Whitley Council is a body that deals with the conditions of service of nonindustrial civil servants and with the efficiency of the civil service in the United Kingdom. The purpose of Whitley Councils is to give government employees a say in the management of their departments. The national council, which meets only occasionally, consists of 54 members. Half the members are appointed by the Treasury and half by civil service staff associations. Most of the business of the national council is done by committees representing the two sides. The official side is backed ultimately by the authority of the Cabinet. The staffs are backed ultimately by the executive committees of the various staff associations. Whitley Councils are named in honor of John Henry Whitley (1866-1935), the English political leader who first proposed their creation in 1917.