20 Comments
User's avatar
isp001's avatar

"Quangos would be brought back into departments or scrapped"

An important piece and this is an excellent part of it. Quango should have extremely limited right to take independent action - the Environment agency doing something and then suing itself over the action it just took is a good example. Politics is about balancing interests. A single issue quango can not do that. The courts are not the right venue to do this balancing.

Ann Marie's avatar

Such great work by Danny - thorough, results focused and courageous. I worked in recruitment and development in professional services in 1990s- our goals were business driven and achieved through overtly meritocratic processes. I am appalled by the capture of HR by DEI ideology in recent years. Without meritocracy, mediocrity creeps in. Encouraging there are civil servants who are equally frustrated with status quo.

Nicholas Craddy's avatar

Great interview on Times Radio this morning.

Hoarder of Grain's avatar

Thank you for this Gawain, it is so heartening to see the work Danny Kruger and his team are doing. For me and for many others, the moment he joined Reform I just knew that the lasting attention to detail he brought in, gave us a really good chance of reforging the Nation.

Cathryn Wilson's avatar

Totally agree. I think this was the most important defection.

SoBeIt🍄's avatar

I am SO EXCITED for a ReformUK govt!

Lorna's avatar

Reform of the Civil Service is long overdue. Ineptitude and entitlement are two words that spring to mind.

T.I.H.T.I.M.'s avatar

Ben Yong's speech is soooo typical of these arrogant people..........I could only watch the first 10-15 minutes.

He tells his audience that civil servants have a duty to democracy - focusing on the deeds of Johnson and Trump. He specifically mentioned the manoeuvring of Johnson and Cummings to get Brexit done.........

..........yet nowhere - in the parts that I watched - did he acknowledge that the Civil Service's efforts in attempting to thwart Brexit was intrinsically anti-democratic.

This is the mindset of these people........."we have a duty to stop the government doing things that the voters elected them to do".

Undoubtedly, the Cabinet Office runs the country - and action must be taken to wrest control back. Sack them all on day one, and make them re-apply for their jobs..........nobody would notice if they weren't re-appointed.

AKFaz's avatar

Reform govt can’t come soon enough

King Cavan's avatar

Breaking up the Quangos would be a first step in rolling back the Blair revolution.

Matt Hayden's avatar

"...An organisation with no real performance management, where promotion is disconnected from results". This is certainly my observation from years of providing training in many civil service departments. I also encountered many civil servants who despaired of the situation. And the problem is that so many civil servants who want to do a good job, work hard, take pride in what they do see others who don't and, quite understandably think, "Why should I bother if others don't?" https://spectator.com/article/why-is-it-so-difficult-to-fire-bad-civil-servants/

Gawain Towler's avatar

It is what we are finding at local government level. Yes there are the blockers and disrupters, but a significant number are delighted just to be able to get on with their work.

Matt Hayden's avatar

I see a tyranny of the minority all the time in my work. Not just in the public sector (but most egregious there). It's really dispiriting.

Guy Fraser-Sampson's avatar

Agree completely. I have a cartoon on this if you would like it.

Sir Walter Pearson's avatar

All very well, but Kruger seems to have omitted the necessary hangings.

Gawain Towler's avatar

Lamp posts may be provided

djm's avatar

A new Department of the Civil Service charged with headcount reduction, AI adoption, and transforming Whitehall’s culture and productivity...............

How we laughed.

Will not be implemented unless enforced by exemplary (decimatory) punishment

Will's avatar

Incredible unions are already talking treason. Shows who people want rid of uni party.

Whizjet's avatar

ELEVEN THOUSAND!

11,000 Sir Humphreys . . .

Dear God.

Cabinet Office Delenda Est