There are frequent - and often justified - calls for the UK Civil Service to be 'reformed'. This part of this website considers all aspects of this issue and includes a very detailed history of the subject.
Where to start?
I recommend that you begin by reading this general introduction to the subject.
You might then like to focus on the detail - below - and/or read How to Reform the Civil Service.
The Problem
Reflecting on the various government failures during the Covid pandemic, Professor Patrick Diamond identified three fundamental problems:
Firstly, the UK is a highly centralised state, but paradoxically the centre of government lacks capacity.
Secondly, the ‘public service bargain’ underlying ministerial/civil service relations was being altered, undermining policymaking capacity in the core executive.
The third problem is the growth of territorial conflict with Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Consequently, there was a failure to co-ordinate governments across the UK when the pandemic struck.
Professor Diamond's first and third problems fall outside the scope of this web site. But his second problem hints at the deteriorating relationship between ministers and officials which has led to the clear decline in the performance of the civil service over recent decades.
The IfG's Jill Rutter & Alex Thomas reach a similar conclusion. Government is complicated and messy so the civil service needs decent political leadership. And 'civil service reform' can’t make up for recent deficiencies in that leadership. The civil service would ideally challenge Ministers rather more, but cannot do so when, as so often, it is under attack from them.
Against this background, these four web pages explore in more detail the reasons why the modern civil service might find it difficult to perform as well as we (or it) would wish:
- Society has Changed
- Whose Fault Is It?
- Is it mainly the fault of Civil Service Weaknesses?
- Permanent Secretaries' Objectives certainly don't help
Blunders, Failures and Disasters
I have also prepared some summaries of and/or extracts from certain formal inquiry reports, focussing on the areas where civil servants were criticised:
- The 2003 Decision to Invade Iraq
- The 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire
- The 2021 Evacuation of Kabul
- The Infected Blood Scandal
- HS2
Solutions?
These pages summarise the solutions that have been tried in the past - sometimes successfully, sometimes not.
Looking forward, you might like to read about Possible Future Developments and How to Reform the Civil Service.
Last, and certainly not least, I have compiled a ...
Detailed History
This now amounts to around 30 web pages.
- Here is a Timeline & Index including ...
- The Latest Developments
Martin Stanley