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.
The NHS is the same. Job specifications consist of lists of tasks. No performance metrics, but Heaven forbid you state the bleedin' obvious if it transgresses the 'cultural norms/acceptability'. These are the unwritten and covert rules to satisfy the political climate, and which serve as reasons to include/exclude/promote.
"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.
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.
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.
"...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/
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.
I would need to look at these proposals in more detail. In the meantime, though, I have a couple of comments to make. The first is that the things which afflict the modern civil service are precisely the same as those which afflict practically all large corporate entities. So, this is not a peculiar circumstance, so to speak, even if it is deeply damaging. Secondly, no matter the deficiencies of the Civil Service, it still remains that the Civil Service does more or less exactly what it is told to do. Successive governments have liked to preserve the fiction that but for 'the Blob' they'd have achieved SO much more than they did. But this, on the whole, is simply a way of deflecting from the consequences of their own deliberate choices. For example, it was no mere accident that so many immigrants came in under Boris, or that Net Zero was supercharged under May. These were deliberate choices which Civil Servants simply delivered upon for their masters. We should always be wary of excusing politicians for what they have simply done by their own choice. If they had really wanted something different, they'd have done it. It's really as simple as that.
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.
The NHS is the same. Job specifications consist of lists of tasks. No performance metrics, but Heaven forbid you state the bleedin' obvious if it transgresses the 'cultural norms/acceptability'. These are the unwritten and covert rules to satisfy the political climate, and which serve as reasons to include/exclude/promote.
"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.
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.
Totally agree. I think this was the most important defection.
Great interview on Times Radio this morning.
I am SO EXCITED for a ReformUK govt!
ELEVEN THOUSAND!
11,000 Sir Humphreys . . .
Dear God.
Cabinet Office Delenda Est
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.
Reform of the Civil Service is long overdue. Ineptitude and entitlement are two words that spring to mind.
'Pension' is a third.
Breaking up the Quangos would be a first step in rolling back the Blair revolution.
Reform govt can’t come soon enough
"...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/
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.
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.
Incredible unions are already talking treason. Shows who people want rid of uni party.
Agree completely. I have a cartoon on this if you would like it.
I would need to look at these proposals in more detail. In the meantime, though, I have a couple of comments to make. The first is that the things which afflict the modern civil service are precisely the same as those which afflict practically all large corporate entities. So, this is not a peculiar circumstance, so to speak, even if it is deeply damaging. Secondly, no matter the deficiencies of the Civil Service, it still remains that the Civil Service does more or less exactly what it is told to do. Successive governments have liked to preserve the fiction that but for 'the Blob' they'd have achieved SO much more than they did. But this, on the whole, is simply a way of deflecting from the consequences of their own deliberate choices. For example, it was no mere accident that so many immigrants came in under Boris, or that Net Zero was supercharged under May. These were deliberate choices which Civil Servants simply delivered upon for their masters. We should always be wary of excusing politicians for what they have simply done by their own choice. If they had really wanted something different, they'd have done it. It's really as simple as that.
Bureauistocracy.
All very well, but Kruger seems to have omitted the necessary hangings.
Lamp posts may be provided