16 February 2007
Senior civil servants this week claimed they were not consulted over the Home Office's new 'compact' outlining staff and ministerial duties.
Whitehall managers, including some at Marsham Street, have approached Home Secretary John Reid and his permanent secretary, Sir David Normington, demanding clarifications on the new contract.
Some told Public Finance that Reid and the Home Office board imposed the new deal, which emerged following a recommendation in the department's critical capability review last year. The imposition, they argued, could undermine the compact's purpose: to clarify responsibilities for management, policy and resource decisions.
One source explained that Reid's propensity to 'follow the headlines' when attempting to patch up the department meant that resource decisions, for example, were still exposed to ministerial whims.
Reid has launched a series of policy initiatives and staff culls at the department following regular revelations about poor performance.
A spokeswoman for the FDA union, which represents senior staff, said: 'We were not consulted on the compact and we will be approaching the department with a number of questions. The interface between ministers and civil servants is inherently complex, and… we should not expect civil servants to take personal responsibility for matters over which they have no control.'
However, a Home Office spokesman insisted that 'all directors were invited to assist in drawing up the compact and a number took up the offer'.
Guy Lodge, senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said that while the Home Office may experience teething problems with the compact, it was 'a firm step in the right direction' and could eventually be used across all departments.
PFfeb2007
