Dependence on expert advice

The Times reprted (October 30) that the Minister of Education commented that she would rather leave it to the experts to tell government on the phasing out processes of streaming in school.

With due respect to the minister and the admirable work she is doing in her sphere of responsibility, I think it would be a mistake for any minister to base his or her decisions solely on what experts tell them. Experts are there to advise but the final decision should be based on common sense and the wider good of the people after weighing the balance of the opinions expressed and the feedback coming from all quarters including the non-technical people who more often than not have their feet more firmly set on the ground.

I recall many years ago a training session during which we were shown a film, in black and white, on a new chief arriving at the office for the first time and being taken around to meet the various employees under his charge. He stopped for a short chat with almost every employee he was introduced to as he seemed genuinely determined to get to know the job he was just taking over and the people involved well. One of the last employees he spoke to happened to be located in a desolate office, almost an appendix to the rest. Pressed to air his views by the new chief the nondescript middle-aged employee started with embarrassment to slowly babble on what he considered to be the main shortcomings of the administration and what he thought should be done to ameliorate the situation. He had been around long enough to know what was really happening and what was needed.

The new chief became so engrossed in what he was hearing that the intended short chat ended up being a full hour session of questions and answers. It was an eye opener which he would not have got from the highly placed (and well-paid) technical experts around him. The moral of the story is obvious.

It is not uncommon for experts to give diametrically opposed opinions on the same subject. Professional jealousy or pique also plays an important part. Lloyd George when faced with an intransigent First Sea Lord told him with an abundance of sarcasm in his voice: "We poor ignorant civilians must necessarily depend in these matters on the guidance of experts like yourself." Lloyd George living up to his maverick personality went on to do what he thought was best in the circumstances and the First Sea Lord, who thought himself indispensable, was eventually forced to resign.