM 13/3099, PREM 13/3100.

  66. 66.

    Armstrong to Halls, 19 September 1968, NA PREM 13/1972.

  67. 67.

    Expenditure Committee, The Civil Service, vol. II (Part II), Minutes of Evidence, HC 535-II, 1976–77, q.1504.

  68. 68.

    Gregson to Gilmore, 23 November 1971; Gregson to Chilcot, 7 March 1972; Gregson to PM, 8 March 1972, NA PREM 15/1341.

  69. 69.

    ‘Lord Crowther-Hunt and Lord Armstrong discuss reorganisation of the civil service’, BBC Radio 4, The World at One, 14 May 1980 (transcript in Armstrong papers).

  70. 70.

    F (JC) (71) 1st meeting, Joint Committee of the National Whitley Council on the Fulton Report, 23 November 1971, NA BA 16/77.

  71. 71.

    ‘Lord Crowther-Hunt and Lord Armstrong discuss reorganisation of the civil service’, BBC Radio 4, The World at One, 14 May 1980 (transcript in Armstrong papers).

  72. 72.

    Armstrong to Halls, 9 May 1968, NA PREM 13/1970.

  73. 73.

    Sir William Armstrong, Professionals and Professionalism in the Civil Service (London: London School of Economics and Political Science, 1970).

  74. 74.

    Fry, Reforming the Civil Service, p. 261; Peter Barberis, The Elite of the Elite: Permanent Secretaries in the British Higher Civil Service (Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1996), pp. 49–50; Armstrong, Professionals and Professionalism in the Civil Service, pp. 16–17; BBC1 television, ‘Nationwide’, 15 September 1977 (transcript in Armstrong papers); Sir William Armstrong, Personnel Management in the Civil Service (London: HMSO, 1971); Armstrong interview in Personnel Management, June 1973, p. 22, NA BA 6/87.

  75. 75.

    Armstrong to Lord Privy Seal, 9 May 1972; Armstrong to Lord Rothschild, 7 June 1972, NA PREM 15/923; Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the Civil Service, pp. 173–177; Davis, Prime Ministers and Whitehall, pp. 138–140.

  76. 76.

    Richard Chapman, ‘The Rise and Fall of the CSD’, Policy and Politics, vol. 11 (1983), pp. 50–1; Christopher Pollitt, Manipulating the Machine: Changing the Pattern of Ministerial Departments, 1960–83 (London: Allen and Unwin, 1984), p. 78; David Dillman, ‘The Paradox of Administrative Power: John Macy and William Armstrong’, Public Policy and Administration, vol. 5 (1990), p. 14.

  77. 77.

    Anthony Sampson, The New Anatomy of Britain (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1971), p. 252; Sir William Armstrong, The Civil Service Department and Its Tasks (London: CSD, 1970), p. 18; Fry, Reforming the Civil Service, p. 272; Permanent Secretaries’ Conference on the Fulton Report, 7–9 June 1968, NA CAB 164/826.

  78. 78.

    Expenditure Committee, The Civil Service, vol. II (Part II), Minutes of Evidence, HC 535-II, 1976–77, qs.1485, 1487.

  79. 79.

    Pollitt, Manipulating the Machine, pp. 45, 50–51.

  80. 80.

    Sir William Armstrong, ‘The Civil Service Department and its Tasks’, in Richard Chapman and Andrew Dunsire (eds), Style in Administration: Readings in British Public Administration (London: Royal Institute of Public Administration and Allen and Unwin, 1971), pp. 329–330.

  81. 81.

    ‘Supplementary points for Prime Minister’s brief for Cabinet, 25th June [1968]’; Armstrong to Halls, 18 June 1968, NA PREM 13/1971; William Armstrong speech at the Institute of Municipal Treasurers and Accountants weekend conference, 29–31 March 1968, NA BA 6/61.

  82. 82.

    See: NA PREM 13/2680 and PREM 13/2681.

  83. 83.

    Armstrong to Halls, 30 September 1969, NA PREM 13/2681.

  84. 84.

    Walker to Gilbraith , 28 August 1970, NA BA 17/212.

  85. 85.

    Pollitt, Manipulating the Machine, pp. 89, 126; C. Gilbraith note for the record, 25 June 1970, NA BA 17/210.

  86. 86.

    Halls to Armstrong, 12 September 1969, NA PREM 13/2680.

  87. 87.

    Crossman to Wilson, 23 July 1968; Armstrong to Odgers, 18 July 1968; Halls to Helsby, 2 April 1968, NA PREM 13/2690; Richard Crossman, The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister: Volume 3: Secretary of State for Social Services 1968–1970 (London: Hamish Hamilton and Jonathan Cape, 1977), pp. 153, 157.

  88. 88.

    Eleventh Report from the Expenditure Committee, The Civil Service, vol. II (Part II), Minutes of Evidence, HC 535-II, 1976–77, q.1927; Halls to Armstrong, 6 August 1969, NA PREM 13/2680.

  89. 89.

    See: NA PREM 13/2680, 13/3241.

  90. 90.

    See: NA PREM 13/3241 and BA 17/225.

  91. 91.

    Armstrong to Isserlis, 14 May 1970; Armstrong to Issrelis 21 May 1970; Isserlis to Armstrong, 2 June 1970, NA PREM 13/3241; Expenditure Committee, The Civil Service, 1976–77: q.1946.

  92. 92.

    The Rorganisation of Central Government, Cmnd. 4506 (1970).

  93. 93.

    Davis, Prime Ministers and Whitehall, pp. 103–104; Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the Civil Service, p. 164; Lewis Baston and Anthony Seldon, ‘Number 10 under Edward Heath’, in Stuart Ball and Anthony Seldon (eds), The Heath Government 1970–74 (London: Longman, 1996), p. 69. There is a ‘note for the record’, clearly dictated by William Armstrong, of a lunch with Howell a week (rather than two days) after the election, and of their conversation about MG issues, written up by C. Gilbraith on 25 June 1970, in NA BA 17/210.

  94. 94.

    Edward Heath, The Course of My Life (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1998), p. 314; Kevin Theakston, ‘The Heath Government, Whitehall and the Civil Service’, in Stuart Ball and Anthony Seldon (eds), The Heath Government 1970–74 (London: Longman, 1996), pp. 75–76.

  95. 95.

    ‘Talk by Mr Edward Heath at Swinton College weekend course on the machinery of government’, November 1964, Boyle papers, MS.660/23778, Brotherton Library, University of Leeds.

  96. 96.

    Note for the record—discussion on the central departments, 4 June 1970, NA BA 17/231; W. Armstrong, Conservative Party plans for use of businessmen, 1 June 1970, NA BA 17/982; Davis, Prime Ministers and Whitehall, p. 93.

  97. 97.

    William Armstrong, Note for the record, 8 June 1970, NA BA 17/231.

  98. 98.

    See in general: NA BA 17/210, BA 17/231, BA 17/232, BA 17/233, BA 17/982, PREM 15/79.

  99. 99.

    Note of a meeting in Sir William Armstrong’s room, 22 June 1970 NA BA 17/210; Note for the record, C. Gilbraith , 25 June 1970, NA BA 17/210; Note of a meeting to discuss the recommendations of Action Group One of the Conservative Party Public Sector Research Unit (The Black Book), 30 June 1970, NA BA 17/232; Note of a Further Meeting to Discuss the Black Book, 1 July 1970, NA BA 17/232; Pollitt, Manipulating the Machine, p. 92.

  100. 100.

    Howell to R. Armstrong, 7 February 1971, NA PREM 15/404; R. Armstrong to Prime Minister, 28 April 1971, NA PREM 15/405.

  101. 101.

    Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the Civil Service, p. 165.

  102. 102.

    Pollitt, Manipulating the Machine, p. 76; Armstrong to Isserlis with memo on ‘Machinery of Government: The Central Departments’, 10 June 1970, NA PREM 13/3241; Note for the record—Discussion on the Central Departments, 3 June 1970, NA BA 17/231.

  103. 103.

    Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the Civil Service, p. 170; NA PREM 15/406, CAB 184/1, CAB 184/3.

  104. 104.

    Hennessy, Whitehall, p. 233; Tessa Blackstone and William Plowden, Inside the Think Tank: Advising the Cabinet 1971–1983 (London: Heinemann, 1988), p. 197.

  105. 105.

    Pollitt, Manipulating the Machine, p. 143.

  106. 106.

    Gilbraith to Cooper, 24 June 1970, NA BA 17/210.

  107. 107.

    William Armstrong, Note for the record, 8 June 1970, NA BA 17/231; note of a meeting in Sir William Armstrong’s room, 22 June 1970 NA BA 17/210; T. Caulcott, Machinery of Government Review 1970—The Recommended Changes, 20 May 1970, NA BA 17/225; W. Armstrong to R. Armstrong, Review of Departmental Responsibilities, 28 August 1970, NA BA 17/212.

  108. 108.

    Walker to Heath, 15 December 1973; W. Armstrong to R. Armstrong, 17 December 1973, NA BA 17/1089.

  109. 109.

    Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the Civil Service, pp. 182–190; meeting in Lord Privy Seal’s room, 9 November 1971, NA BA 17/441.

  110. 110.

    W. Armstrong to R. Armstrong, Review of Departmental Responsibilities, 28 August 1970, NA BA 17/212.

  111. 111.

    Brian Connell, ‘Lord Armstrong: A hardly-noticed transition from Whitehall to the City’, The Times, 15 November 1976.

  112. 112.

    Note of a conversation between the Prime Minister and Lord Armstrong, 26 October 1977, NA PREM 16/1658; ‘Sir William Armstrong talking with Desmond Wilcox’, The Listener, 28 March 1974, p. 390.

  113. 113.

    Kellner and Crowther-Hunt, The Civil Servants, pp. 174–175.

  114. 114.

    ‘Does God make a difference?’, BBC World Service, 30 October 1971/Radio 4, 30 March 1972, NA BA 6/81.

  115. 115.

    Interview with Lord Moser (PC).

  116. 116.

    The Cecil King Diary 1970–1974 (London: Jonathan Cape, 1975), p. 246; Edward Heath interviewed by Charles Wintour and Robert Carvel, My Style of Government (London: Evening Standard, 1972), p. 4; Top Jobs in Whitehall: Appointments and Promotions in the Senior Civil Service (London: Royal Institute of Public Administration, 1987).

  117. 117.

    Note of a conversation between the Prime Minister and Lord Armstrong, 26 October 1977, NA PREM 16/1658; ‘Lord Armstrong: A hardly-noticed transition from Whitehall to the City’, The Times, 15 November 1976.

  118. 118.

    Papers on Halls v Civil Service Department, 1974: statement by Sir William Armstrong, p. 11, and C. Gilbraith note for the record, 6 August 1969 (Armstrong papers).

  119. 119.

    Michael McManus, Edward Heath : A Singular Life (London: Elliott and Thompson, 2016), p. 105.

  120. 120.

    See for example: Barbara Castle , The Castle Diaries 1964–70 (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1984), p. 722; Crossman , The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister: Volume 3, pp. 101, 755.

  121. 121.

    Eleventh Report from the Expenditure Committee, The Civil Service, vol. II (Part II), Minutes of Evidence, HC 535-II, 1976–77, q.1494; Hugo Young, One of Us (London: Pan, 1990), p. 72; John Campbell, Margaret Thatcher , volume one, The Grocer’s Daughter (London: Jonathan Cape, 2000), p. 216.

  122. 122.

    Oral evidence of Sir Laurence Helsby—The Office of Permanent Secretary and Top Appointments’, NA BA 1/6; Fry, Reforming the Civil Service, pp. 77–79; Clive Priestley, ‘Official Head of the Home Civil Service’, 23 August 1976, Annex F, Remarks by Rt Hon Lord Armstrong, NA BA 7/22.

  123. 123.

    Kellner and Crowther-Hunt, The Civil Servants, p. 175; interview with former permanent secretary (KT).

  124. 124.

    ‘Sir William Armstrong talking with Desmond Wilcox’, The Listener, 28 March 1974, p. 390.

  125. 125.

    Eleventh Report from the Expenditure Committee, The Civil Service, vol. II (Part II), Minutes of Evidence, HC 535-II, 1976–77, q.1505.

  126. 126.

    Armstrong to Hall, 10 March 1969, in: Papers on Halls v Civil Service Department, 1974 (Armstrong papers).

  127. 127.

    Sir William Armstrong to R. Armstrong, 13 November 1970, NA PREM 16/2067.

  128. 128.

    R. Armstrong to PM, 29 September 1970, and W. Armstrong to R. Armstrong, 29 September 1970, NA PREM 15/72.

  129. 129.

    Crossman , The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister: Volume 3, p. 755; Sir William Armstrong to R. Armstrong, 13 November 1970, NA PREM 16/2067.

  130. 130.

    Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service, pp. 331, 333, 510; NA BA 19/82; House of Lords debates, 8 December 1971, cols.800, 826.

  131. 131.

    Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service, p. 330; Civil Service Statistics 1974 (London: HMSO, 1975), p. 20.

  132. 132.

    The Listener, 28 March 1974, pp. 390–391; ‘Man Alive—Sir William Armstrong’, BBC2 TV, 27 March 1974, transcript (pp. 11–12) in: NA BA 7/22.

  133. 133.

    Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service, pp. 337–40; NA BA 19/276.

  134. 134.

    Hennessy, Whitehall, p. 216.

  135. 135.

    ‘Civil List: Note of a meeting at 10 Downing Street’, 31 July 1970, NA BA 6/97.

  136. 136.

    ‘Note for the Record: Civil List’, note of a meeting on 12 May 1970, NA BA 6/96.

  137. 137.

    ‘Civil List: Note of a meeting at 10 Downing Street’, 31 July 1970, NA BA 6/97.

  138. 138.

    Willie Hamilton, My Queen and I (London: Quartet, 1975).

  139. 139.

    See: ‘The Civil List’, report by William Armstrong, Burke Trend and Laurence Helsby, and ‘The Cost of Monarchy’, William Armstrong, 14 September 1967, NA PREM 13/2906.

  140. 140.

    Lord Cobbald to PM, Civil List, 11 January 1966; Record of a meeting between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the Civil List, 31 July 1968; Halls to PM, the Civil List, 30 July 1968, NA PREM 13/2906.

  141. 141.

    Eric Jacobs, ‘Cleaning up the corridors of power: profile of Sir William Armstrong’, The Sunday Times, 15 September 1968.

  142. 142.

    Lorna Duckworth, ‘ Harold Wilson tried to make Royal Family surrender land to pay their way’, The Independent, 22 July 2002.

  143. 143.

    Fulton Report, paras.277–280.

  144. 144.

    Shackleton to prime minister, 27 September 1968; ‘The Secrecy of Official Information’, 24 May 1968, NA CAB 164/640.

  145. 145.

    Trend to Armstrong, 21 May 1968, NA CAB 164/640.

  146. 146.

    The Secrecy of Official Information: Note of a meeting on 7 June 1968, NA CAB 164/640.

  147. 147.

    Halls to Walker, 26 November 1968, NA PREM 13/1972; ‘Secrecy of Official Information’, 24 January 1969; Halls to Walker, 23 January 1969; Armstrong to Trend 20 January 1969, NA CAB 164/640.

  148. 148.

    ‘Enquiry into the Release of Official Information’, 14 February 1969, NA BA 19/49.

  149. 149.

    Halls to Wilson, 21 February 1969, NA PREM 13/2528.

  150. 150.

    ‘The Release of Official Information’, 5 March 1969, NA PREM 13/2528.

  151. 151.

    Halls to Armstrong, 22 May 1968, NA PREM 13/1970; see also: Halls to Wilson, 25 February 1968, NA PREM 13/1970.

  152. 152.

    Departmental Committee on Section 2 of the Official Secrets Act (Franks Committee), Cmnd 5104 (London: HMSO, 1972), vol. 4, p. 190.

  153. 153.

    Information and the Public Interest, Cmnd 4089, (London: HMSO, 1969).

  154. 154.

    Sir William Armstrong, ‘The Role and Character of the Civil Service’, (24 June 1970), Proceedings of the British Academy, vol. 56, 1972, pp. 223–224.

  155. 155.

    Robert Armstrong to Maitland, 6 February 1972, NA BA 6/56.

  156. 156.

    Franks Committee, vol. 3, pp. 104–130.

  157. 157.

    Minutes of the thirty-second meeting of the Franks Committee, 16 May 1972; Note of a meeting at the Home Office, 1 December 1972, NA CAB 164/1223.

  158. 158.

    Allen to Armstrong, 12 October 1972, NA T199/1226.

  159. 159.

    ‘The Intrusive State: A Civil Servant’s Experience’, 28 July 1977, transcript of a talk on BBC World Service (Armstrong papers); Brian Connell, ‘Lord Armstrong: A hardly-noticed transition from Whitehall to the City’, The Times, 15 November 1976.

  160. 160.

    Transcript of: ‘Analysis: The Secrets of Government’, BBC Radio 4, 4 March 1976 (Armstrong papers); see also: Peter Hennessy, ‘Lord Armstrong defends open government in committee considering ministerial secrecy’, The Times, 30 June 1975.

  161. 161.

    Kellner and Crowther-Hunt, The Civil Servants, pp. 272, 281.

  162. 162.

    Transcript of BBC 2 television, ‘Man Alive’, 9 May 1978 (Armstrong papers).

  163. 163.

    Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service, p. 193.

  164. 164.

    Clive Priestley, ‘Official Head of the Home Civil Service’, 23 August 1976, Annex F, Remarks by Rt Hon Lord Armstrong on 23 October 1975, NA BA 7/22; Note of a conversation between the Prime Minister and Lord Armstrong, 26 October 1977, NA PREM 16/1658.

  165. 165.

    Clive Priestley, ‘Official Head of the Home Civil Service’, 23 August 1976, Annex F, Remarks by Rt Hon Lord Armstrong on 23 October 1975, NA BA 7/22.

  166. 166.

    J.W. Lloyd, note for the record, 27 April 1970, NA BA 16/58; Armstrong, Professionals and Professionalism in the Civil Service; Armstrong, ‘The Role and Character of the Civil Service’.

  167. 167.

    Report from the Select Committee on Parliamentary Questions, HC 393, 1971–72, Minutes of Evidence, qs.133–225; see also: Maurice Wright, ‘The Professional Conduct of Civil Servants’, Public Administration, 51(1), 1973, pp. 1–15.

  168. 168.

    Peter Walker, Staying Power: An Autobiography (London: Bloomsbury, 1991), p. 84.

  169. 169.

    Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service, p. 134 and p. 433, fn.21.

  170. 170.

    Lowe, The Official History of the British Civil Service, p. 163 and p. 432, fn.15.

  171. 171.

    Interview with former permanent secretary (KT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sch of Politics & International Studies, University of Leeds Sch of Politics & International Studies, Leeds, UK

    Kevin Theakston

  2. Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK

    Philip Connelly

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  1. Kevin Theakston
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  2. Philip Connelly
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Theakston, K., Connelly, P. (2018). Head of the Home Civil Service 1968–74. In: William Armstrong and British Policy Making. Understanding Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57159-5_5

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