The Home Office’s permanent secretary uses an inappropriate metaphor when she compares localism to a toddler learning to ride a bike
Dame Helen Ghosh DCB is, I’m sure, a very fine civil servant in may ways, but sensitive to other perspectives she’s clearly not.
Speaking at the recent National Audit Office conference on performance, the Home Office’s permanent secretary explained how the department was attempting to devolve more powers to police forces. In doing so, she came up with an interesting insight into how Whitehall sees ‘localism’.
Ghosh was trying to describe the need to ‘let go’ and came up with the following metaphor, borrowed she said from a Downing Street special adviser: ‘It’s like when you’re teaching your child to ride a bike. You take off the stabilisers and at some point you have to let go of the bike and let them ride off. You know they may fall off and bloody their knees, but you just have to do it.’ (I’m not sure that’s the exact quote, but it’s the gist of what she said).
Unfortunately, Ghosh had left before I got to speak. When I did, I pointed out that she had chosen a somewhat unfortunate metaphor as an explanation of how Whitehall was ‘letting go’. I can’t imagine many chief constables being delighted at comparisons to a toddler learning to ride a bike.
To be fair to her, Ghosh was quoting a Downing Street adviser. But, in a way, that makes it worse, because it suggests this view may be widespread in Whitehall. If so, there is clearly a very long way to go before Whitehall undergoes a ‘localism’ cultural revolution, if it ever does.
This post first appeared on Whitehall Watch
