It has been fashionable for many years to set up so called independent state financed bodies to carry out functions of government away from direct Ministerial supervision. Thus transport Ministers created a Highways Agency to run the main roads, the Environment Department an Environmental Agency to run water, anti flooding and a range of other environmental policies, and the Treasury set up the Office of Budget Responsibility and a so called Independent Central Bank to limit Ministerial control over economic policy.
Some MPs seem to want to transfer more and more things to such bodies. The ultimate of course was the mass transfer of powers to the EU. The public often say this trust the experts approach is a good idea, until the policy miscarries or mistakes are made. Then they expect Ministers to intervene, sort it out and take the blame.
The problem is independent civil service activity often does go wrong. I have chronicled the bad mistakes of the Bank of England in recent years which helped create the ERM recession, the banking crash and the recent economic slowdown. The Environment Agency policy of discontinuing pumping and dredging led to bad floods in Somerset and the need for Ministerial intervention. The EU invented the Common Fishery Policy which did so much damage to UK fish stocks and to our fishing industry.
Well paid senior civil servants in or out of quangos are set targets and asked to run particular programmes or services. There is nothing political about ensuring high quality and efficiency in most cases. Should these targets be used to influence promotion? Is there a level of performance so bad that it warrants loss of job? Should senior civil servants stay put in a role for bit longer than the current average, with named responsibility for what they are meant to be managing?
In a democracy there can be no independent branch of government. The public through their Parliament or Congress can demand that anything changes or gets better. Ministers cannot go on saying a branch of government is independent of them when it is doing harm or failing to perform.They will be forced into changing the structure and or the personnel, in order to get the change of policy people want.
March 3, 2020
Indeed, you make exactly the right points. You say:- āThe problem is independent civil service activity often does go wrong.ā It almost invariably goes wrong it is not their money nor they who get the value. So they care not what they spend nor what value they get. They are probably more interested in their power base, career, salary and gold plated pensions.
The civil servants do not even have to face elections every five years so there is no real democratic control over them what so ever. As we see it is even very hard to fire them however incompetent they have been.
March 3, 2020
What is needed is for the senior appointments to be on a contract basis only. The contract may be broken if the Minister is changed. A good civil servant with no political bias will be assured they will still have a job. One with political bias will consider their position as shaky and not apply in the first place.
At the end of the contract, the civil servant might return to a lower position, be made redundant or retire if they are of sufficient age, no compensation for loss of office.
March 3, 2020
It is not merely fashionable to set up these “agencies”, it is absolutely doctrinaire.
They are often limited companies, and so it is a form of privatisation. In turn that means that the employees will be excluded from the normal Civil Service pension provisions. That alone is reason enough for the fervent.
Furthermore – though this may now be modified – the companies can make demands upon employees which would be a violation of certain human rights – such as privacy and a right to a family life – if the State did it directly.
Such considerations motivate a great deal, perhaps nearly all out-sourcing from the public sector.
March 3, 2020
Pensions in quangos and state funded agencies are brilliant compared to the private sector
And emplyoment laws are the same for all employees.
As usual you are wrong Martin.
March 4, 2020
No, yet again it is you who is wrong.
The Human Rights Act protects us only from actions by the State.
A public entity cannot compel its employees to do anything which would infringe say, a right to a family life, e.g. by working short notice at remote locations. A private one can.
However, there have recently been cases where subcontractors’ employees have been deemed to be controlled directly by the State in this regard.
March 5, 2020
You have now changed your argument to the Human Rights Act
Make your mind up.
March 5, 2020
And to think it took only a thousand competant civil servants to administer India with it’s 228 million peoples speaking a variety of tongues.
I don’t think you would find a 1000 in the present Whitehall set up to do that especially without their bonuses
March 3, 2020
A lot of arms of the state think they are above the law. In many regards they are, not because the law gives them any exemptions, but because they are part of the system which decides priorities of what to investigate and prosecute, and can spend large sums on lawyers smashing any ordinary person in court with sheer volume of resources.
There is a lot of transparency demanded by law, freedom of information, subject access requests, data protection, āgives you all the relevant informationā from āArticle 6 right to a fair trialā of human rights act, and so on. A lot of arms of the state blatantly break these laws.
The arms of the state charged with enforcing justice rarely decide to take on other arms of the state, even when outrageous behaviour and law breaking is obvious.
So, its not just to ministers that the civil service avoids accountability, but also to individual citizens and the law itself.
March 3, 2020
Much truth is this. Look at the Grenfell Tower disaster. This was almost entirely state sector incompetence from beginning to end. A state sector building, state sector building and fire regulations and oversight, state sector fire brigade senior officer gross incompetence ……. Yet we can be fairly surely they will find some people in the private sector to blame. I doubt that anyone in the state sector will be charged with anything much.
March 3, 2020
You have left out that it was an EU directive which required the building to be reclad. The cladding which was put on in 1974 according to British Standards was super safe. The EU directive overrode fire safety in the interests of climate control.
March 4, 2020
Is that correct? I hadnāt seen that expressly asserted do you have a reference?
March 3, 2020
He gave you an example Martin.
Another is the NHS having exemption from food hygiene laws that apply to private hotels restaurants and care homes.
March 4, 2020
Private sector made the cladding.
Private sector designed the modifications to the building.
Private sector fitted the cladding.
Private sector outsourced building regulations consultancies were charged with assessing the safety of the work.
There has been NOTHING like this anywhere else in the European Union.
March 4, 2020
Incidentally, the chief architect on the project has just said that he did not read the fire regulations in that regard.
No one at his company did any kind of risk assessment as to the suitability of the cladding, I read.
March 3, 2020
Could you give an instance of such flagrant lawbreaking by the State?
It was attempted recently by prorogation, but the Court stopped that.
A right to a fair trial as I understand it refers to criminal accusations, not to civil proceedings. More is the pity, if so, that it does not.
March 4, 2020
nope its not just criminal law
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/human-rights-act/article-6-right-fair-trial
March 3, 2020
Indeed I would say law enforcement is probably the one area which should be relatively independent – not in overall operation, but in individual cases. If a private company would be fined for a particular act or omission, for example, a local council or government agency should not be let off for the same deed on the basis “we’re all on the same side”, they should be held to at least as high a standard as the state demands of us. I’m not sure how we could best achieve that change of attitude, but it would be a big improvement.
March 6, 2020
But the law enforcers need proper impartiality rules which are enforced, and a properly independent compliant process, not independent in name only.
March 6, 2020
Independent complaints process needed I meant, no more independent in name only, don’t let anyone run their own complaints process.
March 3, 2020
If we had had more referendums (for example on the following) we would almost certainly have made far, far better decisions than the politicians made.
For example:- Entering the EU under Ted Heath, the Millenium Dome, the Iraq War, Cameronās Bombing of Libya, HS2, Huawei, we would have a sensible, cheap and on demand energy policy, we would have far, far lower taxes, we would not subsidies the Arts so much they would be funded by people actually buying tickets, we would not have the BBC licence poll tax, we would not have the state sector with pensions about 4 times those in the private sector, we would not subsidise so many duff degrees, we would have police who tackle real crimes rather than hate and thought crimes, the Lords would have been reformed ………. The people are generally far wiser and do not suffer from state sector group think, they know what they want and what they do not want.
March 3, 2020
+1
In addition, why does every large project end up taking 4 times as long, and cost 10 times more than the original estimate? If I employed a builder I certainly wouldn’t use one that had such a reputation. Why does the government NOT learn from its mistakes, but continues to add more and more ill judged projects? Nobody can change history, but we can change the future. Why not include penalty clauses over time scales and costs, as happens in the real world? That way we may start with realistic costs and timescales instead of the worthless forecasts we suffer now.
March 3, 2020
If I employed a builder I do not pay them until they have delivered what was contracted. I also ensure the contract gives me suitable protection should they fail in this.
March 3, 2020
@LL; Indeed Mr Life, for example, had all the facts been laid before the people by way of a referendum we might never have had Right to Buy and the wholesale destruction of the UK’s low rent social housing stocks – be careful, be very careful of what you rant for…
March 3, 2020
Nonsense they people were hugely and quite rightly in favour of right to buy!
March 4, 2020
@LL; The people are only told what the Govt of the day wants them to hear…
Were we told that not-for-profit social housing would become almost unavailable, were we told that many traditional high-churn starter homes would be removed from the open market because of the rise in BTL, were we told that private landlords would disproportionately control the cost of renting, were we told this would make it very difficult for many young couples/families to both rent and save (for a deposit) on a single income, were we told about the likely cost of such changes to both our society and economy.
Of course, as a Landlord, who appears to have benefited from all of the above you’ll disagree, hence why I suggested you be very careful of what you wish for when calling for more referenda. Do you honestly think Mr Cameron, a europhile, would have called a referendum on our membership unless he had been forced to by the likes of the ERG and the Tory party grass roots?…
March 3, 2020
jerry
“…..wholesale destruction of the UKās low rent social housing stocks ā be careful, be very careful of what you rant forā¦”
Excellent point.
March 3, 2020
I’m all for more direct government by the people – Successive governments have tied us into treaties without our permission and without explaining the consequences.
A recent example was when May signed the UN treaties to give immigrants special status – That comes close to treachery, but there were many other treaties that should never have been signed in that “I’m in power I can do what I want” attitude.
March 3, 2020
L/L Spot on as usual!
March 3, 2020
Dear Lifelogic–Used to write here and very much believe that (pace Thatcher) having been elected is much overrated, often the voters making their choice based on whether they literally like the look of a candidate. Mystery to me why we don’t move towards the Swiss system which has a balance including referenda. Some questions simply cry out for a vote by the populace. Once there was no choice but to elect and send delegates or representatives or whichever way round it is supposed to be but not any more.
March 3, 2020
Also, with a referendum we wouldnāt have mass immigration
March 3, 2020
We wouldn’t have had privatisation either.
If another were held today, then much of it would be reversed too.
The one to stay in the EC was also a thumping two-to-one victory for Stay.
But, some and the right wing media just would not accept the – genuine – Will Of The People.
March 3, 2020
There is no great desire to reverse privatisation apart from trains.
It comes very low on lists of voters priorities.
If staying in the EU was a 2 to 1 ratio then we would not have just had a massive Conservative majority in the last election where they were the only leave party you could vote for.
March 4, 2020
@Edward2; Not so sure, it wasn’t the pledge to renationalise the utilities that destroyed Labour’s GE campaign last year but -as you admit- their position on Brexit.
March 4, 2020
Leaving the European Union was very low on people’s priorities until a media campaign with billions behind it ramped up the topic with endless distortions over several years.
It just shows how effective mass propaganda by the powerful can be.
March 4, 2020
@MiC; “until a media campaign with billions behind it”
What campaign, specifically, are you referring to, and who donated such sums (after all that sort of money, even buy a few thousand individual supporters would have had to be declared and is thus in the public domain – or weren’t you referring to campaign funds?…
March 5, 2020
Not really
The mass propaganda came from remain and their media establishment pals.
And still it failed.
March 5, 2020
Edward2
This was not related to this particular comment, this was linked to the general information level of Nick Cs contribution which is very weak and often wrong
March 6, 2020
In your pro EU myopic view.
March 4, 2020
Martin, But the 1975 referendum vote to remain in the EEC was respected without any attempt to prevent the will of the people being implemented by Parliament.
March 5, 2020
NickC
Please, please, do us all a favour. Think about what you write and then, comments on only about half of what you comment on now, and you will probably get more of the facts right.
March 5, 2020
But Hans, where is NickC factually wrong?
the 1975 referendum was on whether to stay in the Common Market/EEC and parliament and judges did not strive to undermine that decision. There was no disruption of the assimilation process at all.
This despite only 30.9% of the population voting to remain.
March 5, 2020
The fact in Nick’s comment above was correct.
If you think otherwise then explain bill.
March 4, 2020
Nor would we have joined the ERM still less the EURO.
March 4, 2020
Nor did we join the euro.
What do you mean?
March 3, 2020
A common problem with a lot of these āso called independent state financed bodiesā is that there are no real impartiality rules in place or enforced. A lot of āknowledge is powerā games are played where organisations hold onto and actively hide information that should be owned by the individual citizen or made publicly available. And where complaints processes exist, for ordinary members of the public to use, they are almost universally not really independent in anything but name.
March 3, 2020
Indeed, a good general rule is that any organisation which feels the need to claim it is “independent” or have it in the name very rarely is.
March 3, 2020
Hi John, I thought I should let you know about the effect of removing entrepreneurs tax legislation…
My wife has run her own small business for 10 years, flexing in and out of work whenever a contract came up. She was offered a permanent role a year ago, but kept her business open as a future plan B. She instructed her accountant to close it down last week, saving over Ā£10,000.
Once again the evidence shows our government is doing the right things regarding Brexit, but is certainly not a fiscally conservative government…
March 3, 2020
Well we will see in the budget next week – any overall increase in tax from the currently hugely overtaxed position would be a very big mistake and would not even raise more tax in the end (this as it would strangle even further the private sector geese that lay the golden eggs, push other overseas and deter much of the UK investment).
March 3, 2020
Just the absurd complexity of the system and often a lack of certainly over taxation is a huge additional tax in itself. IR35, making tax digital, workplace pensions and the absurd taxation of “profits” that have not even made (for landlords) are or will be hugely damaging. Let us hope the new Chancellor can grasp these facts.
March 3, 2020
The ultimate non unaccountable bodies are Quangos. Cameron was going to have a bonfire but like much of government promises it didn’t happen.
All are run by left wing activists at odds with government policies.
We need a Donald.
March 3, 2020
Indeed did Cast Iron, low tax at heart Conservative, a bonfire of quangos & red tape, I will stay on and serve the EU notice the next day……… Dave Cameron keep any of his promises? Did he even ever intend to do so?
He turned out to be a pro EU, tax borrow and piss down the drain totally dishonest socialist! He had such a golden opportunity too with two sitting duck oppositions. All that was needed was for him to be what he claimed he was.
March 3, 2020
We do in many ways need a Trump. Boris (though in many ways superior to Trump) has made some very big mistakes already. HS2, Huawei, on delaying again airport runways, failing to set a smaller state/low tax vision. Particularly too in falling for the hugely damaging (idiotic and unscientific) climate alarmist, net zero carbon, renewable energy & premature electric car agenda and in letting some of the appalling Benn act traitors back into the party.
Boris needs to change his mind on the above, he could still be a great PM is he does so. I am certainly grateful to him for saving us from Corbyn/SNP and the dire Theresa May.
He also need to wake up to the very real and immediate Covid19 threat he does not seem to have done so yet. He needs to be made to understand the science and maths of it.
March 3, 2020
Of course the bonfire didn’t happen. It was what the people wanted – and that won’t do will it. Just like an end to mass uncontrolled immigration of freeloading criminals. Just like the govt are doing their best to continue throwing billions of our taxes to the EU, while cutting our services more and more, etc etc The likes of us are only the little people – only here to work and be taxed. That is the only way they see us. The govt will only be happy when they realise they have turned this island into a place full of 3rd worlders.
March 3, 2020
Ian Wragg
Totally correct. But it will never happen
March 3, 2020
The rise of political activism across the State sector and other areas of public concern threatens democracy itself. The capture of State bodies by a political cabal with the sole intent of imposing their world view onto others using various methods of influencing legislation to promote their poison, propaganda and other forms of political activity to influence central government Ministers and their Depts of State
OFCOM is a classic example. The CPS is another. Both bodies now under the control of a certain mindset loyal to the progressive left and determined to minimise any issue that is inconvenient to its goal
The EC (Electoral Commission) is another that’s become infected. The Peterborough by-election and the abuses we see revealed the biased nature of the EC, when they refused to intervene to correct this most appalling abuse of our electoral system by the left
The BBC is now another organisation now under the direct control of the progressive left and determined to impose their social engineering and woke fascism down our throats and they will succeed as another spineless, useless Tory PM takes power and wimps out of the fight to save this nation from the indoctrination of leftist propaganda
When people vote Tory they’re not getting Tory policies but progressive policies. We want reform of Labour’s progressive, leftist, activist client state. Unfortunately, we will see betrayal once again starting with the BBC being allowed to pump out its poison and propaganda without reform
What is the point of voting Conservative when you implement social engineering and progressive policy madness on our nation?
March 3, 2020
Exactly. The only point is that Corbyn/SNP would be far worse.
March 3, 2020
Certainly right on the clear electoral abuse of postal voting etc.
March 3, 2020
Yes well..I totally agree with you.
However, people have sat and watched, applauded even, the annihilation of the right wing.
This is supposed to be a democracy but folk have lost their jobs for belonging to the BNP.
And before anyone jumps ( yes that is where they have brought us to) …the PTB have also recalibrated morality so that most actually believe right wing thought to be per se evil.
Not a good state of affairs.
And watch them weaponise this virus!
March 3, 2020
There are quite a number of things this Government should do to confirm the electorate was right. Repeal things, terminate things, review organisations – OFCOM CPS for example.
Doesn’t seem to be any on the horizon – I wait to be impressed.
March 3, 2020
Boris yesterday on the Coronavirus āas and when, if and whenā …. āis likely to become more significantā and āthis country is very very well preparedā.
Rather more than likely mate it is virtually certain and the NHS is not remotely well prepared.
It is odd that there is such a huge different between the Ā£ hundreds of billions they are wasting on (and the certainty they ascribe to) the highly questionable Climate Alarmist CO2 āpollutionā agenda (for a trivial risk in perhaps 100 years time) and their rather pathetic under reaction to this virus which is clearly a very serious problem hear and now. The BBC reporting reflect this too.
True there is not all that much that can be usefully be done, but some things certainly need to be done that are clearly not being that could save very many lives.
It is not when and if mate, it is here and now. It is certain to become very significant indeed. Perhaps even as high as 1% of perhaps 12 million = 120,000 deaths, and ten times this number needing medical treatment and huge economic damage too. Cancel HS2 and use the money far more sensibly now. How many isolated, intensive care beds (and ventilating systems) does the NHS have currently free? I doubt is it is much more than 100.
Yet they might need several thousands in a few weeks time.
March 4, 2020
The Chinese built new isolation hospitals in days.
There is not a snowball’s chance, that the private sector reliant UK could do anything remotely like that.
March 5, 2020
They converted an old office block.
They built nothing.
March 3, 2020
Good morning
Let us hope she this comment does not get held up on moderation.
Governments decide policy and Civil Servants advise and implement. End of.
It was government policy to join the ERM. The BoE was not independent of government back then.
As to the CS, the clue is in the name. Service / Servant. They exist for our benefit and no other.
Post BREXIT we need to go back to what worked. Those that cannot, or will not adapt can leave.
March 4, 2020
Yes, the clue is in the name.
Civil Servant, servant to the civil, that is.
If they are not treated with due dignity and respect, by the evidently uncivil, then employment law has been broken.
March 3, 2020
I donāt like targets as the sole arbiter. I have seen too much abuse of them in both the setting and achieving. In one company I worked we developed a ālight touchā approach. Hit the big numbers needed, so beloved by the Minister and spouted showing the programme was successful. Economic value, close to zero. Cue HMGs recent apprenticeship policy.
Nonetheless I am getting from your post that performance management in the CS or at the top of it is poor/non existent and this cannot continue.
Every persons career prospects both advancement and retention plus financial reward has to be based on performance against a set of objectives linked to the business plan. We hear of all sorts of people getting the āvapoursā when asked to step up but what people forget or fail to mention is that people in any department know who put a shift in and who are there for the ride.
A number of attitudinal surveys I have been involved in, in the City, all show that employees detest weak management that allows poor performers to continue, in reality putting more pressure on the good ones. I suspect the Civil Service is no different.
March 4, 2020
I agree with you Nig1, sometimes though the process to deal with poor performers takes months and months, especially if they start to bring protected characteristics up for the first time ever.
Pay grades are supposed to be there to reward exceptional talent in a similar position as someone that does just enough or bare minimum. People are happy to go up the grades, but if their performance slips or they stop being able to carry out aspects of the job they expect the same grade enhancement.
The public sector must start to reduce, if 10% of a department are no longer required those people should be able to transfer their skills from one department to another and when people leave they should not be replaced with extra people until the workforce is properly balanced. Margaret Howard on here the other day said there are over 72,000 civil servants in London alone!
March 3, 2020
Surely such quangos are part of the problem we have in the UK, they being part of the establishment that runs things without being responsible for failures.
There needs to be a massive reduction in externalised bodies.
We hear so much about quango exec’s jumping from one over paid role to another, which makes a mockery of the system because they simply escape their disasters, and it seems Parliament can do little about it, and WE end up with the problems.
Yes, quango exec’s and civil servants must be made accountable, but first let’s abolish those quasi-NGO’s that can be better managed by those with full accountability to the British people.
March 3, 2020
The failure of so many departments appears to be due to a lack of what I would call simple old fashioned management.
The person at the top accepts complete responsibility, but they delegate down by splitting responsibility amongst others who report to them, sensible targets are agreed and set, and performance is monitored, failure to perform results in either demotion or sacking, positive performance can lead to promotion or enhanced salary/bonus etc.
The whole management structure and the various roles and responsibilities needs to be clear and transparent.
March 3, 2020
In this day and age NO ONE takes responsibility or is held accountable. NO ONE makes decisions in case they make the wrong decision. It is the blame game, “nothing to do with me old boy”. I have witnessed this first hand working sub-contract some years ago for a major UK corporation. Meetings, meeetings, meetings and no one will make a decision yet all participants are MANAGERS!!!!!!!! So much time and money wasted.
March 4, 2020
UK Qanon
Having had service problems with two local authorities of late, you describe the situation precisely.
On both occasions I got so frustrated I even wrote to the very highly paid CEO’s to try and get some action and common-sense, I got an immediate resply, but still very slow action as it went through the process you describe.
Neither problem has been resolved to date.
Both so inefficient it is almost untrue.
March 3, 2020
It seems not so much that the process is wrong but rather that the people involved are incompetent.
March 3, 2020
Oh dear..interest rates to be cut on March 26th apparently.
More redistribution.
To save us all from the Coronavirus so I have read!
Mayhem, panic …cui bono? Not Joe Soap.
March 3, 2020
We have just seen yet another report, this time the National Probation Service run by your MOJ detailing a total failure leading to the murder of a woman.
Yet again your spokesperson said lessons have been learned etc plus the obligatory useless apology. When will someone bloody well say āand the people involved have been disciplined are no longer employed by usā
And shortly a report is due out on a major charity which allegedly will talk about more establishment cover ups re the mistreatment of women by some senior men.
In a future post instead of a nice rounded piece often posing questions, please tell us what is being done about the abuses/failures in the public arena that we are seeing regularly.
March 3, 2020
It seems that ER might be scrapped. Further encouragement perhaps, if any is needed, to set up in Ireland. Why set up here and pay twice the Corporation Tax, including on so-called profits retained in the business when it’s sold, then to get clobbered with full-rate CGT?
Can’t see that moving product from ROI to UK should be a problem either.
March 3, 2020
Civil Servants have become political activists in their own right and now work with non-UK governments, political pressure groups (Labour, Stonewall etc etc) and other organisations (BBC) to impose capture over the actions of elected representatives in government.
As private citizens we have ZERO representation and put our faith in the integrity of politicians in government. In a nobbled democracy that is now no longer enough
London centric political activism has the ability to circumvent the majority and impose changes in legislation using lobbying techniques, naming and shaming MPs who vote against their aims, direct intimidation of MPs which allows them to influence voting behaviour in Parliament and impose self-censorship allowing activists to dominate the public arena
We are being exposed to politicisation and the demoralisation of our nation. This is the poison of the left. Cultural Marxism taking control of peoples actions, thoughts, language, speech and mood. It is vile, deliberate and causing harm
March 3, 2020
Any organisation that allows / indeed encourages it’s senior staff to move every two years or so, as happens in the Civil Service from all reports, is one that cannot build enough expertise based on experience to be competent. Moving positions so frequently is also a way for staff to avoid responsibility, and for their seniors to do the same. The penalties for failure cannot be allowed to be dodged in this way. There must be some form of accountability, sadly bureaucracies do not like accountability. I have seen this outcome in both Local Government and indeed the BBC. How to change their culture I cannot advise, but it must be changed, Priti Patel must be backed by Boris and the likes of you.
March 3, 2020
Yes they should be responsible under direction from the minister. Quangos are a way of diluting responsibility. If within Transport you wish to compartmentalise Highways by all means do so but under the direct responsibility of the boss civil servant in Transport and ultimately the Minister for Transport.
Yes the Minister and the Civil Servants should be judged on performance just as they would be in the private sector. It is within the remit of the PM to sack ministers and should be within the power of the Minister after due consultation to sack senior Civil Servants.
March 3, 2020
Just as Government and MP’s are generally bad and extremely inefficient at spending our (taxpayer) money, so called public bodies without oversight are equally as bad.
The overriding principle should be if it is not your own money you are 100% responsible to deliver and be transparent on how you deliver to your paymaster(the taxpayer in this instance). There should be no get out of ‘jail free’ license, any deviation is fraud.
MP’s do at least re-present themselves to the voters every so often. So it stands to reason that any body supported by taxpayer has oversight by a political body/or their contracts renewed after each election. A Civil Service is only as good as the results they produce on the current political mandate, if they are un-happy with that they shouldn’t be there.
A Civil Service that fights or briefs against Government, is fighting the taxpayer and is in breach of contract.
It should at all times be reinforced that if you are in receipt of taxpayer money you are directly responsible to the taxpayer before anything else.
March 3, 2020
To get change we must have a PM who is prepared to instigate it and see it through and yet, as soon as one of his appointees is criticised for being tough he moves into appeasement mode. The MSM and other opponents shout a bit, he backs down. It looks as if sparks won’t now fly after all. Which other Minister is going to take on the CS establishment now and in any event the Home Secretary is weakened.
When was an enquiry ever set up to come back with a result stating that there was no problem and no action needed to be taken? Those conducting it will feel compelled to come up with something otherwise they will be accused of a ‘whitewash’. Weakness and cowardice will prevail.
So Boris will sacrifice his Secretary of State and the CS will have won. If he doesn’t want this he should have stood his ground. He will be proven to be an empty shell, he will have no credibilty or authority and our parliament might just as well be dissolved and all authority formally handed to the CS and its political arm, Common Purpose and all the other subversive Marxists.
And so dies our democracy.
March 3, 2020
Would a partial solution to the difficult management problem faced by Ministers be to mirror the USAās inspector general programme (created by a 1978 Act) that aims to detect and deter waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct in Government programmes and personnel, and to promote economy and efficiency in those programmes?
March 3, 2020
If ‘you resign’ from your Post, is that constructive dismissal?
March 3, 2020
If your employer makes your position untenable, then yes. You have to prove that though, consequently a Tribunal has to be the next step. However watch it quietly disappear with the offer of a shed load of money and a lordship in return for a confi agreement.
March 3, 2020
Ian
Yes it is, as the law currently stands.
Most of these claims focus on the Employment at Work Act, which requires that every person in the workplace is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect.
March 4, 2020
Yes it is constructive dismissal, but outside the civil service, there are procedures for an employee to follow with a grievance that could lead to your resignation. In the same way that an employer that wants to terminate your contract has hoops to jump through, warnings, improvement targets, time to reassess, further warnings, other than gross misconduct and then the employer has to hold meetings, present evidence and not have just made the decision to terminate without listening to the defence.
This man who resigned, I wonder if he went through due process? If he didn’t the government and Priti Patel must stand firm and defend herself robustly and in court if necessary.
March 3, 2020
I am particularly annoyed about the legislation stopping dredging and maintenance of our rivers especially in light of what has happened in these recent weeks. A mile down the road from us is flooded. The area floods every year but not in the way it has this year. The river Severn has burst its banks all along its route and caused untold damage to businesses and people’s lives. Homes will be worth nothing as they won’t be wanted by anyone and insurances will be sky high. The railways lost a million pounds a day because the trains couldn’t run. Businesses in Shrewsbury had to close due to flooding. The town centre was closed. Our friends could only get in and out of their home with a boat. They have 5 working dogs which they have had to farm out to friends for 2 weeks now as their house has 2 feet of water in it. The damage done both materially and emotionally is massive. People who have had boats on this river for years have said in recent years they have often become grounded as the waters have become more shallow with so much peat and much in them. The Somerset levels didn’t flood this year because they were dredged a few years ago. This episode has cost the country so much money and the damage to wildlife must have been pretty serious too. We are out of the EU now so lets go back to managing our rivers the best way for us and return to sanity so people can live peacefully in their homes and not have this nightmare again. When interviewed I have not heard one civil servant talk of dredging or maintenance. It really isn’t good enough. Unless Boris gets his act together I feel many will becoming despondent over voting Tory.
March 3, 2020
I liked Donald Trumps approach when he got elected saying we are going to do things different its not business as usual, we arenāt doing same old same oldā¦..quangoās, independent bodies, EU and civil servants slow government change and creates distance and mistrust with the public. No responsibility nor accountabilityā¦MPs must take control
March 3, 2020
Ps. Also reform the honours system. They are no more worthy than my local baker/butcher etc. Indeed these will work longer hours and give greater service.
March 3, 2020
The USA cured the problem ingrained in the British system by having all the elected representatives in the legislature (Congress). It separately elected the head of the executive (President) and he appoints / employs at his pleasure; a Cabinet, from the great and the good of the land that are sympathetic to his plans and qualified to be CEOs of major departments and agencies.
The weaknesses in the British government system will become ever more obvious now the British cabinet will no longer be propped up by the EU executive.
March 4, 2020
acorn,
what weakness is currently propped up by the EU executive?
March 3, 2020
This may well be the Conservatives last chance to turn the country round.
The blinkers are off, we see the rigged game for what it is.
Indoctrination starts within Education, and then spreads to the BBC, Civil Service, Universities, in a self promoting circle.
Farage has broken the mould and shown us what is possible.
Next time the Conservatives won’t have Corbyn to save them.
Stop fighting the last war and focus on the next.
March 3, 2020
The minute responsibility and accountability are divided, you are in trouble.
I always sign letters to the Civil Service thus
āYou are, Sir, my obedient servantā
March 3, 2020
They probably file those ones straight in the bin!
March 3, 2020
Lynn
” āYou are, Sir, my obedient servantā ”
Trouble is, Lynn, most of ’em don’t see themselves as servants – other than unto themselves. Certainly not to the country, and most certainly not to the public who pay their salaries.
It’s all about job for life with big salary and fat pension. Oh, and of course promoting Blair-ite political correctness. The civil service is riddled with it.
To an extent this is one of the things Boris is having to wrestle with at the moment. I suspect we shall see more high profile resignations in the future.
March 3, 2020
Sir John
The answer to today’s entry :-
Yes every time all of the time.
March 3, 2020
It’s clear “the long march through the institutions” is almost nearing completion. It seems it doesn’t matter how we vote when all our institutions are infested with left-leaning activists and they are running the country from behind the scenes.
Personally, I don’t have an issue with outsourcing, per se, especially if it provides a new and innovative perspective for achieving the required outcomes. However, administrations (whether CS or agencies) remain obligated to answer to those who are ultimately responsible. If those with delegated authority are permitted to corrupt the specific parameters and objectives of their role over the years due to laissez faire governance, Ministers will lose their jobs because, quite frankly, they’ve let it happen.
I say again, a Performance Related Pay structure would support the difficult changes to working practises government needs to introduce. Delegated authorities, standards and desired outcomes could then operate within its framework and key areas tested for ongoing robustness by the responsible Minister. I would surmise that the current furore is probably a reflection of this sort of rigour.
March 3, 2020
The cappie who is taking the gov to court for forcing him out of his Job is wrong because he has broken his contract of being impartial tips to who is in the office of government at the time. He not there to have or start arguments inside his own department, he is there to serve the peoples elected government and its Ministers of a party or individuals.
At this stage, I would have to make redundant 5% of the top of that department and interview the staff which are left down to the mailroom to move up the ladder and put the savings after redundancies each year to build flats and houses for the homeless.
March 3, 2020
I don’t mind being accountable – just give me the money and the authority and keep out the way.
Stop flooding? simples, build a 20 mile channel lined with concrete tunnelled under that hill. Or of course I could let the weeds grow, follow green fads and achieve nothing – much cheaper.
Enlarge motorways? simples, compulsory purchase people’s gardens, widen to take roadway plus hard shoulder. Or I could save that embarrassment and deliver something not very safe and just as expensive.
March 3, 2020
The latest madness to be unveiled is that there will be more wind farms, what utter folly, Tories are the new Green Party, it calls into question my continued membership of a Party that Iāve supported and been an activist for all my adult life as were my parents
And even now Iām getting begging emails asking for donations, I donated quite enough during the election campaign but no more!
March 3, 2020
Listen again to Sammy Wilson’s question on this today. He deplored the environmental destruction of cutting down trees and cutting up peat to install wind farms.
March 4, 2020
Rose. Too right. The devastation is rife in Scotland with the public paying to turn off turbines more often. Ancient peat bogs were destroyed to be replaced with rafts of concrete the size of Olympic pools.
March 4, 2020
Indeed they should be repealing the dire climate change act and abolishing that absurd committee chaired by the deluded history graduate Lord Debden (Selwyn Gummer). We need cheap reliable on demand energy. Please especially with serious viral infections will need to keep warm.
March 3, 2020
But we don’t live in a democracy..if we did we’d have proportional reprepresentationalism..instead we live in an old fashioned medieval system with first past the post with kings and royalty and Lords not to mention Sirs.. well what do you think? I think it’s a load of old nonsense..
March 3, 2020
If we hadn’t had FPTP we would never have got the referendum, and we would subsequently never have got its implementation. That would have been the ultimate undemocratic result.
As for monarchies, just look at the republics next door to them, and decide which have the freest people. I would say the subjects are freer than the citizens every time.
Monarchies need other hereditary elements in order to survive. By abolishing the constitutional role of our aristocracy we have greatly weakened our monarchy, which was no doubt what Blair intended.
March 4, 2020
I agree on FPTP. We would have had endless dire, weak, left wing coalitions. Rather than dire, weak, left wing Conservatives or Labour PMs like Heath, Wilson, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May ….. and even Thatcher made some very big errors like Closing grammar shools, appointing John Major and the ERM. On Boris I reserve judgement until the budget a week to day. He has however already made very big errors on HS2, Heathrow, Huawei and pushing green crap, expensive energy, carbon āpollutionā religion.
March 4, 2020
Agreed, Rose. I was always on the side of PR until we had the political quagmire in Parliament from 2017 to 2019. It would be like that on a permanent basis with PR, with back benchers governing Parliament and totally ignoring the manifestos upon which they were elected.
I just wish we could break the LibLabCon cartel, who are all the same on the inside, ie. only democratic when it is forced upon them.
March 4, 2020
PR results in MP’s being selected by party leaders and not by the people they are supposed to represent, us. FPTP may have its failings, but democratic representation is not one of them .. the people directly select the people they want to represent them.
March 5, 2020
And the people directly contact the MP they have elected. With PR there is not this direct personal link which goes back centuries.
March 3, 2020
OFF TOPIC – well maybe not.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51722251
Chris Packham vs HS2.
March 3, 2020
Well done Chris Packham!
Govt. hoisted on its own green petard really…as with Heathrow.
March 4, 2020
We tried this stance with the destruction and total lack of concern for wildlife with windfarms and got nowhere. They only adhere to the rules and regs when it suits them.
March 3, 2020
Well I agree with him on HS2, but certainly not on the absurd climate alarmism or on Extinction Rebellion!
March 3, 2020
JR has only highlighted half the problem; the other half is the inane and often unpatriotic decisions taken by politicians. Accepting that politicians cannot opt out of their responsibilities to supervise those areas of the economy not under private control, how can the system be changed so that we the public are no longer continuously the victims of unforced errors?
The very obvious way to improve the performance of MPs is to open up their monopoly to serious competition. This can be achieved by reforming the electoral system so that votes are translated into seats: the so-called wasted vote would become a thing of the past. Very soon the HoC would be full of people who do not want to have themselves replaced by the third world through mass immigration, who do not want to close down their economy by 2035, who do not believe children should be taught outright lies about history or biology or that we have an obligation to assist ME states in expanding their borders at the expense of others and a consequent flood of refugees heading our way. Perhaps we would have people who would listen to a senior industry manager when they are told that the car company that they control needs to become a manufacturer of luxury vehicles rather than mass produced vehicles because the later route is unviable.
The other area that needs improving is the quality of education received by most politicians and civil servants. Being able to write an essay is not a skill which is necessary or sufficient to become suitably trained to understand problems and to solve them. An understanding of mathematics and logic, science and the scientific method are essential to not only ensure that a decision taker is prepared for his task, but that he is also intellectually competent to do so. Most Arts degrees should be scrapped because they are not only unacademic or irrelevant, but they are also vehicles for the indoctrination with the latest ‘-ism’ hatched within US academe to undermine Western Civilisation.
March 3, 2020
I see the government is considering banning large scale gatherings like the London Marathon. If the London rush hour is not a large scale gathering of an order of magnitude greater than the London Marathon, I’ll eat my hat. Logic, Maths, Science.
March 3, 2020
After over 40 years of arm-wrestling with the Civil Service, including at the Humphrey level, so much of what you say rings true.
There are some good ones but they are repressed by the bad.
They are collectively arrogant with a superiority complex in the established belief that they are unaccountable, untouchable and undemocratically immovable, unlike the Elected.
One measure I urge you to pursue with the PM is to establish very clearly in their closed minds the new understanding that they serve the People and Elected Governments and are not their irreplaceable masters. Remove the word ‘Permanent’ from all the Humphrey titles: that can be done at a stroke. No more Permanent Under Secretaries instead let them be simply Senior Civil Servant (SCS, Not PUS) to [insert Dept Name Here]. Put them in their place.
Remove any expectation of Knighthood and elevation to the anachronism that is the Lords where they continue to meddle. This is a no cost measure which ends their established belief of continued entitlement to unelected power.
Enact the Civil Service Code into Law in order to establish Public-facing accountability including advice to ministers such that contrived undermining advice can be exposed and sanctions applied.
I think the rumble I just heard was Sir Humphrey turning in his grave.
Finally, to all readers, you may have thought ‘Yes Minister’ was a comedy when in fact it was an informed and skilfully scripted documentary.
March 3, 2020
JR
An interesting topic Sir.
I find two of your points particularly pertinent considering what is going on lately.
Firstly the Environment Agency’s cessation of dredging has undoubtedly led to the ruination many homes and lives. As I understand matters, the Environment Agency was following EU orders in that regard.
Surely therefore, it would be fair to expect the EU to compensate those affected, since the problem was caused by the EU in the first place. If not, then the Environment Agency must be held to account.
Secondly – CFP. I see that our country is being openly threatened by the EU, in as much that Macron who is hiding behind Brussels coat tails has also got the Danes to do his bidding.
The French are also saying that Calais will be blocked if we don’t let give them access to our territorial waters.
I note a government spokesperson as saying in response that UK fishing grounds are not going to be traded off under any circumstances.
May I remind government that this had better be so. If there is any yield to French threats, it will be the end of the road for Boris and the conservative party.
I would expect that if Calais was blocked again, government would be prepared to send the Royal Marines there to prevent French attacks on British citizens, livestock and property (as happened before) and get our people home safely.
As you must surely know, Sir, we Brits do not take kindly to threats, especially threats that come from France.
As an Englishman and a voter I suggest now is the time for government to be seen to show teeth to the ungrateful French led EU.
Might I also pose the question: do the French and the rest of the EU think we liberated them from tyranny, and at great cost to our nation, just to accord them some kind of right to threaten us?
One might suppose the French led EU is playing some kind of game, but whatever it is it isn’t cricket.
I suggest the best way to deal with this is to walk away and default to WTO rules. Then if the French want to ‘ask us nicely’ for access to our fishing grounds, they can consider behaving in a civilised way with us stands more chance of gaining our respect.
Thank you for your time Mr Redwood.
March 4, 2020
Steve I totally agree with all you have said.
March 4, 2020
beautifully expressed.
March 4, 2020
Well said Sir!
March 5, 2020
Steve
I can assure you the Danes would neve do any bidding for the French
March 4, 2020
Whilst we have a sensible Conservative government all your comments are valid. In the event of a Brown, Corbyn, or similarly inclined Government, the Civil Service and Quangos would be our only defence against ruinous far left Socialism. Although I fear the CS is not the bastion of right-thinking Right it once was. The march of liberal-leftiness in university faculties is seeing to that.
But, currently, you’re right.
March 4, 2020
“Thus transport Ministers created a Highways Agency to run the main roads”
Your party has been in government for a decade, whose plans and rules were these Agencies working to for this ten years?
For example, with smart motorways – who decided to press ahead with this project? Who allowed the Highways Agency to award the contract to someone who was allowed to take over four years to have the hard shoulder incorporated on a four junction section but gave permission to close the entire run down at the same time even though they couldn’t possibly and didn’t work on such a large section?
When it was a hard shoulder and someone broke down or had a tyre blow out, the traffic never had to reduce their speed to 40mph for a whole junction and more behind the stationary vehicle, now this regularly happens.
People need diverting off the motorway if a motorway is being shut much sooner. The Highways Agency should have vehicles to deploy to close off on-ramps and the motorway two junctions back- leading everyone off the motorway if they know from the scale of the accident it is going to be closed for at least four hours.
How many times do we now see slow down, restrictions to 40mph with a notice, debris in the road for miles and miles with no debris in the road and signs left on for a long time after any danger passed? Lots of times and who has to answer for that – no-one! That is why Agencies are made up, so no-one is responsible for disrupting people, productivity and performance.
March 4, 2020
JR
” The EU invented the Common Fishery Policy which did so much damage to UK fish stocks and to our fishing industry”
It is NOT the EU who have damaged our fishing industry but greedy fishermen selling their fishing allocations to others in a quick dash for cash that caused it.
They followed the example of many of our other industries who sold their companies to foreign investors or hedge funds.
The short termism that has been the cause of our industrial decline.
March 5, 2020
You keep repeating this nonsense Margaret.
The quotas were so bad that many went bust
Some managed to sell out before they went bust as their quotas were uneconomic.
Greedy fishermen…like to see you stand on a harbour wall and tell the locals your opinions.
March 7, 2020
Edward why doesnāt the tv news actually level Margaretās accusations to British Fishermen and let them respond to these frequently aired opinion.
March 6, 2020
I think that Priti Patel versus the mandarin is an example of a deeper problem. There is still stubborn resistance to Brexit throughout what Nigel Farage has called the Deep State. Nothing less than a thorough cleansing of the Augean Stables will cure the problem. I will leave it to the PM, his advisors and parliament to deal with CCHQ, the Conservative candidates list and institutions like the BoE and the BBC.
As I have advocated before, we should reform the House of Lords and the Supreme Court by creating a system of indirect elections. In both cases, appointments committees – about 15 strong – would be elected by universal suffrage (say 11 for England, 2 for Scotland and one each for Wales and Northern Ireland). These committees would appoint peers and supreme court judges. The current peers would be required to resign and 100 Eurosceptic peers could be appointed PDQ were the House of Lords appointments committee to be so minded.
I note with some amusement the body politic’s embarrassment over the judiciary’s Heathrow decision. Of course, it should not be a judicial decision, but the Government has created a rod for its own back by writing the requirement for zero net carbon emissions by 2050 into law. What the Government now has to do is to produce a plan to meet this target, taking into account that increasing population, increased air travel, the roll out of 5G and import substitution of manufactured goods all tend to increase emissions. Then the Government can go back to the courts. I doubt if the Heathrow Airport company will be successful in its appeal to the Supreme Court without Government support. We are still in the transition period of exiting the EU, so presumably the ECJ can still interfere. Ugh!