16 November 2007
Permanent secretaries at some Whitehall departments have been accused of not taking their capability assessments seriously enough.
The first independent evaluation of the Cabinet Office's Departmental Capability Review programme, published by the National School of Government on November 9, found 'considerable variation in the extent to which the challenges from DCRs have been taken to heart by departments'.
DCRs were set up by Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell in 2005 as part of former prime minister Tony Blair's plan to improve public services. The reviews, which are undertaken by the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, are similar to the Comprehensive Performance Assessments for local government, but assess departments' future capabilities to deliver services.
The study, by the NSG's Sunningdale Institute, is broadly supportive of the reviews, which have been more robust than many experts anticipated. It found that no department had dismissed its DCR entirely and that the reviews had 'proved fit for purpose of launching a reform process'.
But it had serious concerns that some departments were not following up recommendations. 'Of the 15 departments reviewed to date, only one or two have fully bought into the process, most have bought into it selectively and/or variably, [and] two or three are going through the motions,' it said.
According to the study, several factors accounted for variations in departmental buy-in: whether the permanent secretary was new; whether departments already had a reform programme in place; the competence and confidence of managers; ministerial support; and whether departments were affected by crises during the reporting period.
'Although we see some evidence of all of these, the overwhelming factor in practice appears to be the leadership style of the permanent secretary,' the study claimed. It called for 'sophisticated leadership, able to withstand the discomfort and unfamiliarity' of scrutiny.
Sunningdale Institute director Professor Sue Richards said that the civil service faced 'a big challenge' in delivering DCR recommendations. She warned that the project should not 'tail off'.
A spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office told Public Finance: 'We welcome this report and will be considering its findings.'
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