Civil service head wrote to David Cameron over “unacceptable” behaviour of relating to smear
The behaviour of a “DCLG source” has prompted the head of the civil service to officially reprimand prime minister David Cameron.
According to a report in PR Week, Sir Gus O’Donnell was so alarmed at a negative briefings that he wrote a strongly worded letter to the Prime Minister urging him to restrain aides.
The unprecedented move came after a DCLG ‘source’ briefed the Times newspaper last September following the non-renewal of Electoral Commission chair Jenny Watson’s place on the Audit Commission board.

Ministers declined to renew Ms Watson’s position as a board member of the Audit Commission in September, after Ms Watson had been nominated to serve as a commissioner until the organisation is scrapped in 2012.
A DCLG source was quoted in The Times as saying Ms Watson had “built her career on incompetence”, “milked the taxpayer” and was “not fit for the role”.
The negative briefing ran counter to DCLG’s own internal advice, circulated in an email sent by Mr Pickles’ special advisor Sheridan Westlake (pictured below) on 16 August, which stated that decisions not to reappoint directors should be communicated in a “pro-active, responsible manner” and was “no reflection on their performance”.
Last November in Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron said his government would not engage in “smear” tactics.

According to PR week, the letter from Sir Gus to the PM read: “You will have been aware of briefings to the media regarding Jenny Watson. This behaviour is unacceptable. I trust you will agree with me and take necessary action to make sure that people understand this will not be tolerated.”
The magazine also quotes a Downing Street insider who witnessed the episode unfolding and said there was mounting concern in Whitehall about the activities of the special advisers. The source said: “The quotes about Jenny Watson were the final straw. Gus was so concerned that he raised it with the PM a few days later.”
LGC has been told by a DCLG source that following the publication of the comments, which were widely reported, Mr Pickles sought internal legal advice as to whether they could be considered defamatory and, on being told that there could be grounds for legal action, then sought external legal advice.
However, in contrast to the department’s public stance on the importance of transparency, DCLG officials have twice refused to answer a Freedom of Information request from LGC on the matter. LGC is now appealing to the Information Commissioner.
Mr Pickles has said his department was committed to greater transparency and wanted to “shine a light on spending to save taxpayer’s money”. “The sunlight of openness may be uncomfortable for some, but it will expose how taxpayer’s money is being wasted,” he has said.
Shadow communties secretary Caroline Flint said Sir Gus would not have written to the Prime Minister “without good cause”.
She said: “David Cameron and Eric Pickles must now come clean about … these disgraceful negative briefings. [Those responsible] should be sacked.
“Eric Pickles talks a lot about transparency, yet so far he has done all he can to avoid answering questions about the alleged conduct of his aides. It would be disgraceful if the Prime Minister and Local Government Secretary were protecting the identity of someone responsible for smearing a public official.”
Ms Flint said she was writing to Sir Gus. Mr Pickles and the permanent secretary of the DCLG Bob Kerslake, “asking them to clarify urgently what action is being taken to identify those responsible”.
This article was updated on 16 May at the request of a third party.

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