A DEFIANT Tony Blair has rejected demands to limit the number of political advisers or to introduce a legally binding code of conduct for civil servants.

The long-awaited draft Civil Service Bill is expected to be published today, but it will not prevent the mushrooming of political advisers in Downing Street or the rest of Whitehall.

The publication of the Bill comes after demands for more than five years for legislation to protect Civil Service impartiality. The Times has learnt that the draft Bill will go some way to regulate relations between special advisers, ministers and officials. But campaigners will be furious that a cap has not been accepted.

Senior Whitehall sources indicated last night that the draft Bill would not be put out to consultation until the new year, with legislation not expected before the next Parliament.

But officials said that if there were too many extra demands during the consultation process the Bill would be withdrawn.

The Prime Minister has never been keen on a Civil Service Act, fearing that it would tie his hands over Whitehall reforms. But after the Hutton and Butler inquiries over Iraq there has been renewed pressure for legislation.

Since Mr Blair came to power in 1997 the number of special advisers has increased from 38 to 76, including 26 at Downing Street. The number of advisers in No 10 has more than trebled, and most Whitehall departments have at least two each.

Some high-profile advisers, including Alastair Campbell and Anji Hunter, have left the Government, but others, such as Jonathan Powell, Mr Blair’s chief of staff, and Sally Morgan, his adviser on government relations, have huge influence in Whitehall.

Mr Blair has not increased his entourage in recent months but the draft Bill will allow him or his successor to appoint an unlimited number of political advisers.

The decision flies in the face of demands by the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) to cap the number of political advisers. The Committee on Standards in Public Life has also called for curbs on special advisers. Both feared a move to a White House-style administration headed by political appointees.

The demands come after the Jo Moore affair, when the former special adviser suggested to press officers that September 11, 2001, was a good day to bury bad news.

They intensified after the Hutton inquiry into the death of David Kelly, which highlighted the influence of Downing Street advisers on key government decisions.

This year PASC published a suggested draft Bill that called for Parliament to set a maximum for special advisers, which has now been rejected. But the Government is believed to have accepted its recommendation to reduce the number of special advisers with executive powers to manage civil servants. Alastair Campbell and Jonathan Powell were given extra powers to instruct officials in Downing Street and Whitehall. Although a Parliamentary Order allowed the Government to appoint three advisers with executive powers, Mr Blair chose to appoint only two. David Hill, Mr Campbell’s successor as director of communications, does not exercise the powers.

Today’s draft Bill is expected to limit the number of advisers with executive powers from three to two, following PASC’s advice. But The Times understands that the Government has also rejected the committee’s advice to allow proper parliamentary scrutiny for a Civil Service code of conduct.

The Bill will introduce a legal requirement for a code of conduct for civil servants and special advisers.

The code is expected to enshrine key Civil Service values and lay down rules on how civil servants relate to political appointees.

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