There is some interest in civil service reform, both by Ministers and senior civil servants. Both can perform better, and both see that there are difficulties over some issues and in some departments. Today I wish to concentrate on how the civil service can respond to public needs and Ministerial decisions. I will do another piece on how Ministers can give good leadership.
The recent covid crisis showed the best and the worst of what is on offer. The existing NHS medical staff and senior management provided a lot of emergency care in difficult circumstances at some risk to themselves whilst medical science caught up with the disease and developed medicines and vaccines to combat the virus. Ministers opted for new leadership outside NHS management to drive the vaccine development and purchases very successfully. The NHS took time to test and bring on stream drug treatments.
The civil service appoints a lot of generalists and then rotates them through a wide range of very different roles, with a few emerging to the top with a general knowledge and experience of quite a lot of government. There is substantial reliance on outside consultants and advisers for technical and professional matters. An individual often has to move onwards and upwards quickly to get salary advances and to show they are the kind of talent that can rise higher. The danger of this system is twofold. Individuals do not gain sufficient expertise or a wide enough range of contacts to do any particular ,job well given the limited time in it. No-one is responsible for much, as projects, policies and services are shaped by a succession of people and go wrong under a range of people. If a person knows they will move on soon it must affect their degree of interest in and disclosure of things that are not working well.
There is a good case to be made for expecting people to stay for longer in posts and to back them with training and support so they become expert in their field. They should be given increments on salary scales for doing a good ,job whilst staying in post, and or promoted within the same area so the expertise is not wasted. The civil service should contain more of the expertise it needs and should reward it.
If we take an area of weakness, large scale procurement, it would make sense for senior people involved to expect to have to stay with the contracts they have designed and signed through a meaningful period of years of fulfilment, with possible bonuses for successful quality and cost outcomes. If it is say a 7 year project why not stay to see it to success? Whilst of course Ministers remain publicly responsible for all that is done, well paid senior civil servants should beneath that public accountability take responsibility for all their considerable delegated powers. They need to be rewarded and praised for using them well, or corrected or disciplined for using them badly as in private business.
The attempt to divide administration of policy from design of policy led to a proliferation of Executive Agencies. Their Chief Executives are civil servants, but they have some Ministerial type powers and duties as they have a public face and can speak for their bodies. Where there is a cross party accepted and largely unchanging task like issuing passports or vehicle licences there is something to be said for this approach. It needs to be sharpened so that again the CEO and senior management is rewarded for success but held accountable for failure. The model starts to break down where policy and execution are much more entwined and the resulting quango is powerful. The NHS and the Environment Agency are differing examples of large bodies with public chief executives where Ministers are held responsible for their actions by the public. In these cases it is essential the Ministers have full access to data and an ability to influence the CEOs as their work is central to the democratic process and is often highly contentious between parties. Not everything should be in external agencies.
May 20, 2022
Good morning.
The problem as I see it is thus. Ministers (MP’s) are transitory whereas, Civil Serpents are enduring. This can be further extended to political parties and policies. Therefore, perhaps we need to look at ways of removing the former of the two so that we have consistent policies designed to benefit the country and not a politicians or political parties electoral fortunes. Ironically, and I am being quite serious, the EU would be one such body that would take away and / or reduce the excesses and damaging behaviour of political parties and politicians. For the record, I am not suggesting we rejoin the EU but, you can see sometimes why the CS much prefers that means of administration over what we have.
Yesterday I watched the, Blackbelt Barrister (BB) on YT. He went through a BEIS report on the monies loaned to companies and self employed persons. Three things struck out. First the sums lost in either due to errors and / or fraud are staggering. Secondly. The fact that those in charge did not seem to care even though they knew fraud was being committed. And finally. The fact that there seems to be no desire to recover the monies either in part or whole. As the BB stated. He works hard for his money and objects to the government wasting such sums and then expecting him to pay to contribute to make up the shortfall, and I for one very much agree.
If there is to be reform, I would like it to start with the HoL and then the HoC and how each and every person is selected. I state this as, if we had better Ministers they would be able to make better decisions and insure that the correct people (CS’s or Advisors) were in place. They would also insure that those carrying out government policies were made fully accountable in line with procedures and practices much carried out in the Private Sector.
We have much chaff to sort from the wheat.
Reply The civil service is “independent” with very limited powers for a Minister to choose or direct civil servants
May 20, 2022
Mark B :
I really donât understand your post.
It was clearly the Civil Servants who allowed the fraud to take place on such a grand scale, who donât care for the losses to the taxpayer, and are even now refusing to recover the money.
The problem is that there are too many âCambridge Fiveâ Civil Servants who either openly and defiantly refuse to carry out the instructions of our elected MPs or do all they can to put the spanner in the works secretively.
We never hear of any Civil Servants being sacked for laziness, negligence, incompetence, malfeasance, corruption, misbehaviour or even treachery.
May 20, 2022
You are only repeating what you have been told and not what you actually know. Example. How is it that an entire countries population be interned in such a short space of time with no resistance from the CS ? To answer my own question, because government decided that this was to be done and the CS obeyed.
There is a thing called the Civil Service code, which I have read and have kept a link. I would imagine that it would form part of their contract of employment and, as a result, should they be found in breach would face sanction. It is the failure of government to implement proper policies that can be legally followed and, to direct the CS or relevant authorities (eg the police) to carry out certain functions on behalf of the government. The fact that things seem not to be going in that direction suggests that the problem, and therefore the much needed reform, lay elsewhere.
Sir John the link is to a government website as is of the Civil Service Code.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-code/the-civil-service-code
May 20, 2022
Mark B,
Let us remind ourselves of that refreshing Donald J Trump who excluded the US from the Paris Agreement scam, made US self sufficient in energy, got control of US southern border, who excused the US from WHO and who sacked anyone who failed him. Who reduced taxes, increased military spending, increased employment and put his country first. No wars under him. When he made a red line for use of chemical weapons by Syria being used and threats from Putin not to strike back with missiles. He did not listen, he was a man of his word and his red line was enforced in Syria.
Look at vile left wing authoritarian anti democratic Trudeau who Prince Charles should not be be meeting after his Marshall law against truck protesters etc.
May 21, 2022
Hope
Former President Trump was NOT a politician. He was a successful businessman. He applied business methods to government which, to those whose only knowledge of the world was government (ie politicians) were alien. That is why he was successful and President Biden isn’t. And that is why I believe that the problem is elsewhere (the political class) and not just the CS.
May 20, 2022
Mark B : âHow is it that an entire countries population be interned in such a short space of time with no resistance from the CS ? To answer my own question, because government decided that this was to be done and the CS obeyed.â
The CS took the Napoleon line :
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
We constantly read of CSs refusing to act as instructed.
May 21, 2022
And when they obstruct, what is done about it ?
If nothing, then whose fault is that ? Not the CS.
Richard
The problem is elsewhere.
May 21, 2022
And you have evidence of this ?
May 20, 2022
And we have also not heard of any of the dozens of civil servants who organised and attended lockdown-breaking parties, and were fined for doing so, losing their jobs either – their union wouldnât allow it of course. I expect some have even been promoted. The press, of course, refer to these malefactors as âthe governmentâ and apportion blame accordingly – as with the NHS politicians get blamed for the failings of civil servants.
May 21, 2022
Quite the reverse. Civil Servants get blamed for the failings of Politicians. The Civil Service make a convenient scapegoat. I suspect they are sick to death of getting a bashing from this Government, who is giving taxpayers money away like water – and getting away with it.
May 21, 2022
Cheshire Girl
You make a valid point. But how is it that the PM can give away vast sums of money ? I the USA the President cannot easily do that, he has to go to Congress who hold the purse strings. Currently, our Parliament should be doing that but, when the PM and the Leader of the Conservative Party are one of the same and MP’s careers depend on him, what chance that ?
This is why I believe the CS loved the EU, because it allowed them to have some level of control over the bloody nutters.
May 20, 2022
“those in charge did not seem to care” who did the BB say were in charge? Was it the Minister giving the instruction to give these loans or is it those in the CS charged with issuing them and setting the terms and conditions? Did the government Minister set the conditions of the loans and the checks or their civil service department staff?
If you run a business and you hire someone and engage a team to loan out money, who are well renumerated and have the right skill set to do the job – is it the person who makes the decision to give the loans or the teams that he pays to do that job? Do they have no responsibility?
May 20, 2022
Lord Agnew resigned because of school boy errors. Sunak did not want an investigation to recoup the money, only reluctantly changing his mind after pressure! Useless Tory chancellor was to blame, he is in charge!
May 21, 2022
Hope
I agree. But I do not think that the Chancellor was the only one. I mean, he has to think of what next door might say.
đ
May 21, 2022
Ok Hope, I read « over 1,000 businesses that were not even trading, received Bounce Back loans, said the minister. Right now, the banks that operated the scheme are deciding how to account for the loans in their full year results. »
The banks were tasked with giving out these loans werenât they? Surely the banks did look that their client applying for it did have money coming in and out of that bank account? Is this loss spread across all the banks evenly or was one particular bank failing to do the diligence with the bounce back loans? If I were the Minister tasked with this thatâs where Iâd start. At the end of the day these were citizens committing fraud could they be named so that people know not to trade with the tricksters.
May 21, 2022
AT,
Again, the chancellor, on behalf of govt is to blame. Whatever arm or means he chooses to make should include due diligence. There are so many quangos and public sector bodies he could and should have used. Did the govt learn anything from Nothern Rock, RBS episodes?
Unless he is totally thick, incompetent or naive it beggars belief he did not put protective measures in place- where money is concerned people will resort to crime. How many bankers prosecuted over the bank crash? Perhaps donations to political parties is a way of getting them to turn a blind eyeđ. How did Fred Goodwin help to recoup the loss of his bank or what consequences did he suffer? At one point a govt advisor!
May 22, 2022
I agree that Sunak made a poor decision if indeed he did allow and underwrote the loans that these banks issued without demanding that these loans to their clients at least checked their bank trading accounts, were there really no checks at all? If it is the banks that lost our money I think we should be told which banks how much each and how much profit did these banks make from them.
May 20, 2022
There were no more than 1200 people employed in the Indian Civil Service at the end of British involvement in 1947. This was to cover a population of 300 millions. There is a lesson here on the required size for a functioning civil service.
However, I would not like to see dissatisfaction with the performance of the current UK civil service to be used as cover for âoutsourcingâ many of their roles to more expensive private enterprises(often the big accountancy firms).
If specialists are required it should be more efficient to hire them and keep them in post in the public sector on an appropriate rate for the job. They would have more long term commitment than many temporary appointments interested primarily in the day rates for their work.
I also think the focus on the civil service is yet another excuse for a government that is failing to deliver.
May 21, 2022
I agree.
Again – “Not me guv’ !”
May 20, 2022
Francis Maud was going to sort out civil service, more recently Dominic Cummings. Excuse after excuse for incompetent Tory party and ministers. They are in charge and can carry out any reform deemed necessary.
The excuses by JR, once again, are part of the pass the blame epidemic in his party and govt. They know what is coming in 2024 as they did following fanatic Major to join ERM. People will not forgive or forget in this short period of time.
May 20, 2022
I share with your concerns; rarely do we see anybody in the political class prepared to work on CS reform. It is clearly long overdue. Politicians are mostly concerned with political achievements to advance their careers and they need, not to say rely on, civil servants to help them. How do you get a department head CS to reduce his budget and headcount? It is counter to his (self)-importance and seniority. Tricky..
May 20, 2022
Senior civil servants seeking extensive advice from a wide range of external specialist expertise need only the ability to make a decision of choice. An advantage is that the external advice can be hired or dropped according to need and value without the restrictions applying to a civil servant employee.
It would be better if the decision taker were more dedicated to the role with personal expertise and loyalty. If leading a Dept is limited solely to choosing which specialistâs recommendation is better, Brenda from Bristol could perform such a role in one day a week.
May 20, 2022
The problem so often is they government and top civil servants get the advice the want to hear from these “experts”. Experts are quite good at working out what these people want to hear and thus how to keep you next consultancy fees flowing!
May 20, 2022
I have spent a lot of time evaluating the advice being given by outside consultancies to BEIS and its quangos about energy policy. It is often of very poor quality, and designed to provide a supporting opinion to decisions that have already been at least half taken with inadequate analysis. In short, they are commissioning reports that tell them what they want to hear, not what they ought to hear.
I have just had an exchange with the Low Carbon Contracts Company on various issues arising from the radical changes resulting from high energy prices on the operation (or not!) of CFD contracts. In their response they said
The policy intent and terms of the CfDs is the responsibility of BEIS. As designated CfD Counterparty our role is to enter into and manage the CfDs awarded.
Or as an American General is supposed to have said to Free French commanders towards the end of WW II “Ce n’est pas dans mon arriĂšre!”
The consequence of this attitude is that retail suppliers and consumers are having to wait to get their money from payments by CFD generators, and there is an increasing risk that they may not get it at all as the sums build up and as the divergence between strike prices and market prices widens and basis risk between market sale contracts and CFD reference pricing increases, while BEIS shows no interest in the need for corrective action. The atmosphere is one where green interests are protected at consumer expense.
May 20, 2022
Civil servants are moved on precisely because they donât do a good job and donât stay long enough to either fix the system or get the blame.
May 20, 2022
One thing for sure the model has broken down. Highest taxes for 70 years and yet appalling, hugely misdirected, slow, incompetent and declining public services everywhere you care to look. Though they are quite good at blocking the roads, mugging motorists, printing money and pushing expensive unreliable energy.
May 20, 2022
+many
âSorreee! ( insert any name you like) is working from home today.
She might be in next Thursday.
(Shocked mumble from inquirer).
No, sheâs the only one with the files on your query.â
And that was well before the plandemic.
May 20, 2022
“plandemic” clever word play or Freudian slip?
May 20, 2022
+1
Not my âclever word playâ unfortunately.
I wish I could claim ownership!
But it is wonderful isnât it? đ€
May 20, 2022
Another is Scamdemic …… which considering the levels of fraud the Government presided over, seems to be very appropriate.
May 20, 2022
A play on words produced in 2020 by Mikki Willis and Judy Mikovits in a little TV series and taken over and repeated by bovidae who think themselves clever âŠ
Welcome to the fun.
Apologies to cows and bulls.
May 20, 2022
I shouldnât let it worry you.
Youâll get your next lockdown soon enough.
Monkey pox is rampant apparently.
( the âkâ is silent)
You forgot the antelopes,bison, buffalo, sheep and goats.
Apologies to any others I may have left out!
May 20, 2022
The present model, Lifelogic, is a failure. We need to get rid of the dross at the top of the NHS. The massive organisation in London is not needed as it is ineffective and wastes most of the money.
The small local organisations were very effective and they knew the local needs without a lot of pen pushers and PART TIME doctors trying to use internet technology which the patients cannot afford to own or know how to use!
Bring back the family doctor.
May 20, 2022
I am all in favour or people nearest to the coal face making the decisions where possible but the funding model needs to be sensible too. Top down we know best government is a disaster as we saw with the extended lockdowns, the use of net harm masks, the enforced net harm for most young vaccinations, net harm (statistics suggest) masks too it seems .
The NHS really needs to charge all who can afford to pay so as to also create fair competition with the private sector. If people pay for hair cuts they can pay for the doctor and might then get to see one that day rather than in two months with a prob. fairly useless phone call.
May 20, 2022
+1 & Surely more efficient and far safer to see the same doctor each time, who knows you, your conditions and the full medical history rather than explain everything afresh to some new doctor each time – in the rather few minutes they give you?
May 20, 2022
LL,
Let us not forget the standing charge scam from this govt. There was no need to double and even treble it when energy prices are so high. Johnson did it to disguise under world price increases. Pure deceit by him and his govt and his party.
JR, please remind us where we can read the protests from your party of MPs not to incease standing charges?
May 20, 2022
In the current situation standing charges should perhaps be zero and the first 100KWH per week ~ 15p per unit. Poor people can use use less electricity but can do nothing about the rip off standing charge poll tax.
May 20, 2022
Lifelogic :
I actually feel safer seeing a different doctor, particularly GPs, each time. This is because I do not rate GPâs abilities for diagnosis and often hear how serious conditions are either missed or misdiagnosed.
I believe this is because GPs refuse to use computers to help with diagnosis by running through a list of possibilities based upon symptoms and patients’ answers and computers can be far more up-to-date with new information than any doctor.
I believe pilots run through a checklist on take-off no matter how often they have flown.
May 20, 2022
LL,
More taxes from Tory party is the answer to every problem. There was a time when JR and colleagues used to condemn/discourage this policy towards public sector and demanded value for money. Not anymore. Carry on wasting there is plenty more to squeeze from the workers strivers and savers!
How about Windfall rebate tax from govt fuel duty and VAT?
It is now absolutely clear there was no need of NIC rise and NHS could have made efficiency savings. If Javid can support the world travellers he should be forced to make do with what he gets minus ten billion at least and provide social health care as councils also charge from when he was in charge of that dept! Cuts to foreign aide should be a priority, cut to support Ukraine not required, HS2 should be stopped. Lots of our taxes being sploshed about world wide including WHO, that Trump had the guts to withdraw from.
May 20, 2022
+1
May 20, 2022
As far as I was aware the NHS was busily planning its ( extremely expensive)digital future and refusing to see or even speak to patients.
Two days ago CITY A.M.reported âIt emerged today that the UK Health Security Agency is paying consultants as much as ÂŁ3,100 per day.
While the number used by the UKHSA has reduced, as of January 31 it was still employing 1,476 management consultants.â
May 20, 2022
Gravy Train
May 20, 2022
+100
Super smooth gold and diamond infused gravy.
May 20, 2022
Some interest? Umpteen billions wasted over the years, appalling levels of service etc.
It should be more than âsomeâ. It should be the highest priority.
Shame on âyouâ that it took a likely battering at the next election to generate action and even then all we have is words.
Top companies live by continuous improvement. Suggest that to the public sector and you are told off for swearing!
And in other news Boris assured us no laws had been broken. 126 fines later demonstrates yet again his loose relationship with the truth.
May 20, 2022
And on it goes! Attacks on the judges, attacks on our Universities, now attacks on our civil servants. And you people have the sheer nerve to call yourselves âConservativesâ
May 20, 2022
@ Mandarin – you do not consider that our judges, universities and civil servants have changed at all in unwelcome ways?
May 20, 2022
No. The civil service is wholly left wing if not worse.
The woke madness overtook it in the late 90s.
May 20, 2022
+1 that madness has now been reclassified as a religionâŠthe same as the climate crusade religion
May 20, 2022
+1
Yes..the commies always destroy the Church first.
They know what they are doing because it leaves a vacuum for them to fill and manipulate.
Give me the Bible any day!
May 20, 2022
They’re not even democrats.
They want to suppress voting access for those whom they think less likely to vote for them, to hobble the Electoral Commission, and to make funding for campaigns even more opaque than it already is.
May 20, 2022
Which translates to…they want to reduce voting fraud, get the Electoral Commission to operate better and to simplify the complex process of recording donations to political parties.
May 20, 2022
If they deserve criticism, they should get it. Or do you think they are beyond it?
May 20, 2022
Very much like government, ministers moving from department to department on a regular basis.
Most of them useless PPE graduates with no STEM experience.
Thus we have rewilding when there’s a global food shortage and ministers that don’t understand the concept that without wind, windmills don’t turn.
Never mind the WEF and UN are happy and it’s only taxpayers money.
May 20, 2022
+1
We will have a food shortage BECAUSE they are rewilding etc.
Remember âThe Great Leap Forwardâ.
Remember the sparrows.
Never mind covidâŠlook at left wing brain fever.
May 20, 2022
Also for wind and solar you need gas and/or coal back up for the no wind/sun periods. This inevitably makes the gas and coal plants run less efficiently and much more expensively. So even if government insist on more wind and solar they will still need more gas back up – so get fracking now Boris, Kwateng… and stop closing coal fired power stations.
Rebecca Pow MP Environment Minister on Choppers Politics podcast. “The reason we are moving on and tackling net zero is that we have made it law and brought it into policy and 2030 is not that far away” then she goes on about mowing your lawns less!
So the reason we are doing something hugely damaging, hugely expensive and totally insane is that we have passed a law to do something really damaging, hugely damaging and totally insane – a great circular argument Rebecca! She even said she takes her hat off to the potty, deluded, hypocrite Prince Charles!
Just 96 months to save world, said the brilliant Prince Charles – back in July 2009!
May 20, 2022
Rebecca Pow MP seems perfectly pleasant however – just rather deluded. But then she goes on to say “when I was in my 20s I was into Friends of the Earth, Green Peace, Anti-Nuclear…” has very much changed in her “thinking” I wonder?
Should she not be in the Green Party or the Libdims? But then it is easier to win a seat as a Tory so we end up with people like her and Theresa May types.
May 20, 2022
Agree.
Sprinting through cornfields etc
Destroying farming even then.
They do say that a certain great power was behind all those movements.
My friends who abandoned their kids and husbands and scooted to Greenham came back sadly changed.
May 20, 2022
I saw a short video of Prince Charles yesterday, stating that unless we change the way things are run in the worldâŠ
I canât remember his exact use of words, but basically, he was agreeing with the great reset idea.
For a member of the Royal family, he should not be saying this sort of thing. In my opinion.
May 20, 2022
Sharon, you are quite correct, he shouldn’t be. He was in Canada representing the Monarch …. who is constitutionally required to stay out of politics.
Yet Trudeau happily announced that he and Prince Charles would be discussing âSustainable finance in combating climate change and building a Net Zero economy.â ie The Great Reset.
May 20, 2022
Sustainable financing=not financing fossil fuels, until the price of fossil fuels triples and then methane is redefined as Green to keep the Regent happy and exploration can continue. Well done Kquasi.
May 20, 2022
Indeed the fool is squandering the advantage of royalty by not keeping out of politics. Plus his views are idiotic anyway.
May 20, 2022
The dozy man must not be crowned when his mother dies. He has soiled the Royals by his loony opinions.
May 20, 2022
Sharon. Radio 2 gone Green today. I had to switch off.
May 20, 2022
He should stick to talking to his plants.
May 20, 2022
Sea_Warrior :
Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace who left accusing it of environmental scare tactics and misinformation, says that the reason that plants do well when spoken to is because they are getting each time a big dose of CO2, which we all know is plant food.
May 20, 2022
Thatâs a big worry
May 20, 2022
Charlie is totally unfit to become King; lacking any knowledge relevant to the green scam and much else.
May 20, 2022
+1 LL
It may come as a shock to Rebecca Pow MP when 2030 comes and goes, to discover ‘we’ have broken the law. Prince Charles prophesies lie in tatters, as do
Those of Al Gore. Anyone remember him?
May 20, 2022
+1
May 20, 2022
Prince Charles is currently out in Canada representing our Constitutional Monarch.
Whilst there, Trudeau has announced that he and Prince Charles will be having discussions on âSustainable finance in combating climate change and building a Net Zero economy.â
These are political issues. Basically, they’re discussing The Great Reset.
May 20, 2022
I have been reading about how green agricultural policy has been a complete disaster in Sri Lanka. Banning fertilisers etc. has resulted in very sharp downturns in crop yields, leading to reduced exports of tea, and shortages of staple foods like rice that are now having to be imported at great expense, giving a cost of living crisis that threatens a famine. There has been rioting and 3,000 deaths, and responsible politicians and elite policy enforcers have been hunted down and attacked. Perhaps that is the only kind of thing that will change policy for the better.
May 20, 2022
Ian. They must have missed out on playschool.
May 20, 2022
Ian Wragg
It’s actually worse than that.
When the wind is too strong they shut down, when the conditions may be right there is a good chance some units will be shut down as the infrastructure is not in place to distribute it to the end users, but they get paid for that. All the time hidden away is the fossil fuel power generators operating on tick over to come on stream the minute the weather changes. Very few politicians understand the process and really don’t care as upto now these islands have not been cursed with large scale blackouts.
May 20, 2022
At Oxford, there is one course especially known for attracting those interested in politics (which cannot be studied on its own), namely the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics PPE, with an intake of 239 students. If all of these graduate, they would make up just under 8% of Oxford undergraduate degree holders. Yet there were some 35 grads serving in the 2010 House of Commons according to this BBC article, more than a third of the Oxford representation in the commons. Thus, the chance of a randomly selected PPE graduate eventually being elected would seem to be some 4 times as great as for a random Oxford graduate, perhaps 1 in 125.
Since an Oxford PPE degree is a magnet for the children of foreign elites, that brings the ratio down to 1 in 108. (HT: https://80000hours.org/)
May 20, 2022
Acorn, thatâs interesting, does this PPE degree have an element of Operational Managerial training, project management or other functioning skills required in a political job? I wonder what % of all the PPE graduates do go into politics as special advisers or top ranking civil servants in London. It would be interesting as well of those 239 students (is this each year?) what sort of background diversity would they have? Is there an even split from each region of the UK including the seven regions in England?
May 20, 2022
See Gerald Gaus, 2021, âPhilosophy, Politics and Economics: An Introductionâ.
You might also want to read âChums: How a tiny cast of Oxford Tories took over the UKâ, Simon Kuper, 2022.
May 21, 2022
Hefner – Oxford and Cambridge are lorded as our most significant universities for the brightest and best in the UK, they have their pick of the most ambitious, driven students each year one would expect a certain level of heads of departments being from Oxbridge.
However, this is a sad misjudgement of all the serious talent around the rest of the UK. We never take the top 5% which is known at the age of 11 from CAT type tests and invest serious money in them all, weâd rather spend a quarter a million per week getting children to schools in taxis when much more efficient ways to do this could be actioned by a serious logistics manager. The parents of these children are often getting mobility allowances what are these for if not to get their children to school the whole thing needs investigating. Round robin school pickups could be used.
May 21, 2022
An already old list, 16/06/2011 âThe Whitehall list: every senior civil servant, what they do and who they work forâ datablog
More recent, gov.uk, 16/02/2022 âNumber of civil servants by postcode, department, responsibility level and leaving cause, 2021â
Even more recent, instituteforgovernment.org.uk, 28/03/2022 âCivil service staff numbersâ
And finally, gov.uk, 13/05/2022 âAll Senior Civil Service jobs to be advertised externally from todayâ.
So update your CV ⊠and good luck âŠ
May 20, 2022
Rewilding is peanuts. We are turning low quality calories which could be used for animal feed into fuel for our cars. Burning food is immoral.
JF
May 20, 2022
+1
May 20, 2022
Reading your proposals, reasonable and appropriate as they seem, reminded me however that every new solution in management organization contains within it the seeds of its own destruction.
Seven years without fresh eyes taking a view is a long time and if bonuses are to be paid for favourable outcomes, initial soft budgeting is a risk. Beyond that, Sir Humphrey-like, I foresee all sorts of unforeseeable problems.
May 20, 2022
The State and its organised, unionised employees are on a political and bureaucratic mission. To create a world in which a private sector underclass is whipped into line and forced by the criminal law to finance a system of government that almost exclaims its parasitic credentials and takes pride in such an achievement. In common,vernacular language it’s termed ‘taking the piss’ because they can.
As an aside. The vicious and vile ‘right wing insurrectionist’ narrative has now become almost government policy in NZ. Those who oppose will be crushed. This is not a world I want to live in
May 20, 2022
+many
Regarding your âasideâ.
I think that has been govt. policy here too for many years.
Isnât it why our politics are in such a totally undemocratic state?
All squeezed to the left of the spectrum.
And look at the dreadful things it has caused yet still the MPs avert their gaze.
May 20, 2022
“I will do another piece on how Ministers can give good leadership.” – my first thought was “I will send that to Boris” then, disappointingly, I reminded myself about casting pearls before swine.
May 20, 2022
+10000
Oh, great comment!
May 20, 2022
My take on influence over CEOs would beâŠ.
Do as you are told or you are out!
If there really had been an old-fashioned, deadly pandemic by former terminology, most of the civil service would have been wiped out.
We all saw the dancing!
As it was, the flu was turned into a political tool for the imposition of communism.
And thanks to Johnson, with whom the buck stopsâŠ.it has worked!
As I type he signs away more of us âŠour bodies this time.
May 20, 2022
I agree with you. It was the first stage in The Great Reset. The next stage is now underway: deliberately-generated inflation to justify a Central Digital Currency/cashless society and a Social Credit System.
May 20, 2022
+1
Agree 100%
May 20, 2022
donât forget hereditary Peerages & MPs for life and patronage for Top Civil Servants under the leadership of the Dear Leader
May 20, 2022
Agree.
May 20, 2022
Sir J, Why not simply privatise Civil Service functions that do not need to be a part of Government? You mention DVLA and the passport office so these would be a good start. Then move on to other areas: Job centres (private sector recruiters exist), Education (private schools exist), Healthcare (private hospitals exist). Generally the private service is significantly better than the public equivalent. Just saying…
It was done (with mixed success) for power production/delivery and rail services. With proper public oversight it could work well in many areas.
May 20, 2022
@ PeteB – and how is “proper public oversight” to be assured though? Outsourcing to Carillion plc (in pursuit of the lowest pricing) did not work out well for one example.
May 20, 2022
F-57, how good is the current oversight of public sector?
May 20, 2022
@ PeteB – understood, the quality of oversight might be improved all round, but how? Meanwhile, outsourcing seems to give rise to more and greater difficulties.
May 20, 2022
In the UK, privatisation means eventual foreign ownership. It’s virtually guaranteed. Even essential services such as rail, water, etc.? This is common in the UK, but other countries are not so stupid. Soon, everything will be foreign owned, including our politicians (if not already).
It is obvious that some politicians will favour their country of origin, or religion, and due to multi-culturalism and integration failing, there are areas of the UK which are no longer recognisable as ‘British’. You only have to look at Biden and his Irish ancestry, and Trump of his Scottish ancestry to see the proof of my words. As these ‘un-British’ areas grow, so will their influence on our politics. I dare say there are many UK politicians that do NOT have the UK, or democracy, as their priority, regardless of faith or origin. People dare not speak of it or debate it, so the country will continue to change. It is irreversible now.
There are no (or very few) limits on what can be foreign owned in the UK and who can represent the country in politics. Other countries are more patriotic and put the safety, security and wellbeing of the country first. The future of the UK looks very bleak indeed, and that was before this demolition derby of a government took control.
May 20, 2022
Foreign ownership is a separate issue which legislation could easily solve.
May 20, 2022
In some countries in the far east foreign businesses can only own 49% shareholding
May 20, 2022
They have done – The are called QUANGO’s
May 20, 2022
I wonât name names but you know there have been a number of high profile outsourcings to certain private sector firms who have made a right dogâs dinner of things.
Take the DVLA. It is a monopoly service. You canât have two organisations issuing driving licences. So you farm it out to the lowest bidder – what incentive do they have to do a good job? There is a massive database to manage and equipment to run. Itâs not as though you can say âhey, you are not meeting performance targets so youâre outâ. Not without a lot of cost and disruption.
What you do want is to appoint a private sector firm to monitor the performance of the DVLA (for example) and report back to a Minister that actually gives a toss and will do something about it.
May 20, 2022
The EU and their backers in the US congress are clearly digging in over Northern Ireland.
The EU will threaten a trade war if they the U.K. government will fold as this is what experience tells them the inconsistent Johnson government will do. The country needs to be prepared for what is to come. Silence from this incompetent government is unacceptable. We need to win this argument on British and international media and not roll over yet again.
May 20, 2022
The NHS needs total reform. It has doctors that refuse to see patients and work part time, it has misdiagnosed and mistreated patients for an imaginary virus causing untold harm, it has injected millions with extremely dangerous and pointless vaccines. Anyone complicit in the scam should be prosecuted and jailed.
The civil service has used the alleged pandemic to do almost nothing productive- not that they ever do.
The Bank of England has set the scene for apocalyptic inflation.
The political class has profited from the lunacy by abuse and increase of power and blatant corruption. Along with that they have wrecked supply chains, caused farmers to reduce production at the worst possible time, provoked, encouraged and sustained a war that is doing untold damage not only to Ukraine but everyone else too.
The entire establishment is guilty of gross incompetence at best and crimes against humanity in reality.
Things are heading to a dark place and I hope they will face justice in the next world if not this one.
May 20, 2022
All true.
May 20, 2022
+many
May 20, 2022
As a former Civil Servant “in the ranks” (ie not Senior Civil Service) I agree with everything Sir John has written here.
I was not a career Civil Servant. Before joining, I had always worked in the private sector and to say I was gobsmacked at the levels of bureaucracy, buck-passing and incompetence which was tolerated by management is an under-statement.
As a former Personnel Exec (in the days before Personnel was corrupted into HR) I was particularly interested in the recruitment, line management, performance review and promotion policies. All are defective. All lead to “square pegs in round holes,” poor performing managers and bad decisions. As a former Team Leader in a role which REQUIRED a degree of legal knowledge and expertise in the policy area, I had no training whatsoever before being parachuted in …. and no-one to consult. I did it because, ultimately, whilst I was responsible for delivering the service, I wasn’t accountable. And that applies throughout the Civil Service. For two years I continually highlighted the risks to my line management and made proposals which I believed would strengthen the processes and they ignored me: it was made quite clear that I was a nuisance.
I eventually took early retirement because I couldn’t stand the chaos any longer or the stress I was suffering.
May 20, 2022
I had a similar experience for a couple of years in a university â the last thing the lecturers, senior lecturers and professors wanted was to do any teachingâŠevery day was about maximising private work, writing obligatory (irrelevant) âpapersâ and salary
May 20, 2022
People that work at the local council are not ‘civil servants’ yet they serve the public. They do could improve with some quick and easy fixes. Just one example:
The road verge grass cutters get permission to close two lanes of a busy A road on either side of the verge, they spend all day with powerful trimmers but leave an awful mess behind both with big cuttings that could go for composting and rubbish which then blows all over the road. Why don’t the workers that agree to close the lanes and book the grass cutters in at the same time book in a team of community service people to do the litter pick up and rake the compostable material? One other point there are low growing, low maintenance grasses that could be used near roundabout junctions so they don’t grow too high in between cuts or low height heathers, so the community service workers could dig out the meadow grass and replace it with heathers or low growing grasses or herbs.
May 20, 2022
I am unsure as to whether one can compare the two, however we need generalisation prior to specialisation .Take the case of our midwives who many years ago had to qualify in nursing ,then be eligible for a midwifery certificate. We find that the new midwives cannot handle the problems outside of their basic remit.Many ladies have concomitant problems of a medical nature which used to be handled by the qualified Nurse /midwife ,such as thyroid disorders or Diabetes Mellitus.These now need to be sent to another tier and a lack of understanding by the midwives I come into contact with is apparent.It is not their fault .It is the system trying to enforce a specialisation without the basics.
May 20, 2022
Margaret, how would the experienced midwife know there was a thyroid disorder or Diabetes Mellitus? Couldnât this be added to the current midwife training or retraining? What % of ladies have these issues. It is quite scary that they arenât being looked for now.
May 20, 2022
These problems are usually diagnosed prior to pregnancy although gestational diabetes is usually picked up.The problems with DM is through delivery when specialised care is required.Thyroid problems require adjustment of medication throughout pregnancy to avoid endocrine disorders to the foetus.These ,though are just a couple of common maternal problems.There are so many medical issues yet the midwife supposedly takes all the care.
May 20, 2022
What do we call an experienced midwife though? Some one who has done the two years training and stays in the same area for a long time?
May 21, 2022
I want it understood that the Midwives are capable and caring within their remit.
Post natal care is taken by the GP.
Perineal break down is taken over by the GP.
CSection infections are taken over by the GP.
Inter pregnancy immunisations are taken over by the GP.
Routine blood withdrawal which the midwives cannot take goes to the GP.
Urine infections and infections of any other during pregnancy goes to the GP.
Simple candida infections go to the GP
Acid reflux and other abdominal discomfort goes to the GP.
I could continue but am on holiday in Mallorca.
The Midwife is sold as an autonomous profession.
May 21, 2022
I would have thought thyroid problems are picked up in the blood tests and urine samples done at the hospital same with diabetes. If there is a known problem with new midwives not looking for other symptoms of either specific problem surely that is a simple training situation to resolve it.
Iâd say an experienced midwife would be one who would be working up the grades, they would be one doing continuous training and extra qualifications during their first placement, maybe one day per week in a training facility on each new piece of a Masters module to be able to move up to the next grade and thus able to deal with the patient with extra requirements revealed from their blood results. I lost a baby at 20 weeks gestation 29 year ago, the thought this could have been through an undiagnosed underactive thyroid problem troubles me, I was never told why.
May 21, 2022
Yes Tracy you give examples ,as I stated, which are usually picked up prior to pregnancy, A patient would come to see us with a collection of symptoms , we would take the appropriate tests, and get a diagnosis. The trouble comes when this autonomous profession can’t proceed with the knowledge given, but as I said there are so many other problems todays midwives are not trained for. In the last couple of years I have had the benefit of an experienced retired Midwife working in another capacity in General Practice and I gained a lot of insight into the repetitive but narrow field of knowledge which she herself admitted. Of course the older midwives who have been registered as Nurses , teachers, academics and midwives well …personally I would call experienced , however direct entry without previous experience cannot in my opinion be sufficient , but who am I ? I am of course sorry for the loss you suffered and neonates who lost their lives more recently in one particular hospital.
May 20, 2022
The master plan must first be to reduce the size of government administration. The CS cannot be trusted to improve itself.
There is nothing new in the following but;
In the first two years –
Every department must be told to freeze recruitment.
Every department must have its budget frozen.
No new departments created.
After that in future years and with inflation increases down budget cuts should be imposed. Start with 1%.
These will bring about CS internal changes and improve efficiencies.
We need actions, not discussions.
Additionally government must start and grow a fund – a sovereign fund – to be retained untouched as long as the country has debt.
When I worked I ran budgets. I didn’t decide which projects were undertaken but how much could be had. I’ve heard all the excuses from those who said they needed to be treated as special cases. I knew the work they did so could dedect flanneling.
I had money set aside for emergencies and the unexpected but I controlled that too.
Elected ministers and the PM must stand up and defend policy with determination and conviction. Holding on would gain respect. No-one likes endless weakness and compromise to satisfy everyone.
May 20, 2022
Prangwizard, but some departments do pay for themselves donât they? Like the passport office, probation processing, driving licences all are services that are charged extra for. They are essential services with only one choice of provider, perhaps that is the problem. If they cut staff then the delays would be horrendous. Put perhaps different offices around the UK could compete with each other and if they have spare slots have cases that have taken over 3 months moved to them with the financial resources.
May 20, 2022
Kate Binghamâs âRomanes Lecture : Lessons from the Vaccine Task Forceâ available on YT gives her views as to why the Civil Service is failing. Start at 28 minutes.
Kate Bingham begins by saying there is a lack of scientific, industrial, commercial and manufacturing skills both amongst Civil Servants and politicians. The Civil Service fast track recruitment last year only included just 20 people with STEM subject qualifications.
The Civil Service is full of employees with arts, history and classics degrees, as is the Cabinet and Parliament.
No wonder Parliament voted to net zero our 1% contribution of global man-made CO2 emissions by 2050 and BEIS have developed the unworkable and hence economy destroying Net Zero Strategy resulting in our becoming eventually dependent upon coal-burning China.
May 20, 2022
Given the sort of salary any half-decent STEM graduate can command in the private sector, that’s not a surprise.
May 20, 2022
Then perhaps Peter they should try offering the same package as the private sector with less holidays, not full paid sick pay for years on end, the same sort of defined contribution pension that the private sector gives, less flexible working, more hours, more targets, more scrutiny. I know lots of stem graduates those that go for the big salaries are doing a lot longer hours, more stressful roles they rarely clock off at 5pm. Now there is nothing wrong with the public sector package but lets compare like for like.
May 20, 2022
Indeed Richard.
May 21, 2022
Cheers mate.
+1
May 20, 2022
I agree that there needs to be structural reform.
However, they need to answer phones, deal with correspondence etc.
I short, they need to knuckle down
May 20, 2022
Kenneth, shouldnât we expect the Minister in charge of each section to look at bottlenecks, which offices around the UK are having problems and why? Where are the backlogs, how long are they, why are they there, how are they resourced a fixed fee no matter their productivity. This is why we pay Ministers, spads, senior civil servants, everyone seems to just pass the buck and itâs all Borisâ fault.
Well what is Boris fault is that he is being told there are problems in certain sections and he isnât tasking his ministerial departments to get to the bottom of it and fix them. Empty threats and wide brush verbal complaints without targeting them at the correct people are just bull and bluster and not very efficient. Everyone in charge thinks its someone elseâs problem not theirs. They need to get that sorted or take out the Ministers whose departments are failing and put an MP with more managerial experience in.
May 20, 2022
The major disadvantage of the UK system of government is that Ministers are chosen from the legislature. Such systems suffer from multiple “reshuffles” of Ministers, in the UK, a Minister’s tenure has averaged less than two years in the last few decades. If they survive four reshuffles they are doing well. Even better if they can keep hold of their Permanent Secretaries, who hopefully, but most unlikely; have been in the department for a few years at least and know it inside out.
Where the Executive and the Legislature are separate, Ministers are appointed from outside the Legislature. Usually on the basis of their private sector qualifications and experience in both academia or industry; to oversee a specific department or policy area. In the UK, a new or reshuffled Minister is unlikely to have any of these attributes and won’t stay in the job long enough to get any. Hence, any government policy that is well designed and implemented and actually achieves half of what was intended, happens more by luck than judgement.
May 20, 2022
@ acorn – spare us from the technical apparatchiks whose hegemony is assured by being immune from pressures from the legislators who in turn owe their place to the people’s vote.
Jim Hacker told us “ministers are appointed precisely because they know nothing”: they are not there to be technical experts (and as Jim was told by Sir Humphrey, it was he and not Jim who ran the department) but rather to see to it that the Government machine is acutely responsive to the people’s views. Granted, present ministers might not do that very well, typically.
May 20, 2022
Between the NHS being run by Simon Stevens and the new head, a woman who was in the management previously, the number of managers has doubled over her years. Perhaps the diversity and net zero challenges have allowed this staggering increase. Has anyone thought of sacking anyone, or is that not done?
May 20, 2022
Off topic
Now that it seems likely that Ukraine will be defeated what will become of the millions of ÂŁs worth of munitions and equipment that weâve given them not to mention the millions of ÂŁs?
It seems that Bunter was extremely profligate with OUR money which would have been much better spent on easing the cost of living crisis caused by the Consocialists
Mind you his largesse did result in 2nd in the Eurovision song content đđ
May 20, 2022
With particular reference to the Home Office and its civil servants.
From an email sent by Migration Watch today.
âThe verdict is in. The Governmentâs promise to âtake back controlâ and reduce mass immigration has not only failed, it it has been seen for the con it was from the outset.â
And we knowâŠWITHOUT DOUBTâŠthat âno bordersâ was always the Leftâs plan to destroy the U.K.
May 20, 2022
+1
May 20, 2022
Off topic, I’ve sent the following email to Nancy Pelosi. Of course this is not really something that I should be doing, as a mere citizen of another country, but apparently we employ no diplomats in the US to explain these complex matters and once again the Foreign Office here just can’t be bothered.
“Dear Madam Speaker
I am writing from England to express concern that you may have been misinformed about the UK government’s plans with respect to the Northern Ireland protocol:
https://www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2022/0519/1300073-ni-protocol-pelosi/
“It is deeply concerning that the United Kingdom is now seeking to unilaterally discard the Northern Ireland Protocol.”
As I understand the UK government plan is not to “discard” the protocol but merely “disapply” certain provisions which are creating serious obstacles to the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland., both parts of the United Kingdom. I would politely suggest that your government would not tolerate similar constraints on the movement of goods between two of your states, two parts of the same United States. I also note that the EU is adamantly refusing to agree to any amendment of the text of the protocol, whether to resolve that problem or any other difficulty.
Moreover the UK government has made it clear that it also intends to introduce new UK laws to provide an alternative method of protecting the EU Single Market by preventing any goods which the EU would regard as unacceptable being taken across the border into the Irish Republic. As pointed out in this recent letter:
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/ni-protocol-and-the-dup-1.4879967
it is not necessary for illicit goods to be intercepted at Belfast docks, as any necessary checks and controls could be satisfactorily performed further inland but still well away from the land border. The UK government has repeatedly expressed its determination that the land border should remain as open as when the UK was a member state of the EU, in complete agreement with the Irish government.
I would also point out that a former Director-General of the EU Commission and two professors of law proposed a sensible solution in August 2019:
https://verfassungsblog.de/an-offer-the-eu-and-uk-cannot-refuse/
“An Offer the EU and UK Cannot Refuse”
but unfortunately the EU did flatly refuse it.
If you wished to learn more about their well-developed solution to the problem of the Irish land border, one of the authors was Professor Weiler at NYU School of Law and Senior Fellow at the Harvard Centre for European Studies:
https://verfassungsblog.de/author/joseph-h-h-weiler/
Sincerely, and with best wishes.
Dr D R Cooper”
I also see that Leo Varadkar has been given a platform in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/20/boris-johnson-and-i-agreed-northern-ireland-what-happened-leo-varadkar-eu-uk-protocol
“Boris Johnson and I agreed on Northern Ireland. What happened to that good faith?”
One answer could be that although Boris Johnson had spent years as a journalist exposing the follies of the EU he forgot all about that and naively assumed that the EU would be sensible in the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol. Another answer could be that he didn’t care provided he could get away with it and go on television to announce his fantastic trade deal, apparently worth about 30% of GDP.
May 20, 2022
Hello Sir John,
As a long term & regular reader, I think you are talking about a government & Civil Service which is completely dysfunctional. The mere fact that the PM cannot get CS back into the office is unbelievable. Rather than 90,000 civil servants to go, if it happens, it should be 50%, which is around 200,000 people. That is a massive saving that could be used for tax cuts. Then let’s have this much promised bonfire of Quangos, the cost of which has doubled in the years since 2010. Another out of control area which no one is focused on. It seems the private sector is being constantly drained to support the public sector which just keeps growing & will eventually bankrupt the UK.
May 20, 2022
+1
May 20, 2022
I see it being reported today that, after Jacob Rees-Mogg’s edict, civil servants at the Department for Education are having to work in corridors and canteens as the number of desks is only about half the number of staff.
May 20, 2022
Well buy some more desks then.
How difficult is that for civil servants on six figure salaries to do.
May 20, 2022
And put them where exactly given that the root cause of the problem is having twice as many staff as they actually have office space for?
That would require lots of additional, expensive office space which we, as taxpayers, would have to pay for just because certain government ministers can’t get out of 19th century mindsets.
May 20, 2022
They fitted in pre Covid
Why the sudden difference?
May 20, 2022
Civil servants need to understand thatâs itâs the policy of net-zero driving the cost of fuel up
Petrol (e10) up 2p today at my local station ÂŁ1.79pâŠthatâs 7p since Saturday
Has the governments change from (e5) petrol to (e10) petrol made any difference…is anybody in government monitoring the results
Borisâs father is now a French citizen like his grandmotherâŠjust saying !
May 20, 2022
O/T
If as being reported it is a charity taking the Government to court to challenge the removal of the dingy invaders.
As either way the dice fall will be taxpayers one way or another who will pick up the tab. Being a registered charity has numerous perks and income tax liability is the biggest.
Any charity openly wishing to go against the Government for actions that were voted in to do should lose all it Government supported subscriptions and be removed from the register forthwith.
May 20, 2022
+ lots.
May 20, 2022
Thank you,Sir John, for these measured words of wisdom. Is there any chance of this happening?
I read that there are more than 700 personnel managers at the Cabinet Office. Hard to believe. Unless they merely duplicate and second-guess people at Departments, these must be the people employed on moving the civil servants round the Whitehall chess board. Donna’s comment is a measure of the value of this labour-intensive work.
May 21, 2022
I think this is the problem – Number 10 has duplicated much of what Whitehall does. This is I think down to, Blair and his style of government which has not been reformed.
May 20, 2022
This is all to do with the down grading of the expert and rise of the manager as the preferred skill in modern day business society. Therefore we should not be surprised that nothing gets done or is a costly mistake. UK culture has never really recognised the importance of engineering and production. I use the term engineering in a general sense of producing something that works in the real world.
May 20, 2022
As an Engineer I have to agree.
May 20, 2022
There is a report in the Scarborough News about a mass protest of fisherman at the sudden die off of crabs and lobsters in their inshore fisheries. Defra have ruled out it having been caused by chemicals but speculate that it might be caused by an algal bloom. Obviously, if one is an Arts graduate who knows precisely nothing whatsoever about marine biology and one is also WFH, one is going out on a limb to rule out chemicals or other man made pollution. However the fishermen are not happy as their livelihoods are being destroyed and the civil servants who are being paid to be responsible for the marine environment are sitting at home and guessing instead of getting out and urgently determining the cause of the problem.
https://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/news/environment/whitby-and-scarborough-fishermen-join-protest-at-river-tees-as-they-fear-final-and-fatal-blow-to-fishing-industry-3700374
May 20, 2022
“There is a good case to be made for expecting people to stay for longer in posts and to back them with training and support so they become expert in their field.”
Indeed there is. I would also suggest that some depth of experience in the world outside of the Civil Service would be of great value.
May 21, 2022
Sack the lot of them and start afresh. Oh sorry I forgot, cannot sack anybody these days.