05 January 2007
Hardworking and 'heroic' civil servants are being let down by a Whitehall culture that rewards failure and ignores successful individuals, a report by a leading think-tank has claimed.
Following a series of damning reports on central government departments' ability to deliver effective public services, the Institute for Public Policy Research has claimed that civil service structures must be overhauled so that they reward innovation and a focus on excellence.
The IPPR has compiled its own 'league table' of Whitehall departments assessed under the Cabinet Office's fledgling Departmental Capability Review system.
It concludes that five of the seven organisations reviewed require 'urgent', 'serious' or, at best, 'development' action to improve because they do not have the capacity to deliver their services adequately.
The departments include the Home Office, the Cabinet Office, Communities and Local Government, Education & Skills, Work & Pensions and Constitutional Affairs.
DCRs undertaken at the departments since last summer have exposed problems with the Child Support Agency, Jobcentre Plus benefit offices and magistrates courts, for example.
But the think-tank blames the structure and culture of Whitehall for the problems.
Ian Kearns, IPPR deputy director, said: 'Strong public services depend on high-quality civil servants in high-performing departments. There are plenty of hard-working, even heroic civil servants, but what we need now is systematic reform.
'At the moment failure goes unpunished and success unrewarded. The civil service will never achieve consistently high performance without external accountability and effective performance management.'
Kearns' team has called for the creation of a strong civil service executive, with the power to reward high-performers and remove under-performers.
Other recommendations include a new governing body, appointed by Parliament and charged with the strategic direction for the civil service, and the swift introduction of a Civil Service Act enshrining the powers of ministers and civil servants.
However, Sir Gus O'Donnell, head of the civil service, speaking to Public Finance after the last DCR results in December, said he would 'stop short' of introducing contracts codifying the relationship between senior civil servants and ministers.
PFjan2007
