grade immediately below. Everyone else employed in the private office will be non-SCS.
112. There are a range of grades of policy official. At the apex of any department is the Permanent Secretary. There may be a Second Permanent Secretary. Within the SCS grades, there will then be Director Generals, Directors and Deputy Directors. A 'grade 7' official is two grades below SCS.
(4) The DPM's style of working as a Minister
113. In light of the nature of the Complaints, which are concerned with the manner in which the DPM interacts with civil servants, it is necessary to make some general findings about the DPM's style of working as a Minister in order to provide context for the findings which follow in relation to the Complaints.
114. In view of the evidence which I received, I find as follows. These findings are relevant for a number of reasons: to set the context for the interactions between the DPM and civil servants; to establish some parameters as to the inherent probabilities of what occurred on particular occasions; and to provide the foundation for certain of my findings as to what the DPM knew or ought reasonably to have known about his conduct. The DPM is highly intelligent, pays close attention to detail and seeks to make decisions based on evidence. He has strong principles and is guided by them in practice. He works assiduously and typically from about 0730 until about 2200, Monday to Thursday. This includes working during the car journey to Westminster and from Westminster to home. Fridays are allocated to constituency work. He usually does extensive work on weekends also. He makes a determined effort to use his working time effectively. He seeks to use meetings with policy officials in order to test the relevant material and make a decision.
115. The DPM's style is, in his own words, inquisitorial, direct, impatient and fastidious. The DPM told me, and I accept, that he tends to prepare extensively for meetings, will typically have read all of the key papers and identified questions in advance. He explained that he does not wish to receive a recitation of papers which he has already read. He will focus on the points of interest to him.
116. An important part of the DPM's general approach as a Minister is, as he explained and I accept, to seek to ensure that responsibility for the performance of any task is allocated
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