Who is accountable when things go wrong in government? - BBC Newsnight

The Department for Education’s permanent secretary, Jonathan Slater, has been sacked after the exams row, as the PM Boris Johnson calls for ‘fresh leadership’. Subscribe to our channel here: https://goo.gl/31Q53F

The chief civil servant at the Department for Education has been sacked following the row over A-level and GCSE results in England.

Jonathan Slater was due to stand down in 2021, but will now leave the department on 1 September 2020.

Boris Johnson said “there is a need for fresh official leadership”, but the civil service union said there is now a fear civil servants will be thrown under the bus to shield ministers from accountability.

The news comes a day after the head of exam regulator Ofqual, Sally Collier, also resigned from her role. The Education Secretary Gavin Williamson remains in post.

How will Jonathan Slater's sacking affect the relationship between the civil service and the government?

And who is accountable when things go wrong in government, the minister or the official?

Policy Editor Lewis Goodall reports and Katie Razzall is joined Dave Penman, General Secretary of the FDA union, the union for the civil service.

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