Brief History of the British Civil ServiceThe history of the British administrative system is intertwined with the long path of Britishconstitutional and institutional development. The continuity and change that mark the life of theCivil Service is pretty dramatic and impacted the administrative systems of its colonies over thecolonial period. The Indian subcontinent experienced a great deal of the ups and downs of theBritish administrative system which left number of signatures that the countries still bear in theiradministrative practices. Though changes, in the name of reforms, have been brought about theskull is still the same. The Civil Service is both a component and a product of the UK constitutional system. It hasevolved as state systems and structures have changed and grown over the years. Organic growthand gradual change have been the characteristic modes of development, rather than sudden,consistent change (Burnham and Pyper, 2008). The Offices of State grew in England, and laterthe United Kingdom. Initially, they were little more than secretariats for their leaders, who heldpositions at court. In the 18th century, in response to the growth of the British Empire andeconomic changes, institutions such as the Office of Works and the Navy Board grew large.Each had its own system and staff were appointed by purchase or patronage. By the 19th century,it became increasingly clear that these arrangements were not working.Under Charles Grant, the East India Company established the East India Company College atHaileybury near London, to train administrators, in 1806. The College was established onrecommendation of officials in China who had seen the imperial examination system (Anon,2013). In government, a civil service, replacing patronage with examination, similar to theChinese system, was advocated a number of times over the next several decades.Northcote-Trevelyan ReportIn 1850, prime minister William Ewart Gladstone advocated for creating a civil service which isbased on expertise rather than favoritism in order to make civil service more efficient andeffective. Consequently, the ‘Northcote-Trevelyan’recommendation came in place. Itrecommended a wide variety of measures to be taken to modernize the existing civil servicewhich covers; a permanent, politically recluse and neutral, unified civil service with recruitmentmade on the basis of merit, and clear division between staff responsible for routine (mechanical)and those engaged in policy formulation and implementation (administrative) work [ CITATIONRob93 \l 1033 ]. A Civil Service Commission was set up in 1855 to recruit civil servant andreduce patronage. The recommendations came in action in 1870 following Gladstone’s order inparliament. It has been the guiding principle, responsible for all the major changes brought aboutin the civil service, for nearly next century. This was attributed to its success in removingcorruption, delivering public services, even under stress of war, and responding effectively topolitical change. Patrick Diamond argues:

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