Mergers and Demergers of Whitehall Departments

The Institute is investigating mergers and demergers of Whitehall Departments from 1979 to 2009 in order to:

  • Document the life cycle of department machinery of government changes and the ways in which the organisational change is handled;
  • Identify the main issues affecting department reconfigurations and how they could be addressed;
  • Improve the ways department changes are managed to help ensure more successful transitions.

Background

Mergers and demergers of government departments are a constant feature of public administration in Westminster-style systems. Prime Ministers reconfigure the machinery of government in order to signal priorities, organise the executive, respond to administrative challenges and build capability for policy visions for their time in office. The changes, however, can be quite disruptive and there is increasing interest in how best this important Prime Ministerial tool should be used.

 This project follows the Institute for Government's February 2009 seminar on machinery of government change and has two aims. First, to better codify Whitehall experience with Machinery of Government changes and second, to develop a clearer view of when and how MoG changes are likely to be most effective in achieving their aims. The project will look at changes in structure and functions in central Whitehall departments since 1979 until present to provide a historical comparative overview of the most recent MoG changes.

Method

  • We conducted interviews with senior civil servants, members of transitions teams and other experts involved in department mergers and demergers from 1979 to 2009 to identify the key driving factors for change, map the process of change and understand the challenges and opportunities department reconfigurations present;
  • We researched department changes in Australia and Canada to contextualise the UK experience and identify lessons for the UK where relevant;
  • We are conducting interviews with senior officials in the UK level to share our evidence base and shape our conclusions and recommendations;

Outcomes

The outputs of this project include a final report, containing our main findings and recommendations, and a set of targeted briefings for particular bodies such as the civil service, Parliament, and the political parties. The report will be published in May 2010.

Research Team

The project is led by Professor Patrick Dunleavy and Anne White of the LSE Public Policy Group (anne.white@instituteforgovernment.org.uk), supported by Senior Fellow Sir Ian Magee of the of the Institute for Government.