Mapping the New Governance: the Department of National Heritage and Cultural Politics in Britain
Taylor A
Public Administration, (UK), Autumn 97 (75/3)
Start page: 441 No of pages: 26
Examines the new structure of government in the UK which sees the responsibility of central executive as formulating policy and monitoring its implementation by autonomous agencies which operate at arm’s length from the executive. Identifies a contradiction in this system of governance between the aim of limited government and the desire for control. Focuses on the Department of National Heritage, set up in 1992, and conceived as an ‘enabling ministry’, analysing its ability to control the complex policy networks through resource control, ministerial activism, systematic review and scrutiny, and the control of financial resources. Concludes that ‘arms length but hands on’ is an accurate description of the Department of National Heritage’s approach to government, suggesting that the Department presents a blueprint for the rest of the UK Government.