Watch: Four Steps to Smarter Government launch event

On Monday 12 July 2021, the Commission for Smart Government launched its final policy paper, Strategic, Capable, Innovative, Accountable: Four Steps to Smarter Government, at an event in Whitehall.

The report was presented by Commission Chair Nick Herbert, and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove responded to the report’s proposals.

Key quotes from Michael Gove’s response

On the urgent need to reform government:

“The need for government reform is more urgent than ever, as a result of both the experience of the Covid pandemic and some of the political changes that have happened as a result of our departure from the European Union. But also more critically the technological and social changes that have been occurring in our own country and others have meant that the need to look at the hidden wiring of government has become more pressing than ever. Whatever shape you want our common home of the UK to be, we need to recognise that that wiring is no longer anywhere near adequate for our needs unless it is overhauled comprehensively. “

On the proposal that ministers should be appointed from outside Parliament:

 “I think the approach the Commission have taken to opening up government is absolutely right. We’ve tended to have a medieval guild structure when it comes to the Civil Service, and in particular to ministerial life, and while there is much in the old-fashioned guild structure that has a certain romantic appeal, we need to move beyond it. I think absolutely the principle that people can serve – by exception – as ministers, and are drawn for a period of time from different disciplines, is absolutely right…

… If we look particularly at how we’ve dealt with some of the challenges of Covid over the course of the last couple of years it’s striking – Kate Bingham of course performed heroically coming from outside despite being criticised, but it’s also the case that the Chief Executive of the NHS who made sure that the NHS so far has weathered the storm and who was responsible overall for the vaccination programme, Sir Simon Stevens, let’s not forget he was previously a political appointee. He then worked for the private sector in healthcare in America, before, out of the spirit of public service, coming back to the NHS to which he was committed…

… There is proof that porosity – breaking up that guild structure – is entirely the way to go.”

On the Commission’s ‘Four Steps’:

“Ultimately, the need for a more strategic approach, the need for greater accountability, the need for greater agility, is all about serving the public better… One of the things we’ve asked today is that in the Cabinet Office we look at every single one of the recommendations that the Commission has made and match them against those steps we are taking [in the Declaration on Government Reform].”

On digital transformation in government:

“I worry about the extent to which we’re going to deliver it. There are as we know a number of barriers within organisations – people believe that control of data gives them power and so therefore that’s one of the reasons why people don’t share the data that they should. It’s also the case that there are people who are spooked by what they think is within data protection legislation which often isn’t there and therefore they are not incentivised or encouraged to share appropriately. The third thing is related to some of those legitimate concerns about privacy, it is also the case that when you talk about one log-in that people think this means the Government, rather than putting itself at the services of the citizen, is trying to turn the citizen into a cog or a byte in the broader machine, which Government can deploy for its convenience not for its citizens. I think the best way of winning the argument is by demonstrating specific examples where transformative change occurs as a result either of providing a more effective platform in the delivery of government service or by sharing data in a more appropriate way.”

On professionalism and training:

“When in Opposition I benefitted from an idea from Francis Maude where ministers who might be entering government after the 2010 election worked on the implementation of their ideas with outside expertise. I had the benefit of having a variety of people with outside expertise, including people from business, education and local government, testing the deliverability of the plans that we had beforehand… I think overall that is missing… so I think some of the recommendations that have been put forward about a further degree of professionalisation and training [such as the Queen Elizabeth School of Public Service] is right…”

On ministerial accountability:

“It seems to me that a mandate letter [for ministers, as used in Canada] should be absolutely transparent. There should be three elements to a mandate letter: one, general expectations of what ministers should do collaboratively to achieve the Government’s goals; secondly, departmental specific initiatives to which they should be held account; and then thirdly a broad outline of the approach that the Government is going to take towards standards, ethics, and so on.”

On getting the right people and talent into public service…

“The proposal on establishing a Crown Headhunter in order to recruit talented people from outside I think is a fair one. In Government we are currently setting up a secondment unit, which is almost the recommendation there, but we must do much more…

If we think every permanent secretary or leader in the Civil Service should be like [e.g. Lord Butler] then we make a mistake, so we have to think harder about how we challenge perceptions and expand the pool of skills and the pool of talent. We should look at getting people who have delivery experience in other areas – both in public/charitable or private sectors – to come into senior roles in government. In particular, while you will always need brilliant policy generalists, it should be the case that some in the very top of the Civil Service should be celebrated for their specific delivery purpose.”

On reforming the Centre to reconcile strategic, managerial and political oversight, such as creating a Prime Minister’s Department and setting up a Treasury Board within it…

“I know exactly why the case is being made for this particular reform. We have to look at it because it’s big potatoes. It may be that there are smarter, defter or more effective ways of achieving that goal, but the onus is on [the Government] to explain why… the case that the Commission makes overall is powerful and we will have to be judged by how effectively we either assent to, or explain why we’re diverging from, your recommendations.”