It was not the role of civil servants to advise ministers on issues of policy and priorities, the head of the civil service Mario Cutajar told Times Talk.

“The civil service is there to analyse the pros and cons and to execute the decisions,” he said, defending the fact that this legislature has appointed over 700 ‘persons of trust’.

He also defended the fact that 5,000 people had been added to the civil service since he took over five years ago, saying that each government agency had had to present human resources plans, which were meant to ensure that only those people who were needed were taken on.

Watch the full Times Talk interview with Mr Cutajar in the above video.