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Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Times
Sir Edward Osmotherly obituary: civil servant who defined role of committees
The present system of having a cross-party 'select' committee of backbench MPs to scrutinise the work of each government department was introduced in 1980, during Margaret Thatcher's first term as prime minister. The committees were empowered to summon and cross-examine ministers, but their powers regarding civil servants were less clear-cut. To what extent could officials be held accountable, and how much could they be expected to reveal? After all, their job was to advise ministers and implement government policy — not to decide it. To resolve that question Edward Osmotherly, a courteous, well-respected, old-school civil servant in the Machinery of Government Division of the Cabinet Office was asked to develop a set of guidelines which became known as the 'Osmotherly Rules' and have largely survived to this day. They stipulate that civil servants are not directly accountable to parliament and cannot be summoned by select committees; if their appearance is disputed, their minister should attend instead. The rules also cover other potentially problematic situations. Can a select committee summon a retired civil servant? Do civil servants enjoy parliamentary privilege? At what point does the cost of them supplying information become excessive? Are they covered by sub judice laws? Can they withhold and redact evidence on national security and public interest grounds? Osmotherly believed the select committee system was an essential component of a parliamentary democracy, and his rules struck a balance between the rights of the committees and those of civil servants. He was rewarded for that, and for a lifetime of public service, with a knighthood in 2002, and by having a rodent-catching cat named after him by the Cabinet Office in 2016. Edward Benjamin Crofton Osmotherly was born in Down Hatherley in Gloucestershire in 1942, the second child and only son of Crofton and Elsie Osmotherly, both teachers. He was raised in East Ham, east London, and attended the local grammar school where his academic talent secured him a place at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. After graduating with a degree in history and anthropology in 1963, he joined the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, and within three years was serving as a ministerial private secretary. One of his ministers, Bob Mellish, liked to relax in a sauna at the end of the week and expected Osmotherly to accompany him with his box of official papers. In 1970 he married Valerie Mustill, his boss's daughter. They settled in north London where they had a daughter, Zoe, who works as an administrator at a barristers' chambers, and a son, John, a technician at University College London. In 1972 Osmotherly won a year-long Harkness fellowship which took him to the Brookings Institution in Washington and — after a road trip across the US — to the University of California at Berkeley. On his return he joined the Department of the Environment, spent a year on secondment to the board of British Railways, and in 1980 joined the Cabinet Office where he was given the task of developing what a journalist dubbed the 'Osmotherly Rules'. In 1982 he joined the Department of Transport where he occupied several senior roles over the following decade and was closely involved in the privatisation of British Railways during John Major's premiership. In 1993 he left the civil service after 30 years, but remained a public servant. He spent eight years as a local government ombudsman, investigating complaints against local councils. He also chaired a review of ways to improve the government's business statistics. His report was published in 1996, and led to the creation of the independent Office for National Statistics through a merger of the Central Statistical Office and the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. Finding himself bored after leaving the ombudsman's job, he became an adviser to the European scrutiny committee of the House of Commons — one of the committees to which the Osmotherly Rules applied. He finally retired in 2010, and indulged his love of reading. A few years later he was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia called posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) which affected his sight and spatial awareness but not, at least to begin with, his memory and cognitive abilities. In 2018 he participated in a research project at University College London where he was asked to perform tasks such as painting lines on a canvas with motion sensors attached to his body. There he was interviewed by Fergus Walsh, the BBC's medical correspondent. The project was 'much more fun than a drug trial', he joked before issuing a heartfelt plea to the public: 'Please talk to people with dementia as if they were human beings. Don't be frightened of them.' Sir Edward Osmotherly, civil servant, was born on August 1, 1942. He died of PCA dementia on February 18, 2025, aged 82
2 days ago
- Politics
Majority of Japan's Female Local Assembly Members Suffer Harassment
Japan Data A survey of local assembly members in Japan found that more than half of women reported harassment, such as heckling or offensive gender-based remarks. In a survey conducted by the Cabinet Office's Gender Equality Bureau, aimed at local assembly members across Japan, 53.8% of women stated that either they, their family members, or supporters 'have been harassed,' more than double the percentage of men (23.6%). Meanwhile, 41.0% of men responded that they had 'never been harassed or heard from others about it,' twice that of women (19.5%). This would seem to indicate that men's and women's perceptions differ as to whether the same action is harassment or not. The most common specific form of harassment that assembly members themselves were subjected to was 'verbal violence, including heckling,' experienced by 85.1% of men and 72.0% of women. The overwhelmingly prevalent forms that women were subjected to were 'offensive gender-based attitudes and remarks,' 'physical contact and stalking,' and 'verbal sexual harassment.' Looking at the difference in perceived barriers to working as assembly members depending on respondents' gender, the issue that had the largest gap, by 29.4 points, was 'gender bias' or the assumption that politics was a male occupation. The nationwide survey, conducted from November to December 2024, received responses from 5,075 local assembly members. The revised Act on Promotion of Gender Equality in the Political Field, brought into effect in June 2021, included provisions to prevent harassment of assembly members and candidates. However, it has not led to a resolution of the issue of female politicians unable to concentrate on their political activities simply because they are women. Data Sources Results of a survey of local assembly members (Japanese) from the Cabinet Office's Gender Equality Bureau, 2025. (Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)
Business Standard
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Japan's Nikkei average jumps 0.90%
Japanese markets rose sharply to hit a four-month high as a weaker yen boosted export-related stocks. The yen hovered close to 145.4 per dollar, stabilizing after three consecutive losing sessions as data showed Japan's exports fell in May for the first time in eight months, highlighting the impact of U.S. tariffs. April's core machinery orders dropped and manufacturing sentiment worsened in June, pointing to subdued domestic spending. The Nikkei average jumped 0.90 percent to 38,885.15 while the broader Topix index settled 0.77 percent higher at 2,808.35. The value of core machinery orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 9.1 percent on month in April, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday - coming in at 919-0 billion yen. Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 637.6 billion yen in May, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Wednesday.
The Mainichi
2 days ago
- The Mainichi
Steady-handed Japan prison guard remembers faces of condemned
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- His hands never trembled, not even as he slipped the noose around the necks of several condemned men. But now, years later, their faces return to him -- uninvited, every day. Currently in his 70s, a Japanese man who worked as a prison guard for many years at a detention center in eastern Japan, remains anonymous for privacy reasons. One morning in the 1990s, he was informed he was to be that day's "noose handler," assisted by four other prison officers and several staff in the task of hanging death row inmates. "I knew this was a road I'd have to go down eventually if I worked at a detention center," the man said in an interview with Kyodo News. "You don't have any power to veto the decision." In Japan, more than 80 percent of people surveyed by the Cabinet Office believe "the death penalty is unavoidable." However, there have been no executions in nearly three years. To clarify what actually happens in a Japanese execution, the former prison guard provided his account. The man explained that the hangman's knot is always placed on the side, never at the back of the neck. This is said to alleviate suffering. Other duties of the staff include tying the inmates' feet. "I think I would have been more comfortable with tying the feet than hanging a noose around their necks. I was determined not to embarrass myself. I didn't tremble," he recalled. He said, with the exception of some top officials, prison officers are invariably directly involved in an execution once in their professional lives. Aside from this, the man also witnessed the proverbial "dead man's walk" of a condemned felon being taken to the execution chamber around 40 years ago. That day, an official in charge got the man to release the prisoner from his cell, saying the prisoner had been called by a senior official. From there, the guard saw the prisoner off to the gallows. There is no Japanese law requiring prior notice of executions, but it is believed that until at least the 1970s, inmates were informed by the day before. Today, they are typically notified only one to two hours before the execution. Although he had been trained on how to handle condemned prisoners if they resisted, he said, "As far as I'm aware there has never been a person who has put up a fight." When asked about his overall experience at the detention center, the man said, "I was able to separate my feelings since it was my job. I support the use of the death penalty." However, he added, "I also feel it's not a good thing for the people who actually have to carry it out." He revealed that every morning when he clasps his hands as a gesture of respect in front of his Shinto and Buddhist altars at home, "The faces of the death row inmates I was involved with flash before my eyes." He does not know why. In photos of the Tokyo Detention House released in 2010 via the media, the execution chamber could almost pass for a conference room with bright wood paneling, except for the very conspicuous apparatus used to carry out the sentence in the middle of the room. It faces a glass partition with blue curtains that open for viewing on the other side by the prosecutor, detention head and other officials who oversee the execution. For the inmate, there is no choice of a lavish "last meal," though snacks and drinks are provided. They can leave a verbal will. Inmates are blindfolded and handcuffed behind their backs. In the execution chamber, they are guided to a red square marked on the floor. A thick rope is then slipped around their neck. At the side blocked by a wall is a "button room" where the executioners do their work. On a signal from a senior official, three prison guards push their buttons simultaneously -- one of the three causing the red square-marked floor to fall open, exposing a hole through which the person falls out of sight and hangs until pronounced dead by a doctor. Although there have been no executions in Japan since July 2022, the topic has been widely discussed due mainly to the sad case of Iwao Hakamata. In October 2024, Hakamata, who had been sentenced to death for the 1966 murders of a family of four in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, was acquitted in a retrial, highlighting issues such as the protracted nature of the retrial system and the risk of wrongful convictions in capital cases. Hakamata was later awarded about 217 million yen ($1.44 million) in compensation for his nearly 48 years of wrongful imprisonment. In November 2024, a roundtable on Japan's death penalty system -- a group of legal professionals, parliamentarians and academics -- recommended to the Diet and Cabinet that a public panel be set up to discuss the current capital punishment system. In an interview with Kyodo News, Satoru Ohashi, 64, former director-general of the Justice Ministry's Correction Bureau, which is responsible for the management of prisons and the treatment of prisoners on death row, suggested that prison officers purposely hide their feelings about executions and simply follow procedure. "They keep a lid on their feelings and proceed with the execution procedure as if it were a sacred ritual," Ohashi said. On the death penalty itself, he said, "It is not that I am for or against it, but as long as it is in the system, it must be carried out faithfully. The most important responsibility is to ensure that those who have been sentenced to death are executed." On the other hand, he also said that "it isn't a job that any official would actively want to do." The Justice Ministry opened the Tokyo Detention House's execution chamber to media organizations in 2010, when the Democratic Party of Japan was in power. This was the last time it did so, and there has been no response to the roundtable's request for further inspections of the center. Ohashi takes the position that it is correct to keep the center largely out of public view. "The staff consider it a sacred and inviolable place. There is a psychological resistance to not wanting people to enter." The roundtable's report referred to the introduction of a life sentence without the possibility of parole as an alternative to the death penalty. But Ohashi said the reality is that inmates already die -- of natural causes and suicides -- while on death row. "Some of them are practically serving life sentences. This situation should be sorted out first," he said. Ohashi, who headed the Correction Bureau from January 2020 to July 2021, believes that "the burden on staff increases even more" as they are required to pay more attention to the treatment of prisoners on death row than in fixed-term sentences. The roundtable also said the fact that death row inmates are restricted in their contact with people on the outside is a topic that requires further discussion. Families of victims are not able to contact death row inmates via a communication system set up for the purpose, whereas families can do so if a prisoner was not handed a capital sentence. Ohashi suggested a coordinator role be considered to connect the two parties in such cases. The Criminal Procedure Code states that if the justice minister orders an execution, it will be carried out within five days, but the former prison officer pointed out that he does not know how the order of executions is determined, calling it a "black box." "Some death row inmates have been in detention for so long that they are effectively serving life sentences. If we think about the victims, it is better to carry out the executions in order (of sentences handed down)," he said.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Civil Service blows £239m of taxpayers' cash on ‘failed' pension administrator
Taxpayers will foot a £239m bill for a new civil servants' pension scheme administrator despite the company's 'failing' track record, its critics have said. Outsourcing giant Capita will run the Civil Service Pension Scheme from December, which involves handling £7bn in pension contributions and making payments of almost £8bn a year to retirees. However, the Cabinet Office has already withheld almost £10m in contractual payments after the company missed vital deadlines while taking over from the scheme's current administrators, a National Audit Office (NAO) report said. Capita previously administered the Teachers' Pension Scheme for 27 years, but Government officials opted to switch to a new provider in 2023 amid a string of delays. Earlier this year it emerged teachers had been left waiting months for pension payouts, while some were unable to file for divorce due to administrative failures. Capita said at the time that it was experiencing delays in calculating cash equivalent transfer values, which provide a cash value for the pension someone has built up and are often requested by people transferring it elsewhere or getting divorced. The provider is now facing legal action over the backlog. There are 1.7 million members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, which has almost £189bn in pension liabilities. The seven-year contract was awarded in November 2023 and Capita will take over running the scheme from December. The terms include a two-year transition from the current administrator MyCSP. However, MPs said Capita had already missed three of its six milestones during the transition period, and the Cabinet Office subsequently withheld £9.6m in payments. In its role, Capita will be required to maintain members' records, calculate and pay pensions, manage contributions and deal with queries from members and employers. The outsourcing giant will now operate a simplified IT solution to avoid further delays, reducing the service offered to both scheme members and employers until at least March 2026, the NAO said. Capita previously spent 27 years running the Teachers' Pension Scheme, beginning in 1996. It received multiple renewals that cost taxpayers more than £170m, but the Department for Education handed the new 10-year £223m contract to Indian IT company Tata in June 2023. Last year Capita also lost its £107m contract for managing SATs tests. Shimeon Lee, of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'It's hard to believe that such a massive pension scheme has been handed to a company with a track record of losing contracts. 'While Civil Service pensions do desperately need reform, it's vital that the system itself is robust and efficient. The Cabinet Office must get tougher on poor performance and handing taxpayers' cash to failing contractors who can't deliver.' A Capita spokesperson said: 'Capita is proud to be working in partnership with the Cabinet Office to modernise the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme from December 2025. 'While the NAO report reflects the status of our transition to scheme administrator in May, we have since met the referenced milestones and are on track to deliver enhanced, innovative services for members for when the contract commences. 'We remain committed to offering seamless, tailored experiences to all Civil Service Pension Scheme members.' The Cabinet Office was contacted for comment. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
