Today the House of Commons Liaison Committee published its first report of session 2013/14.
The concerns raised in the report are, by and large, not new – most address historical weaknesses which have already been raised by ministers and directly informed the content of the Civil Service Reform Plan which we launched last year.
The Liaison Committee have reiterated the views of the Public Administration Select Committee that a Parliamentary Commission should be established to look into the Civil Service. We responded to that report then and my position remains the same – I am not persuaded by the arguments, and our priority is to embed the existing plans for reform.
The report claims that a sense of inertia is affecting the pace of reform. It also talks about a lack of future vision and a shortage of commercial and contracting skills, as well as the need for departments to work together in a more joined-up way. The Civil Service Reform Plan sets a clear blueprint for addressing these issues and we are making good progress.
Proud of the work of civil servants
It is essential that we do not get complacent, but civil servants can be proud of what they have achieved over the past year – this is something the Prime Minister acknowledged when he went before the Liaison Committee in September this year:
The Olympics were brilliantly delivered. There was a fantastic civil service effort to deliver a really successful G8 conference. Pensions have been reformed. There has been massive public spending reduction and reform of the civil service. The National Citizen Service has gone from nought to 100,000 young people in just four years. Free schools have been set up from nowhere.
The need to improve commercial and contract skills of civil servants is at the very heart of what we are seeking to do. Greater interaction with suppliers is becoming a key part of many civil servants’ jobs and we all need to be comfortable working with the private sector. The recently-published Capabilities Plan reflect this priority – we have overhauled our learning and development programme to give colleagues further opportunity to develop their commercial skills, and you can seek out the opportunities on the Civil Service Learning website.
The report identifies that there is still much to do, and I am in complete agreement. We are building a more open, skilled and unified civil service equipped for the challenges of modern government, but it is an ongoing process.
Reform is absolutely critical but it is also important that it is sustainable – there is certainly no danger of inertia. I look forward to us making further progress in 2014.
2 comments
Comment by Neil Sutherland posted on
I'm sure the members of the Liaison Committee are familiar with the Civil Service Reform Plan. Perhaps they are also wise enough to recognise that it will deliver a depressed and debilitated service rather than a service that can cope with the demands that the future will place upon it.
Comment by edward posted on
The skill shortages in contracting and costing pre date the reform plan that in part tries to address these issues.