Commission for Smart Government says “government must reform itself, or fail”
A high-level group of leaders from politics, public service and business has today called on the Government to drive a far more ambitious programme of Whitehall reform, warning that without transformative change its policy goals will not be met.
After a year’s work, the independent Commission for Smart Government has concluded that the Government can only tackle the challenges of recovering from the pandemic, and achieve bold policy ambitions such as net zero and levelling up, if it:
Fixes a blind spot on strategy,
Instils a high performance culture in the Civil Service,
Radically embraces digital technology, and
Puts in place stronger mechanisms to ensure accountability.
Key recommendations in the Commission’s report, Strategic, Capable, Innovative, Accountable: Four Steps to Smarter Government, include:
A powerful new Prime Minister’s department to give the centre far greater strategic strength.
A new Treasury Board within the PM’s department, headed by the Chief Secretary and incorporating the spending responsibilities of the Treasury, to lead a best-in-class system of financial planning.
Replacing the Permanent Secretary role in departments with a Chief Executive, with a clear focus on strategy, execution and organisational effectiveness.
Enabling the Prime Minister to appoint, exceptionally, experts as ministers without being parliamentarians, to bring greater talent onto the ministerial bench.
Allowing each Secretary of State to create a Council of Advisors to bring outside expertise into government departments.
Co-locating all ministers’ London offices, together with the Prime Minister’s office, in a single building to break down departmental barriers, with No.10 remaining the PM’s residence and ceremonial base.
A world leading MBA-style executive training programme, equivalent to the leading business school offers, to train civil servants, public sector leaders and politicians together and instil modern management skills.
A rigorous test of knowledge and experience of technology which all senior officials would be required to pass before promotion, as part of an urgent campaign to raise digital skills.
An in-house Crown headhunter to help bring in high calibre people from outside government.
Redesigning government services from the ground up to build transformed, customer centric digital services, rather than overlaying technology on analogue systems.
An Amazon-like marketplace for government to buy leading edge products and services, supporting faster innovation and cutting costs.
A single government app as a personalised, mobile gateway to all government services from parking fines to passports.
The Commission’s Chair, Nick Herbert (Lord Herbert of South Downs), said:
“The Covid epidemic hasn’t only deepened the challenges facing our country, which were already profound. It has also revealed that our system of public administration urgently needs a fundamental overhaul.
“As politicians begin to focus on rebuilding, it is crucial that they do not pass over the opportunity and the necessity to reform the machinery of government. Without change, no amount of ambition or rhetoric will be sufficient to ensure that policy goals are delivered.”
Commission member Sir Suma Chakrabarti, a former Permanent Secretary and former President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, said:
“Strategy – creating the systems and capability which will enable the government to set and stick to a clear direction – is the aspect of reform which, we suggest, is least developed in the Government’s current proposals as they have been set out.
“We encourage it to adopt our proposals to replace its outdated and ineffective ways of planning activity and spending, and government structures. These are vital if it is to tackle the choppy waters ahead and achieve its goals.”
Commission member Sir Ian Cheshire, former chairman of Barclays Bank UK plc and former Government Lead Non-Executive Director, said:
“The civil service has been professionalising itself in recent years, especially in its functional arms of finance and HR, but remains a long way behind best practice in areas such as financial planning, talent development and data. There are huge opportunities to make government more effective through radical reform.”