大象传媒

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Meet the civil servant

Description

Armando Iannucci, creator of 鈥楾he Thick of It鈥, discusses the unseen work and pressures of the civil service. Claire Ewing from the Scottish Youth Parliament meets Claire Monaghan, a senior civil servant, who explains that the role of a civil servant is to remain neutral and work with the government to implement their policies.

Classroom Ideas

As they watch, students could list all the tasks and responsibilities of civil servants. Following the clip, students could discuss the different roles of a politician and a civil servant. To what extent are both of these roles essential in decision-making in Scotland and the UK? In what ways are these roles inter-linked and/or inter-dependent? Discuss in class whether it is possible for a civil servant to remain politically neutral.