A reset squandered: the civil service in Labour’s first year

At the start of his first week in office, Keir Starmer recorded a personal film for the civil service. “From the get go”, he said, “I want you to know that you have my confidence, my support and, importantly, my respect”. At the same time incoming secretaries of state held energised town hall meetings where they repeated Starmer’s message. Relationships between ministers and civil servants were being reset, underwritten by good will on both sides.

A year later it is more common to hear about mutual frustration, the slow pace of change and lack of policy creativity. Starmer’s words about too many in Whitehall being “comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline” left wounds, and just recently new communications guidance banning public servants from engaging in public shows the lack of trust. On the civil service side, efforts to reform have been slow, and genuine hope for new ways of working have ebbed as old assumptions about how to do government have reasserted themselves. 

If anything, the strength of enthusiasm for change has made this year’s faltering efforts more disappointing to those inside government. Were both sides previously sceptical, cynicism and apathy might now abound. But hope for a new way of working is souring into frustration. 

The first anniversary can be another reset moment

There are reasons to think it could be the right time for a new reset. The spending review has passed and so for the first time departments know the size of their budget allocations and have a better chance to work out how to pursue their priorities for the rest of the parliament. 

We are also in the middle of a major reshuffle of permanent secretaries. Around half of core departments will have changed their leadership by the end of the year, which is an opportunity for secretaries of state to shape their top civil service teams with renewed energy for the tasks ahead. 

Ministers and civil servants can reflect on what worked over the first year, and what needs to change. Part of that can be about what creates trust and confidence between the two tribes. Clarity of roles, high quality advice and effective execution are important. But so too is mutual understanding – with ministers clear about their objectives and officials showing that they can fully align their work with the government’s priorities.

Part of it too should be about whether organisational structures are working as they should. No.10 and the Cabinet Office still need to change to better set direction. And bold words about doing government differently around missions have not translated into the spending review or penetrated the heart of government.

The civil service needs to step up its performance while managing budget cuts

The signal for a reset should come from ministers, but the civil service then needs to respond. Ministers have made a series of positive announcements over the last six months, from a commitment to more interchange, encouragement to “test and learn”, and doubling down on nationwide campuses themed around the government’s missions.

That needs to come together into a comprehensive story about how the civil service is changing. And as cuts to administrative budgets hit, the civil service leadership must prioritise rewarding high achievement and rooting out poor performance.

That will need central leadership. Departments are already pursuing voluntary redundancy schemes and making cuts – but with little sense of overall co-ordination. Without strong management different parts of the civil service will cannibalise each other, let the wrong people go, and make cuts in a chaotic way. The civil service should also explore compulsory rather than voluntary redundancy schemes, which will better target the functions that should be scrapped and staff who should leave.

Getting things done needs ministers and civil servants to be fully aligned

Expect to hear a lot over the next year about the Labour government moving into ‘delivery mode’. Ministers know that they need to show tangible improvements in public services and the performance of the state before the next election.

This requires the civil service to be in delivery mode too. Achieving the objectives set out in the spending review requires some big bets on technology to pay off. Investment in public services will need to be exceptionally well managed if it is to be directed to the right places. And an unstable world will test the foreign and security apparatus in unexpected ways.

The first year of this government has been a story of a reset squandered. The challenges will only get harder. To meet them the country needs ministers and civil servants working together and aligned around clear and widely understood policy plans. 

Traditionally first anniversaries are marked with a gift of paper. That is metaphor enough to make it a time for the bureaucrats and their political masters to reconcile and get on with the changes the government wants to achieve.