^The large fall in public sector productivity since 2019, assessed at 7.5% by the ONS to last year, is a major cost to taxpayers and a major drag on economic performance.
The immediate task for the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Cabinet Office Minister for the civil service must be to arrest the big increase in management and administration. The more managers and senior staff they recruit or promote, the worse the productivity becomes. The easiest thing to do it to impose a ban on all new external recruitment into the civil service and the public administration, unless a special case is made out and approved by a Minister.
Natural run off occurs at around 6-7% a year as people retire, find other jobs elsewhere or change their work life balance. As a post is vacated one of the many managers needs to decide if the post can be eliminated, or amalgamated with another. If not then a new appointment is made from within the civil service or public body, and some other post removed.
Ministers and top management would also have to make clear that to raise productivity the work done by these extra people either has to be abolished by better process or carried out more effectively. They must not contract more work out to the private sector. They should review their use of private contracts on a regular basis, asking each time the contract comes up for review if this is the best way to do the work or if now they know how to do it more of it could be done in house to raise productivity. There is a tendency to have a bigger overhead of managers who then buy in more work from outside to keep their own headcounts down a bit. There has been a big grade inflation as the civil service has expanded, implying more buy in of the work from outside .
We may need more doctors, nurses, teachers, police and other front line personnel. There are plans underway to do so. Some of this requires extra back up staff so they can do their jobs well. That should be allowed where it is needed for growth of output. If we need more doctors and nurses to put through more treatments, or more teachers for more pupils then that will not depress productivity to have sensible support staff numbers.
What is strange is the fall in productivity and the big increase in clerical staff has taken place against a background of large expenditures on new computer systems and big breakthroughs with artificial intelligence, faster and better data processing., more remote working and conference calls to cut down travel time , better software for everything from booking systems to accounts. So why hasn’t this led to a big productivity gains in the public services that have a high administrative content?
January 17, 2024
A significant drop in productivity taking place at the same time as huge numbers of the Civil Service absenting themselves from their offices or other places of work – I suspect that there is a direct correlation between the two.
January 17, 2024
Will, as ever, Mr Redwood is trying to distract your attention here from the real problem – which is 13 years of Tory incompetence. Ask yourself what does “public sector productivity” actually mean? Does it mean teachers getting their students to achieve higher grades – yes, except when that happens the Tory press is full of stories about exams geting easier. Does it mean traffic wardens handing out more parking tickets – yes, except when that happens the Tory press is full of stories about a war on motorists. Wise up, Will, to what the Conservatives are really up to
January 17, 2024
Wrong as usual. Lemming!
The civil service is there to implement government policy.
This has not increased significantly, yet more than 100,000 extra people have been recruited to do, basically, the same amount of work. We want to know why is this the case and what are the reasons for it ?
Then the government needs to deal with that problem by getting on with the job of streamlining the work to be able to reduce the numbers back down at least to the pre-pandemic level, and ideally a great deal further.
Heaven forbid, they could even decide to actually interfere with our lives a lot less !
January 18, 2024
Since 2019, NHS staffing has apparently risen by 20%. NHS ‘activity’ has not gone up. On my reading of Dr. Malcolm Kendrick’s blog, ‘safety-ism’ in primary care has run riot and this has led to the fall in productivity. He’s an NHS GP.
January 17, 2024
But but but but workers claim they are more productive at home
January 17, 2024
Indeed and the more they employ the more largely pointless work they create for each other.
So much of what they do is actually damaging anyway. How many roads did you block this year? How many parking, ULEZ and box junction tickets were issued per employee? How much damage did you do pushing net zero and coercing people to get heat pumps amd EV cars?
Sunak’s Tories are full of green lunacy but read about Labour’s insane proposals with their evil amd bonkers Green New Deal:-.
The Green New Deal Explained
The Green New Deal is a radical vision for transforming our economy rooted in the recognition that climate change is fundamentally a class issue, and a product of our broken economic system. It is a plan that recognises that economic, social and climate justice are indissoluble. That’s why our Motion goes beyond just the demand for rapid decarbonisation.
“The Green New Deal calls for 9 concrete, radical changes to our current economic, social and political model. But the Green New Deal is more than just a series of demands.
The following documents lay out the justification for each element of the Green New Deal and, crucially, why each one is an equally essential pillar of a transformative plan for tackling the climate crisis by building a prosperous, socialist, and zero-carbon society.
“A zero-carbon society” so no people, no trees, no plants, no fish, no animals, no insects then? This policy is pure evil and scientific lunacy. Obviously written by deluded nutters with zero grasp of reality or science.
January 17, 2024
Indeed but so much of what they produce is negative anyway. Road blocking, motorist mugging, over regulating, net zero.
The Green New Deal Explained
The Green New Deal is a radical vision for transforming our economy rooted in the recognition that climate change is fundamentally a class issue, and a product of our broken economic system. It is a plan that recognises that economic, social and climate justice are indissoluble. That’s why our Motion goes beyond just the demand for rapid decarbonisation. Sunak is full of fake green lunacy but look at this evil lunacy from Labour.
“The Green New Deal calls for 9 concrete, radical changes to our current economic, social and political model. But the Green New Deal is more than just a series of demands.
The following documents lay out the justification for each element of the Green New Deal and, crucially, why each one is an equally essential pillar of a transformative plan for tackling the climate crisis by building a prosperous, socialist, and zero-carbon society.”
A zero carbon society so no people, animals, plants, trees or life at all I assume!
January 17, 2024
Another example of waste is this multi-million sick joke Covid Inquiry with their now appalling postponed (until after the election) module on the issues that really matter.
Please see the excellent Andrew Bridgen and the excess deaths debate – available on Dr John Campbell youtube. He is spot on.
January 17, 2024
@Will
I believe you are right.
I have listened to family and friends who are employed within the public sector bureaucracy. For example, it seems to me that teamwork and “on the job” training have suffered because of “working” from home.
January 17, 2024
No sign of any sense from Labour in this debate:-
Abena Oppong-Asare Shadow Minister (Women’s Health and Mental Health)
“The Opposition have stated clearly, and I confirm again, that we believe vaccines are the most effective public health intervention in relation to coronavirus and health in general. It is clear from extensive independent research that the covid-19 vaccines have been and continue to be extremely successful at preventing deaths. Sadly, there have been extremely rare cases of people suffering side effects that are possibly linked to the vaccine, but the data does not suggest that there is a link between that and the large increase in excess mortality in recent years.
It is wrong, however, to consistently link the observed excess deaths to covid-19 vaccines. Like my right hon. Friend Sir George Howarth, I have concerns that making that link not only stokes fear and misinformation, but distracts the public conversation away from other health concerns of critical importance.”
So what does Abena think is the cause is? Climate Change, dirty socks, class war…? It is very easy to find out by looking at the states for those vaccinated and those not. This information is clearly being hidden so we can surely assume the government know the real truth. The shadow minister Abena (Politics with International Relations at the University of Kent – perfect for the shadow department of health position) is talking total drivel. Perhaps she really is just very dim, misinformed and deluded or perhaps she knows full well the truth and is deliberately lying?
January 17, 2024
Definitely. Those working from home aren’t answering the phone or actioning services. They are walking their dogs, going to the gym, shopping, gardening etc. Out here in the real world we see it every day as they live amongst us. Useless Government.
January 17, 2024
JR, your party has another new record: highest tobacco tax rise in history increasing inflation. Well done Sunak and Hunt who would think higher taxes raising prices means higher inflation. Good old high tax Tories willing to take every penny from everyone. Oh wait a minute I thought both repeatedly said they were cutting taxes- liars.
January 17, 2024
Guido highlighted the pay difference between non job NHS diversity equality and inclusive £80-108,000 salary and MOD job at £35,000 about keeping our country safe through nuclear deterrent!! We do not need a herd of equality rot. HR depts roles at a third of the cost is perfectly adequate.
Is Atkins capable of getting to grips with the NHS? Is any of the layers of NHS paper clip managers going to be got rid of and replaced with nurses, doctors, cleaners- people who actually make the NHS function. Not putting up notices with rainbows on them!! Perhaps the non ministerial job of Esther McVey could bring about change? Although I very much doubt it.
January 17, 2024
The whole country has noticed ….and yet our government doesn’t force them back to work in the office
January 17, 2024
Sunak and Hunt stopped the cull of 90,000 civil servants proposed by Rees-Mogg.
Big state, high tax, welfare dependants all welcome from around the world. Farmers paid not to grow food! No national, security on ship building, steel production, energy, borders. Oh and Cameron just gave Ukraine another £2.5 billion total lying over £12 billion plus two war ships!
We cannot afford the economic stupidity of Sunak and Hunt let alone betraying the nation by giving away N.Ireland, our territorial fishing waters and putting a border down the Irish Sea which we were repeatedly told no British PM would ever do! They have and gold plated it!
January 17, 2024
I see that the IT press in India is full of stories about the changes to tourist visas which come in for the UK at the end of the month. Lots of detail about the various ways you can now work in the UK on a tourist visa. Added to the cheap ways of getting a student visa which also allows your spouse to work in the UK while you are studying. Once again British politicians are destroying this country for British workers, no doubt briefed by some Indian trade association that this is a good idea. This never ending drip drip drip of more out of control immigration highlights how trivial Rwanda is, in the bigger immigration picture.
I hope the British political class rot in hell.
January 17, 2024
IAIN GILL
Exactly, they are beyond contempt.
January 17, 2024
+1 totally dishonest from top to bottom.
January 17, 2024
Sunak made clear he was the”son-in-law “ of India and stopped Braverman who was opposed to Indian visas for trade deal. He went on to betray Braverman as well. Presumably he has condemned India for persecuting Christians which their PM is full aware? Was this raised as an issue over trade deal? If not why not?
January 17, 2024
Jenrick made clear on TV cabinet content about immigration. Therefore we deduce the Fovt. dishonest rhetoric is to get elected only.
In other news, How is Plebgate and Cameron getting on fleecing us to feed Africa?
January 17, 2024
Sunak claims to be focusing only on illegal immigration/boat people but legal immigration is totally out of control too. He clearly wants these 750k PA net figure to increase even further? A new city the size of Manchester and Salford each year. Where are these cities, houses, roads, schools… to be built and who will pay for them Sunak?
Reply No, he announced a planned cut of 300,000 in legal migration. I have been urging a big fall in legal for sometime
January 17, 2024
JR, do not be specious. Your govt has no control over who leaves the country. It did allow 3.5 million low paid dross into the country in stark contrast to your manifesto. The revised number, if believed, is still twice the amount of your last manifesto of 219,000! Therefore you cannot say, nor Sunak, he will reduce by 300,000 when those who leave are an estimate!! Home an office claimed at select committee it does not know where the 17,300 are missing! Are they terrorists or threat to us? Does your govt even care?
January 17, 2024
Even if a cut of 300,000 was achieved, and it won’t be, that would still leave net migration at more than 400,000, or DOUBLE what it was when Cameron promised to reduce it to “tens of thousands.”
We all know that it isn’t going to be cut by a Labour government, don’t we ?
it’s time politicians of all parties started to listen to voters and take some real action.
January 17, 2024
he plans a lot of things, not many of them happen
January 17, 2024
Reply to reply.In the 50’s the way to increase support in a particular sect was to increase birth rate as exampled by the Roman Catholic church.Similarly the most important way to increase immigrant religion and culture interest is to have as many offspring as possible.This will be a greater issue in the future.
January 17, 2024
Still net figures over 400000 every year from the 3rd world. Never going home, bringing their families later. Tory’s have to go. The Country needs change. Its desperate for REFORM!!!
January 17, 2024
Indeed – but with Sunak like most politicians one can only judge by actions as what he says he never delivers – as with four of his promises/pledges. The man even says his is “cutting taxes”. True he has cut NI but only by about 25% or what inflation and frozen allowances bring in so is he lying or just innumerate? People are not as think as he thinks.
January 17, 2024
Iain Gill:
Australia looks upside down from here, but their immigration system is on top of things. Theirs works; ours fails. Allowing India’s population of 1.4 billion access to our tiny island to work with only tourist visas as qualification is reckless. The odds are one of those will become Minister of Transport.
January 17, 2024
they can already get an intra company transfer visa, and come here for one of the big outsourcers, be given big tax perks, get subbed into a big UK company for far less than it costs to hire a local, and bring skills already massively in oversupply, if at all
there is no real limit at all
January 17, 2024
@ Bloke – not according to many Australians! 2022/3 saw a record net inflow of 518,000.
Moreover, local workers are finding strong competion in the job market from immigrants and the skilled visa scheme is seen as a sham (the same as Mrs. Braverman wanted to replicate), letting in those whose skills do not match market needs. The international student scheme is viewed as having delivered a low-paid, low-productivity migrant underclass, with more than half of international student graduates working in low-skilled jobs.
Leith van Onselen (an economist in Australia) says growth in the population over the last two decades was a lot faster than the growth in business investment, housing, infrastructure, etc., resulting in “capital shallowing”, i.e. there is less capital stock per person. That has produced lower living standards and a reduction in productivity.
January 17, 2024
This country (like every other country in the world) could issue a student and tourist visa with a stamp in BOLD ‘No Work’ and ‘No Benefits’ and ‘No Legal-Aid’
January 17, 2024
and “No claiming asylum once you are here”?
January 19, 2024
Work and student visas do still say “no recourse to public funds”, although of course the government does not really mean it when it says that. It happily gives your children free schooling. It happily gives free emergency medicine (and in practise much non emergency medicine). if you give birth to a child here you will never ever be deported, no matter what you do, and you will eventually end up with indefinite leave to remain one way or another.
etc
January 17, 2024
There is an ( ongoing?) wondrous new development costing £6.1 million to, if you please, help Civil Service staff move from department to department!
Not, one might note, to help the taxpayer to better access services.
Presumably this is an initiative to help with a form of interdepartmental job sharing (which never works).
And look at who has got the contract!
January 17, 2024
Nope…just looked it up…it is simply to help civil servants take up new jobs in a different department.
How utterly extraordinary.
They’ll be setting up systems to help with carrot peeling next.
Mind you..I suppose that carrot peeling would be productive….?
January 17, 2024
Everhopeful,
Not for carrots.
January 17, 2024
+++
True!
Not very nice for said vegetable.
January 17, 2024
Everhopeful
Only if you have an end use for the carrots.
January 17, 2024
could be to alternate with the stick?
January 17, 2024
+++
Soup?
Or …how about carrot cake??
Apparently carrots have several useful by products
January 17, 2024
It is not just civil servants look at ministerial non jobs. Tory govt leads by woke example. All about diversity not ability. If it was why is JR not in the Treasury sorting out the mess of Sunak and Hunt?
January 17, 2024
+++
Absolutely.
I realised today…it was entryism that screwed the tories.
All those blinking LibDems pretending to be conservatives.
January 17, 2024
The civil service behave like its a 6th form
January 17, 2024
+++
St Trinian’s?
January 18, 2024
True – non-attendance, working from home?
January 17, 2024
Come on John, stop playing the fake ignorance, naive onlooker. We all know Labour’s unions control the public sector whose only concern is expanding their numbers, which they do successfully, and molding services to suit their members, which damages productivity, rather than the user
The Tories refusal to confront the unions means more cost the private taxpayer
The left dictate to and control indirectly Tory policy, from a distance, and the Tories are quite happy with that supine relationship
January 17, 2024
I suggest an Elon Musk solution to the shirk from home problem. A letter to all staff, ” Get yourself into the office Monday to Friday or pick up your P45″.
January 17, 2024
Hopefully in government most will choose the P45 and get a real and more productive job instead.
January 17, 2024
YES
January 17, 2024
@ BOF – Bloomberg reported the other day that US industries that are more adaptable to remote work haven’t seen a bigger boost — or decline — in productivity growth since 2020 compared to industries with more in-person work, according to new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
The Civil Service perhaps just needs to be more adaptable to remote work?
January 17, 2024
I know people working for X or Twitter in the US… plenty of the good ones still working at home. Indeed many live in cities far away from any twitter office. Elon is nothing if not pragmatic. His drive was to try and figure out who the employees were who were genuinely adding value to the organisation, he did that pretty well, and many are valuable enough to stay working at home. He did however get rid of large numbers who were little more than political activists, getting paid to do DEI nonsense, or in place because they ticked a box, or indeed supposed software people who didnt have the first clue about software.
Learn from what Elon really does, not what the press report about him.
January 17, 2024
Are you assuming, Sir John, that new computer systems were devised to get work done more efficiently? Maybe that’s what the likes of Fujitsu tell their gullible customers. More likely it’s to embellish the CVs of Big Tech software designers.
January 17, 2024
Increasing numbers, job invention witness diversity, working from home. None actually produce anything that is marketable. In fact many indulge a parasitical life on the backs of the productive hampering their productivity.
Simplification of the tax and benefits system could lead to a vast reduction in their numbers. I have said it many times before, the civil service are the sea anchor on the productive. A glance at the relative numbers in the NHS says it all, they carry 47% of none medical personnel, unsustainable.
A so called government, that refuses to stop illegal migration and further entertains us with a litany of migrant appeal cases in their macabre death dance to political extinction is hardly likely to even glance at CS reform. Swamp inhabitants are interdependant, a whole eco system of low productivity if not worse.
January 17, 2024
Dear Sir John, I dont think your suggestion goes far enough. It is pretty clear that there are parts of the civil service that are actually acting against the will of the people and your party (the implementation of Brexit springs to mind but you only have to see what has happened in what is being taught in schools how the Dept of Education must be having a corrosive impact on our society). I therefore think a new employment contract needs to be created for all civil servants, making it very clear what their role is and how they should act, and if they dont sign it they will have to resign. Also it should be made considerably easier for civil servants to be fired if they are under-performing, just like what takes place in any normal functioning private sector organisation. And it may also be necessary for a party to bring in their own hires into key departments, like what happens in the US, to ensure policy is acted upon, when they are elected. I think from evidence this will only apply to parties moderately right wing, as it is clear the civil service is already fully stocked up with socialists who want nothing more than to keep extending the power of the state.
January 18, 2024
S R – … acting against the will of the people and your party …. An example of all this was made plain in the Daily Telegraph article dated 16/11/23 ( By Anonymous ) titled: ‘My Home Office colleagues are secretly overjoyed at this ruling’ ( a piece centred on the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Rwanda plan ) ” Suella Braverman’s exit and the appointment of a new untested minister have all uplifted the mood in Marsham Street” ……..
January 17, 2024
How is the productivity of a Diversity focussed role measured? I can not imagine it actually produces anything.
Perhaps the abolishing of such roles and amalgamation of a less zealous approach into general HR is a solution.
January 17, 2024
Public Sector Productivity ==== Oxymoron
The public sector produces NOTHING
January 17, 2024
In the private sector AI/new technology would be used by management to cut costs and reduce staffing levels because they are interested in increasing profits. In the Civil Service there is no “profit” and no-one at all at any level is interested in cutting staffing or costs. Why would they be ? What is their incentive ? The Minister right at the very top of the hierarchy may be for political reasons but they simply don’t have enough knowledge or ability (usually) to force this on an entirely resistant Civil Service who will throw up all sorts of barriers and counter-arguments to prevent it.
January 17, 2024
Allowing natural wastage, through not replacing leavers, is one way to achieve cost reductions but it is random and not the most efficient way. More will be achieved by restructuring that eliminates unnecessary activities or finds cheaper ways to do those that are deemed necessary. Private businesses that operate in a competitive environment must do this or ultimately they will fail, just as they must find ways to improve the products and services they sell. The absence of competition results in inefficiency.
January 17, 2024
If you want to witness low productivity just glance ot parliamentary voting. Thirty minutes wasted on every ” Clear the House” ammendment. Ask someone at GCHQ to create a tamper proof voting programme accesible by whatever system is considered secure. You might then get honest, unwhipped voting, only disappointing the sado masochists.
January 17, 2024
Agricola
If your new system is made to only accept a TRUE secret ballot vote, you may get a more meaningful voting result, as people would then perhaps not be afraid of losing their jobs or being persuaded to vote a particular way by the Whips.
January 17, 2024
Somewhat related: when will Parliament decide to use Keeling Schedules to make updated/upgraded laws readable by any person without having to unearth previous versions of laws and/or regulations, so that they can figure out what the new text would exactly say.
Keeling Schedules were discussed in Parliament when Peter Hain was leader of the House of Commons in 2003-2005. Eighteen years later it has not been introduced whereas it is commonly used in most parliaments of other countries.
Is refusing to use this tool (equivalent to a clever annotating tool available within most word processing softwares) a way to make sure that the individual MPs (and a fortiori the public) cannot know exactly what is exactly being debated (and in some instances strengthening the power of the whips)?
January 17, 2024
Oops, sorry, I have now discovered that there are Keeling Schedules of recent laws available on gov.uk 20/07/2033 ‘Keeling Schedules (accessible)’. Most of them are related to Nationality, Borders, Immigration, Asylum.
January 17, 2024
It’s all down to the propensity in the public services, QUANGO’s and the civil service for office empire building. Building office empires shows that you must be important, the bigger the empire the more important you must be – and the higher the grade
This is particularly obvious in the NHS. The government regularly gives them vast sums in extra money for more doctors, consultants, nurses, lab people, specialists such as radiographers etc. Do we get more clinical staff? We do not. We get additional layers of middle management, more department heads on humungous salaries, more wokery specialists etc. Not even more cleaners.
The NHS is one of the largest employers in the world, employing 1.45 million staff members. However, this number includes only 143,000 doctors. About 10%. Let’s cut the admin headcount and give the junior doctors a decent payrise and start eating into the waiting lists.
January 17, 2024
SG, from top to bottom, clinical and support staff, admin, etc., ALL are in thrall to the dictats and time consuming protocols insisted upon by the Care Quality Commission.
January 17, 2024
Each time a problem comes along, the government response is to add new legislation. This needs an ever bigger civil service to implement and maintain it.
Want a smaller civil service? Bin the red tape.
January 17, 2024
There ae basically two approaches to designing software systems: do more with current processes or change processes to take full advantage of IT capability. ‘Do more’ doesn’t necessarily increase productivity. It is often just bells and whistles. The latter approach is more difficult because it is difficult for users to envisage what the capabilities of IT are until it is built and demonstrated. It needs to be driven by exerimentation, concurrently with an analysis of process focussed on output and efficiency and cultural change. The Civil Service inevitably resists change like most steady state organisations and avoids activities that threaten a reduction in staff. No IT company is going to build a new IT system unless it is sure of being paid so it must proceed incrementally one step at a time. So the drive for greater productiviy has got to come either from Civil Service heads of department or from outside the service by ministerial action. Mrs Thatcher’s appointment of Derek Rayner to run her Efficiency Unit in 1979 and Her Next Steps inititiative in 1987 comes to mind, as does her appointment of Peter Levene to head the MoD Procurement Executive.
The NHS is a special case as, unlike the main body of the Civil Service, there are plenty of superior models in other countries enabling rapid shortcuts to be made. Daniel Hannan has recently written an article in the Telegraph headlined, “To stop NHS doctors from going to Australia, bring Australian healthcare here”. Having experience of both the NHS and Australian healthcare I can vouch for the superiority of the Australian system. And the figures don’t lie. Not only are outcomes vastly superior and the cost per capita only slightly more than UK but staff morale is noticeably higher. But again, the culture of the NHS, as the flagship and crowning achievement of the red flagged Socialist Movement in the UK, is a huge obstacle to change. Until that is challenged, eg. Free at the Point of Delivery, ergo no patient choice, there is no prospect of better value for money or higher productivity.
January 17, 2024
It’s called empire building. Large companies suffer from it too and therefore regularly carry out pruning.
Since the civil service has now become very powerful nobody appears to have the courage or power to cut ut back.
I doubt if there will be any progress on this matter while we have the current administration in office.
January 18, 2024
K – It is irrelevant whichever administration is in office. Nothing will change until our whole system of government is changed. Nothing can stop what is coming, Nothing and the ENORMITY of what is coming will shock the world.
Reply What is coming?
January 17, 2024
The supply of productivity-increase is lacking because the demand made by shortage-of-money is low.
There is always more fiat money available. The politician thinks he buys votes by allocating extra, new, money.
January 17, 2024
If the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Cabinet Office Minister for the civil service need to be told something so basic they are incompetent.
January 17, 2024
To be balanced, Sir John should give us the figures about how much all the technological developments he quotes in his last paragraph have improved productivity in various parts of the private sector.
My reason for asking is straightforward. Despite ‘new computer systems, AI, faster and better data processing’, my experience with travel bookings, private health booking & invoicing, solicitor’s handling of documents, car maintenance booking & invoicing, … in the last two years is such I cannot see much change wrt the situation pre-Covid.
I am ready to accept that public services have not improved (oh, HMRC …) but I would like to see the proof that there has been a qualitative improvement in what the ‘private sector’ is providing.
I am afraid the hype we were bombarded with last year on the daily news regarding AI is still very far from having translated into an actual improvement visible in day-to-day life.
January 18, 2024
If you are looking for efficiency improvements then in retail I suggest Amazon as an example. In manufacturing I would point to 3D printing which has also markedly improved choice and efficiency in dentistry. You might also consider GPS and associated services to have improved efficiency and effectiveness across sectors
In the public sector I can book a GP appointment online saving me hours on the phone while more recently on-line triage saves a lot of appointment session time for doctor and patient. I also find the HMRC on-line self assessment a significant effort and time saver.
Most of these save time for the customer and increase choice of service. Additive manufacturing can lead to cost and time savings but finding headcount savings might be trickier since there is so much copmplaining about the “loss of the high street” owing to Amazon’s success – why would an organisation stick it’s neck above the parapet.
January 17, 2024
“The large fall in public sector productivity since 2019, assessed at 7.5% by the ONS to last year, is a major cost to taxpayers and a major drag on economic performance.”
Make no mistake, this is deliberate policy by the fifth column communists in Parliament and the Civil Service. The more of their own they can employ in the Civil Service the more politicised and inefficient it can become. The more people that are taken out of the productive, wealth creating private sector and the more regulations and restrictions they can create gives them more control and greater ability to throw spanners into the works everywhere.
The answer, for a government that wants to work for the good of the country and its citizens is to simply halve the size of the Civil Service. This will reduce the wage bill, force the Civil Service to be more productive, force the ending of unnecessary regulations and jobs and send out employees into the wealth creating private sector.
January 17, 2024
Perhaps this is why staff absence is so poor: too many with too little to do and then feel irrelevant and bored (a downward spiral). Then, as the absence gets so bad, the Manager argues for more replacement temporary staff, usually from agencies that cost more.
The first thing to do is look at all the people off work for over three months of absence. Who is doing their job for them? Assess what they are doing, are they doing it as well as their usual duties.
I’d put an extra bed on each ward, I’d train clinical staff on the wards from age 16 with day release at their local 6th form. I’d attract more men who want to work longer hours. I’d have a 40 hour week contract available (4 x 10 working hour days), then I’d pay overtime to those staff instead of agency rates, we should also look at how to pay overtime without that amount also topping up their pension as I think that’s why agencies are used to not incur the enormous pension contribution and entitlement.
January 17, 2024
Many hospitals have their own staff doing overtime through the hospital bank ,but at a reduced grade.
January 18, 2024
That’s interesting, Margaret. Do they do that extra work through a type of agency so their overtime doesn’t have the NHS pension massive premiums on top of the hourly overtime pay and the member of staff also doesn’t have to pay their contribution?
The public sector pensions are killing our nationalised monopolies the Unions refuse to see it or acknowledge the cost of it. The old pay models aren’t working, people retiring at 55 to 60 is not affordable but lets all keep ignoring it and paying more for less service.
January 18, 2024
No the hospital bank is not an outside agency.
January 18, 2024
Good pension if you can get it.I myself have worked for NHS in some fashion since 1968 , that’s a lot of work and only get 10 years.
January 19, 2024
Why did you choose not to stay within the NHS workforce for the entire period? My relative, a top-level nurse, retired at 60 on a fabulous NHS pension and took a lot of time out for childcare, only working part-time, then went back to full-time.
I think that is why people want to work for agencies, less pension contribution from them, lower national insurance and a big increase in hourly wage.
January 17, 2024
Productivity?
One of the biggest burdens the Public Sector has, is it’s Elitist structure’s (Not on merit)!
For example; One of the biggest problems with the NHS is the Junior Doctors structure!
These striking GP/Consultants are too narrowly educated. They spend all that time & money on educating themselves, but with Medicine only. The NHS has to employ Managers & specialist to cover the management of their work! There is no incentive to encourage, and pay, for good work?
The structure hides the under-performing staff!
The specialised Doctors/Consultants need to be mirrored with management and administrator staff, not everyone can be specialised, so just increasing doctors/consultants is not necessarily an answer. Otherwise, we would have solved the problem years ago (No amount of money is an answer), reform of the structure is! Just how?
No other Country’s HS has a monolithic structure, everyone else has some form of hybrid system! Including some Private Sector expertise! With a Price Mechanism that guides student’s into the needed skills. Not relaying on poorly educated GP’s/Consultants, and then having to bring in many managers and administrators to oversea them! “Junior Doctor structure” idealist, elitist!
So, the answer to poor Productivity, is Reform, and not more money!
Other example;
Don’t mention MOD Procurement! The establishment (members of the HoL) are not going to let go of their control of who get what! They are still fighting over whether we have a major build of a Main Battle Tank again, and who gets what and where, or too rely on a peace meal Challenge 3! I would question whether GB is in a position to use it, as the Polish/Germans are! We need to stick to dynamic forces, well trained and well paid professional troops, Missiles/Drones, smart 155mm artillery, Navy, RAF (a proper ground attack and air superiority fighter, two different fighters! Not the error prone F35B (Not British made, British high valued jobs) !
The point? Major Procurement reform needed, with Productivity built in! Looking at the latest Strategic Reviews we have had, we are in need of getting someone who can, be allowed, to at least think in a strategic manner, someone that can be realistic! This country has a tendency to look backwards, and dress it up in pageantry!
So on,…
Hope this helps?
January 17, 2024
I’m not convinced that we need more police officers. But we probably need more prison officers.
January 17, 2024
S W
We also need more prisons !
January 17, 2024
To answer your question Sir John, the computer systems don’t work, thus more staff are required to deal with the public phoning to say they can’t achieve what the system says they will achieve if they follow it’s instructions.
The horrors of AI, as it becomes more autonomous will create multitudes of jobs as citizens battle to comply with the law – submitting tax and VAT returns for example, via a system which make it impossible. May I refer you to Simplicius The Thinker (simplicius76@substack.com) who has written a piece on this.
January 17, 2024
OFT
From the Telegraph(truncated) – ‘ Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has urged Rishi Sunak to accept Tory rebel demands to strengthen his Rwanda Bill and prevent a general election “wipeout”. ‘
It has become more than the important issue of illegal immigrants (and immigration in general). It is now about who Governs, is our Parliament our legislators, i.e. is democracy, people voting their representatives (MPs) to Parliament to create, amend and repeal the laws that Govern our Country.
This so-called pretend Sunak Cabinet is fighting democracy, fighting the people, trashing the very fabric that makes up the UK – English/Common Law and democratic oversite.
January 17, 2024
Est 150 on 4 small boats this morning
January 17, 2024
How about numbers through RoI and N.Ireland? Not being allowed to profile means just waved in.
January 17, 2024
Up to 300 by the afternoon. Those who waffle about ‘international law’ and want European courts to be able to block deportations are either Open Borders advocates or WEF hirelings.
January 17, 2024
Make that 200 on 6 boats and the French didn’t even notice…
January 17, 2024
Revised 300 on 7 small boats …..the cold seas and sunak didn’t stop them, no one one France saw them and none where sent back ….thats about 5 full hotels this week
January 17, 2024
Revised Update –
350 in 8 boats
January 18, 2024
GC_ The TROJAN HORSE.
January 17, 2024
it will be every morning while the sea is calm in the Channel.
January 18, 2024
GC- The government are FULLY complicit.
January 18, 2024
They’re instrumental
January 17, 2024
Sir John
We have to be honest about the situation, successive PMs in the last 14 years have given up on the UK. This disdain for the UK has become a crescendo, every election promise not only broken but the complete opposite has always been the objective.
It is the Conservative Government that has directly and through sleight of hand(Quangos etc)that have built up an administrative monster, while promising the opposite. Not one of them has even been concerned in creating an economy to support their dreams, not one of them has managed their own prolific expenditure. Now we have the Sunak/Hunt nightmare team presiding over the greatest expansion on the State, the largest tax and borrowing spree yet seen. They have not even applied a cursory glance at controlling expenditure, just let’s increase tax, give more UK hard earned money away. Above all the refuse to manage anything
January 17, 2024
Give more in Welfare and on top “Cost of living” payments. Its OK, the 46% can’t afford it. But it’s OK, this Tory Government pays recent low wage workers welfare!
January 17, 2024
Sir John
“Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Cabinet Office Minister” you have outlined the core of the anti-UK ‘Blob’. It would appear that these are the cabals along with the WEF that dictate to this Conservative Government what it will do. What other reasoning can there be for the Conservative Governments refusal to manage. Refusal to act as though it was a Sovereign Democracy serving its people
January 17, 2024
I’m sorry for the multiple posts today.
I understand that Ukraine will issue USD 3 trillion Bonds secured on the Russian funds frozen in the west. It is expected that Central Banks (including ours) will buy these Bonds.
Parliament need to legislate urgently because the BOE, accountable to the Government, will be implicated in the theft of what is acknowledged to be Russian money.
If this goes ahead, backed by the British taxpayer, then I demand the right to refuse to pay tax on the grounds that I will be aiding and abetting a crime.
No bank will lend me money secured on Buckingham Palace. Why lend Ukraine money backed by Russia which is vigorously defending its assets, unless you mean to steal them?
January 17, 2024
‘Ukraine bonds’ will be just junk bonds. Of course it won’t be the Russians who will lose $300 billion, it’ll be Western taxpayers who’ll pay, including us Brits. And the money will go to the likes of Lockheed-Martin, Raytheon etc. so this senseless war can be continued.
January 18, 2024
Not only that but western assets in Russia will be liable for confiscation in retaliation.For instance,BP still hasn’t sold it’s Russian assets(principally a large stake in Rosneft),although it has deconsolidated the investment resulting in a $24.4 bn write down in 2022 (and a more than 50% reduction in the group’s reported oil and gas reserves).
January 17, 2024
In my experience, admittedly many years ago now but probably still persisting, is that when a new computer system is introduced to do the job of a few clerks, it results in the same number of clerks doing unfulfilling input jobs and a host of much higher paid computer technicians to run the thing. Computers are not the answer to everything, usually result in more staff turnover and worse productivity. Computer mangers, like most others love to build an empire and once the money has been spent it is very difficult to admit it is wrong.
January 17, 2024
The country is ruled by those who are answerable to no-one. They care nothing for the views of ordinary people. They certainly are in charge of government ministers as in spite some of my thoughts there must be those who do not believe in what their departments do but are unable to change anything.
This being true requires direct action because democracy is a failure.
We need what is said by Sir John but will it happen? Will it hell by following the democratic way. People like the PM don’t care either as long as they get votes.
January 17, 2024
It is obvious that management control and supervision in the Civil Service is weak and ineffective . The fault is at the very top and the ineffectiveness of rapid information flow . Years ago Sir William Armstrong – who was then the Head of the Civil Service – an ex Grammar School boy , had a serious concern about its overall capability ; he decided to invoke change and improvement by a two year exchange system with the private sector ; this approach was continued by his successor Sir Robert Armstrong . Change did occur and efficiency was considerably improved . A monthly meeting of Civil Service Permanent Secretaries its Deputies and Chief Executives of the Private Sector was also instituted via the British Institute of Management in order to maintain the constant mutual exchange – I was its Chairman up to the time of my retirement in 1988 . Present conditions obviously now require a similar total overhaul .
January 17, 2024
Computer systems need to be tested to the point where they produce zero errors against a comprehensive set of conditions; if this is not done, not only will a system malfunction but it can generate a potentially huge amount of historically incorrect data depending how long taken to detect and fix. The correction of the incorrect data is usually a far bigger task that simply fixing a bug. How well do government computer systems perform?
January 17, 2024
They should be tested comprehensively PRIOR to being put into a live environment, and in a limited scope situation then in stages extending while output is as was expected. Too often it appears the poor users are expected to do not only systems testing but ‘systems breaking’ – ‘what if?’.
January 17, 2024
As reported in computerweekly.com the PostOffice problems came with the Horizon software, a software originally developed by ICL before it was taken over by Fujitsu.
03/01/2024 ‘PostOffice Horizon scandal explained’.
All articles from Computer Weekly related to this scandal, from 2009 onwards, are accessible from the 03/01/2024 one.
January 18, 2024
Developed by ICL – so ANCIENT! And then cobbled together in unmaintabable multitudes of by-pass and amended programmes which nobody understood. This in itself is a crime.
I used to develop test data for CDC systems. The objective was to make the system fall over. Nothing was ever installed until we could not, under any circumstances ‘achieve’ that. Of course CDC guaranteed 100% uptime – no computer downtime. We had two CPU’s installed and at every transaction each asked the other whether it was alive. If one went down the other carried on and reported the problem.
But that was in the computer age when few were involved and all of us, to whatever level we worked, knew our jobs.
The good old days when Parliament legislated and the Courts implemented.
January 17, 2024
It has to be said that the post by @Miss_Snuffy on twitter (Katharine Birbalsingh) is sad in the extreme.
That a judge has chosen to name her, and her school, is outrageous, and shows how broken the legal system is.
That a legal challenge has been allowed demanding that one of the best schools in the country implements prayer rooms for one religion from many, and allows some pupils special rights to leave lessons and pray outside the timetable, is ridiculous. I know very well the way prayers are handled in Islamic countries, and it is most certainly not the way those bringing this court case want.
One of the best schools in the country being attacked by any means possible by left wing extremists.
WHERE ARE THE POLITICIANS SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THIS NONSENSE.
Katharine Birbalsingh should have the full support of the government, where is it?
January 18, 2024
Catholics did not attend the Grammar school morning assembly we went to in the late 50s.
January 19, 2024
Iain, I think that is a part of this Post Office saga that most concerns people. The Justice element. If Ms Birbalsingh and her other teachers were attacked over this decision, as people have been in incidents of this nature, what responsibility does that Judge have to take?
January 20, 2024
Reply to a previous comment.i was in charge of a metabolic unit in Manchester when contracts were messed about.I was left high and dry without a job . Myself and hundreds of other were in similar positions.Even an industrial tribunal noted that the contract I had was different from the one management had but they didn’t do anything about it.
It’s governed by politics and not truth and justice.
I am 72 working at an advanced level and not allowed a pension.A private pension I have applied for 3times hasn’t been released .It’s a continual battle out there. The lies proliferate with competition.
Issues I was taken before the NMC are now taught as advanced knowledge.
Nasty competition outweighs everything else.
Would you employ someone more qualified and experienced than yourself?.That is what happened to hundreds at the hand of unscrupulous management.
Rates of £60 an hour have been offered, but be sure a false complaint would be forthcoming.. anything to get us out!
January 17, 2024
Just look at that economic barometer …£ billions again wipe off the value of our banks as share price drop again this week
January 17, 2024
Legislation exists to make staff redundant with a limit on redundancy pay. So why is it not being used to reduce the Civil Service headcount now? 530,000 Civil Servants is far too many, I would make 430,000 redundant now, but that medicine is too strong for this weak government. So cut the numbers by 50% and watch productivity go up!
20 years of deficit budgets and not a single Chancellor or PM will grasp the simple fact that the Government is spending too much. Not just on Civil Servants but in every area. For example, why does the Government not freeze the NHS budget for 3 years? It is obviously too high because the NHS can employ DIE staff on stupidly high salaries and also have far too high a proportion of managers to front-line staff.
If we carry on like this the UK will go bankrupt in the next 10 to 20 years!
January 17, 2024
We are bankrupt NOW but our leaders dare not say anything that might sound anything like it.
We are selling anything and everything we can, dressing it up as ‘inward investment’.
January 17, 2024
Indeed & probably sooner than that. But perhaps the plan is to leave as big a mess as possible for Labour in a few months time.
January 19, 2024
What like the mess left by Brown in 2010? I love how the left talks about ‘real term’ pay rises or ‘real term’ cuts to council spending.
But their mouthpieces like Vorderman, a mathematician the public trusts, don’t talk about how much ‘real term’ debt we were left in by the crash in 2008. She says that the UK national debt in 2010 was £770 billion and now it is c £2670 billion after 5000 days of Tory Rule.
She’s “done the maths a staggering increase of £380 MILLION A DAY, EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR #5000DAYS. Which begs the question…Where has all our money gone?
FACTS
David Cameron became PM, after Gordon Brown, on May 11th 2010, 5000 days ago. In June 2010 he said the national debt was £770 billion (other sources quote £903 billion, but I’ll use HIS £770 billion for the calculation). By the end of Nov 2023 the National Debt had grown by a colossal £2670 billion (source ONS). That’s an increase of £1900 billion. Divide that by 5,000 days of Tory Rule and gross mismanagement. It means an increase, on average of c£380 million every single day for 5,000 days. #GeneralElectionNOW.”
It was edited 2011 on 18/01/24 403k views 4.5k reposts
Some brave people like Malcolm Hill did try to persuade her to think about the economics not just the arithmetic, he says “that Labour left behind annual borrowing of 160Billion in 2010 at that time, a record it took 8 years of fiscal control to get the annual borrowings back to normal in the year 2018/19. The Pandemic started 11 months later.”
She is effective because it is presented very simplistically.
January 17, 2024
From the outside John all Government Departments and Local Authorise appear to be completely out of control, lacking in proffesional management with any real direction, with a low production efficiency, and very high cost.
Some employees appear to try hard, but are as frustrated as the people they are supposed to serve and represent.
In my view employees working from home in these establishments has simply made the system worse.
January 17, 2024
abc
January 18, 2024
This is amusing.
January 17, 2024
Drax Carbon Capture Could Cost Bill Payers £40 Billion
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2024/01/17/drax-carbon-capture-could-cost-bill-payers-40-billion/
January 17, 2024
Large expensive IT systems DO NOT result in improved productivity. Just watching the PO enquiry today reminds me of all that is wrong within the software industry. Systems are sold on the basis of the automation of business processes to reduce headcount. They rarely, if ever, lead to savings. Even supermarkets are finding that “self service” tills just result in higher levels of shoplifting. Surprise.
Please don’t be fooled by the promise of AI – it is all emperor’s new clothes.
The answer to poor complex IT is never more complex IT. Having to deal with some AI speaking bot reminds me of the MS Word paperclip – and we all know how well received that was.
The law MUST be changed back to the situation in 1984-1999 so that it is not assumed that IT systems are as reliable as clocks – they never are.
Look how much money Birmingham Council saved by implementing a new IT system.
January 17, 2024
As at 20:00hrs 17th Jan 2024
Fossil Fuels 58.7%
Renewables 22.1%
Nuclear & Bio 12.1%
Interconnector 6.8%
How are we ever going to survive a winter under full net-zero
January 17, 2024
“The large fall in public sector productivity since 2019, assessed at 7.5% by the ONS to last year, is a major cost to taxpayers and a major drag on economic performance.”
This will happen naturally as a direct consequence of diversity replacing meritocracy.
January 17, 2024
It would be 10x cheaper for us to pay the traffickers ‘not’ to traffic people across the channel ….it would also be safer
January 18, 2024
Maybe we could pay them to ‘traffic’ them back to the Continent? After all the criminals are in charge, so we may as well pay them to work in our interest.
January 17, 2024
Well done Sir John sticking with your principles tonight. Just 11 of you had the determination to do what you think and say!
January 18, 2024
??? The 11 do not include Sir John who abstained in the Third Reading vote.
As for the 11 who provided us with their own Dance of the Seven Veils, when the last one was taken off, they were seen for what they are: people who made Parliament spend two days on tiny differences of thinking with the Government to finally vote with Labour, SNP, Green, etc.
Does the Conservatives in Parliament not have better things to do than seeing who the Big-Endians and the Little-Endiand are in our kingdom of Liliput?
January 18, 2024
+1. What is the point of enacting legislation that does not work? What was the point of resigning and then supporting legislation which will not work? These are very confused people upon whom much humiliation is about to be heaped when the Courts overturn the PM – again.
January 18, 2024
Correct – Its still a bad law
January 18, 2024
I am afraid it’s never going to happen unless it is explicitly stated in the election manifesto.
Turkeys don’t vote for Xmas. Status depends on the number of reports. Dismissal without benefits for managers is nigh on impossible. There has to be an element of jeopardy in line management.
The only party with a manifesto commitment is Reform.