The government adopts IfG plans for civil service reform

Amongst all the political turbulence of this week, the King’s Speech contained an announcement with the potential to have long lasting positive consequences for the way government works in the UK.  

The monarch said that the government:

“will bring forward proposals that strengthen the delivery, accountability, innovation and productivity of the civil service. These proposals will also seek to safeguard its impartiality and core values, to enhance trust and confidence in the institutions of government.”

Senior Whitehall figures are talking about this as a ‘Northcote-Trevelyan moment’, referring to the 19th century report that founded the civil service in its current form, enshrining merit-based appointments and impartiality. Including such a commitment in the King’s Speech also suggests that the government is seriously – and rightly – thinking about legislating to address these issues. We can expect progress over the course of this year – ideally a rapid white paper followed by legislation. Unlike after the Northcote-Trevelyan report, the government cannot afford to wait for years to make change happen.

It is time for a new Civil Service Act

Repeatedly over the last five years, the IfG has called for a new statute for the civil service. We set out how important this reform was in our Commission on the Centre of Government, and published draft legislation last year. Now is the time to enact such a statute to address the haziness that inhibits accountability and blurs responsibility at the top of government – clearly setting out who runs the civil service, and the standards to which ministers, Parliament and the public should hold them.  

In the absence of such clarity we have seen how confusion created by ill-defined accountabilities can lead to a blame game between politicians and civil servants over issues ranging from the appointment of Peter Mandelson, to whether quangos are blocking growth, to who is responsible for delays to the government’s agenda. Politicians blame civil servants for the problems of UK government and vice versa, ultimately to the detriment of the public. Clarity about the role and functions of the civil service will improve the relationship between ministers and officials, as well as making the government more effective.  

Legislation would also be an opportunity for cabinet secretary Antonia Romeo, who has been personally driving this agenda, to expand the civil service code and its values to include ‘curiosity’, which she has rightly been pushing in her first months in the job. Civil servants need to move away from the passivity which has characterised too much of their engagement with the government’s agenda and to have the confidence to lean in to delivering policies and solving problems on behalf of ministers.

Setting out who runs the civil service is essential  

The opportunity here is to both sharpen the way in which the civil service is held to account for performing well, and to strengthen its underpinning qualities of professional and honest advice and administration. That can best be entrenched through legislation.  

The government should set out in statute the role of the cabinet secretary, who they report to, their authority over their colleagues and what the mechanism is for their dismissal. Legislation must also identify those functions that are properly carried out by the civil service – like setting standards for finance, maintaining capability for resilience and crisis response, and properly managing and delivering complex projects. A bill can also then set out how ministers – and the prime minister – can hold their officials to account for successfully carrying these out.

This is the moment to act on civil service reform

Whether we see a change of prime minister or not, the leadership of Romeo makes this the best opportunity for years to move the dial on the effectiveness of the civil service. Legislation – for too long resisted by civil servants and ministers who see the benefits of ambiguity in their responsibilities, but fail to recognise the problems it causes – can help resolve the long-term structural problems with this aspect of UK government.  

Alongside that, Romeo and her colleagues must look at the size, shape, skills and performance management capabilities of the civil service, and take action to address how technology and AI will change how government works.

Taken together that adds up to an exciting and important moment to improve how government works in the UK. The prime minister (whoever he or she is) and cabinet secretary need to get on with it if they are to create the ‘Northcote-Trevelyan moment’ they want to achieve.