I launched a piece of research into public sector productivity and service quality at the Centre for Policy Studies on Wednesday evening. I am grateful to them for publishing the work which is available through their website.
I set out the official figures showing there has been no overall productivity growth in the public sector since 1997. We have missed out on more than a quarter century of improvement despite large sums spent on computerisation and labour saving automation. If we had achieved just 1% a year growth in productivity our public services would be saving us around £280 bn a year, or would be 30% better.
I drew on my experiences running parts of the public sector as an Executive Councillor and as a Minister, where it was sometimes possible to save money, reduce stocks, cut back on excess property, use natural wastage to slim workforces. I also learned from leading two international industrial businesses from their English head offices how to bring the aspirations of staff into line with the needs of customers. I always focused the businesses on customers and service, linking salaries and bonuses to providing excellence for customers.
I developed or introduced Quality systems. I regarded a customer complaint as a stimulus to improvement. First remedy the issue for the customer. If they have lost provide compensation. Next try to design out the fault to prevent it happening again. Continuous improvement and learning from mistakes are critical.
The public sector in places has much to learn from well run customer friendly businesses. Billions of our taxes and borrowings every year go on paying for inefficiencies and mistakes that create low productivity. We cannot afford more HS 2 s and Post Office computer investments that backfire so badly.
February 13, 2026
Excellent CV! If only the same could be said for Labour.
February 13, 2026
Well if the government just stopped doing all the things they do that do net harm then, that alone, would make a huge different. The state sector debt has risen by about 60% of GDP over the past 16 years this largely spent on things that did no good or often did vast net harm. Things like the net harm lockdowns, net harm Covid “vaccines”, the Net Zero rip off energy, subsidies for EV, renewables, heat pumps, public transport… soft loans for duff worthless degrees, over the top red tape, payments that encourage the healthy fecklesss not to work, blocking planning, killing fracking, drilling, mining… HS2, the PPE corruption…
When they measure state sector “productivity” they need to also decide what things the state sector produce that are of
A: negative value, B no value or C rather occasionally positive value. They also need to consider even when they are of positive value was this value more than the negative value produce by taking the tax of businesses and individuals allowing also for the large collection and distribution costs.
Also what private sector businesses they push out of business in for example education and healthcare.
February 13, 2026
Your approach led me to only buying japanese cars from 1992 to the present day. I do my best to avoid companies that send out NO REPLY missives. Additionally beware dealing with companies that have no email contact, they only wish to sell but avoid serving.
You could apply much the same criterior to politicians and especially the current government whose product is not of merchantable quality.
February 13, 2026
So Keir Starmer heavily criticized comments made by Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe regarding immigration, labeling them “offensive and wrong”.
What is wrong with the word “Colonise” Kier? :- “Colonise” (or -ize) derives from the Latin colonus (“farmer, settler”) and colere (“to cultivate, till, inhabit”). Alas it is often worse than this as many are not farming or working but often living off the backs of other tax payers in a doom loop agenda.
I see that he (perhaps foolishly) sort of apologised. Something like “sorry if any (simple or over sensitive souls) were offended”. But with the bit in brackets not actually said.
He should have said sorry for A. supporting Labour at the last election and B claiming that Starmer was a nice, decent and intelligent man as this is clearly damaging & false
Much criticism of the Radcliffe for not paying his fair share of tax and now living in Monaco. Well he has surely paid far, far more than his fair share and the circa £3 billion he saved will surely be used far more wisely than it would be by this government.
February 13, 2026
Natural wastage is every inefficient indeed. You lose the wrong people and are stuck with the dross that others have to carry – making things inefficient for very many years. What is needed is easy hire and fire with a standard no fault pay off of circa £5K after say six months – this could make both the state sector and the private sector hugely more efficient. Anyone decent can easily find another job.
February 13, 2026
suggest you tell people what CPS is, if I dont know its likely others wont.
it is also services subcontracted by the public sector like pharmacies and dentists, the quality is massively variable, some very bad, and access does not move to reflect population changes like lots of new houses being built. the public sector subcontracts a lot of defence work and its almost an accident if good quality gets delivered. its staggering how bad the public sector is at running subcontracted work.
February 13, 2026
We’ve all experienced this decline in efficiency. This week I needed a “proof of life” form stamped and witnessed at a municipal office. My town (pop 10,900, rural backwater) Council used to have one Clerk, who you found working from a modest back office. You could roll up and he would help you.
Now they have a Clerk and 3 “assistants”, working in a well appointed front office with a big counter and security screen separating them from the public. I was told only the Clerk could do the job I needed, and I’d have to make an appointment to see her.
The Town Council element of the rates was £59 ten years ago, it’s £152 now. That’s a 190% increase in cost, compared to a 1.6% increase in the populaton over the same period. And 10 years ago I could have got my form stamped without any fuss.
February 13, 2026
O think you’re wrong
The Civil service has been very productive in increasing headcount, after all they measure efficiency by how many hey employ and the size of their budget.
Productivity in the public sector is measured entirely on how much money they can waste.
Now we have the push for 4 day weeks which will of course improve Productivity as they will have to expand the headcount to fulfill their obligations.
We need to sack the lot and start again.
February 13, 2026
“I launched a piece of research into public sector productivity and service quality at the CPS”
The Crown Prosecution Service ? I think it’s pretty clear that service quality there has been poor for a long time, particularly when Starmer ran it and nothing crossed his desk.
Reply No, Centre for Policy Studies