Civil Service World: Institute for Government influencing Conservative Whitehall Efficiency Proposals

Civil Service World has reported that Conservative Whitehall efficiency reform proposals have been influenced by the Institute for Government.

In an interview, Conservative Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude indicated his party's current thinking on the degree of central control over civil service functions.

Maude said, "...there are some things that need to be tightly controlled from the centre, and currently aren’t very tightly controlled, while the delivery of frontline services needs to be pushed out."

"You need to have some pretty tight control, but very defined on a few things – which might include the delivery of shared services – and then responsibility pushed as close to the front line as close as you can possibly get."

Civil Service World stated the Conservatives' approach was thanks partly to the "...the Institute for Government, which advocates greater central control over some functions such as IT and HR."

Earlier this year, the Institute published Shaping Up: A Whitehall for the Future, a report on improving Whitehall efficiency, which recommended:

• reforming the Cabinet Office to help join up at the centre to provide leadership
• stronger boards for Departments, with greater focus on financial and performance management
• other measures to help facilitate joined up Government, including progress on shared services.

Download Shaping Up: A Whitehall for the Future (PDF, 3.1MB)