An issue in all areas of working with stakeholders is the respective roles of secretaries (and their departments) and ministers (and their offices). The modern world demands that secretaries and their departments engage more widely, but as they do so, political risks arise that need to be managed carefully.

In working with the states, forums of officials are essential for marshalling the information and analysis and clarifying the key issues for political settlement. Not allowing the officials some space to work without direct political involvement (or having political bureaucrats) can undermine the ability for dispassionate analysis and information sharing. Secretaries play a key role in overseeing these processes and in maintaining the confidence of ministers that the process is working in their interests, giving them the opportunity to consider relevant policy options and make well-informed decisions.

Likewise, in dealing with interest groups, ministers understandably need to be confident that departmental contacts are constructive and supportive of the government’s agenda and are not likely to exacerbate political difficulties. A risk, if that confidence is lacking, is that ministers see secretaries and their departments as just one source of advice competing with others, where the competition for ideas is managed directly in the office. Vital to informed debate and good decision making is the availability of disinterested public service advice that is well informed of different views and able to provide analysis of them. Smart interest groups will liaise with departmental officers as well as ministerial staff; wise ministers will encourage this and refer proposals from interest groups to departments for analysis and advice. Secretaries are key to getting these processes right.

There can also be a risk in ministers expecting their secretaries to maintain close relationships with stakeholders, particularly those they themselves draw on regularly. Secretaries must also demonstrate to their staff and to the wider public that such relationships do not reflect any partiality. Accordingly, it is important to ensure relations with organisations that are not known supporters of the government are also maintained, notwithstanding the occasional displeasure of ministerial staff. It is also important to resist undue pressure to offer consultancies to those close to the minister without proper process.

Maintaining international connections also raises the issue of containing costs to taxpayers and ensuring value for money. International travel is always seen as a perk by the media, and such criticism is often unfair. I do not know if I always got the balance right, but I generally went overseas with the minister once a year, letting another senior officer accompany him if there were other visits, and I might have had a separate visit each year focusing on my own contacts while attending to some specific business. Sometimes there were other brief visits for specific business purposes.