Back to square one
David Blackburn 10:48am
Benedict Brogan has some bad news from the engine
room of public service reform.
‘I'm told Downing Street is starting all over again on public service reform. Will Cavendish, one of the key people guiding policy in No10, has been put in charge and told to assemble a new team of officials that will put together what effectively is a response to the white paper. The last 18 months, according to those close to the debate, were a waste of time. We'll have to see whether the principles Mr Cameron set out 10 months ago still apply.’
Those principles are that the ‘state will have to justify why should it ever operate a monopoly’ on public services, as Cameron once put it. That radical viewpoint created well documented tension within the coalition, as well as from elements of the civil service and agitation from the unions. Cameron tried the aggressive approach earlier in the year, branding recalcitrant officials ‘the enemies of enterprise’. But Brogan’s report suggests that effort has been wasted and reform is in danger of being diluted.
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Widmerpool
December 6th, 2011 11:09am Report this commentLet's hope the quest of dragging our public sector kicking and sceaming into the brave new world of deficit reduction continues to be driven by Dave & Co.
Do you think I might claim a discount on my Council Tax if I take my own rubbish to the dump as I often do, given the complex rules imposed on us by the Bunny Huggers and weekly collections being suspended?
strapworld
December 6th, 2011 11:10am Report this commentSo the brave new world is fast becoming the same old, same old. What a leader, what a Prime Minister. And I thought Gordon Brown was the absolute worst. Sorry Gordon.
Encore
December 6th, 2011 11:21am Report this commentIs this the same Will Cavendish that was a Labour spad/apparatchik?
Kestrel Sprite
December 6th, 2011 11:32am Report this comment"The past 18 months ... a waste of time" - sounds like the history of the coalition to date.
Rhoda Klapp
December 6th, 2011 11:57am Report this commentWell, I for one am shocked.
Ian Walker
December 6th, 2011 12:17pm Report this comment'Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted' - Clausewitz
Finding out where your enemies are, and their weapons and tactics, sounds like a perfectly good use of 18 months to me. Still 3 years of this parliament left.
Heartless P.
December 6th, 2011 12:24pm Report this commentThe last 18 months, according to those... close . . . were a waste of time. ...
Many share that view, - and about many things, - including the H2B.
In2minds
December 6th, 2011 12:36pm Report this commentSo Cameron wants to sort out domestic "recalcitrant officials" but when it comes to the EU now is not the time to rock the boat. The man is pathetic.
Hexhamgeezer
December 6th, 2011 12:46pm Report this commentCivil Service reform is very very difficult, requires political will and the ability to work hard over a long period of time.
Does PR dave have the qualities to achieve this? A man who can barely stand up to streaks of p*** like clegg, cable and the loathsome huhne?
Dennis Churchill
December 6th, 2011 1:55pm Report this commentThe first management job Cameron ever held was leader of the Conservative party. Enough said.
TrevorsDen
December 6th, 2011 2:47pm Report this commentThe civil servants and the LDs have been blocking and dragging their feet so Cameron has swept that way and started again.
Seems a good idea.
The civil service were always going to do that.
Winston
December 6th, 2011 3:31pm Report this comment"Is this the same Will Cavendish that was a Labour spad/apparatchik?"
Unless its a different person (hopefully someone will confirm), it demostrates that New Labour is still running the show.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=164089
Tarka the Rotter
December 6th, 2011 4:30pm Report this commentWill Cavendish is not the Earl of Burlington by any chance is he, heir to Chatsworth and all that?
libertarian
December 6th, 2011 4:43pm Report this commentApart from wasting 18 months he's STILL got the wrong strategy, its got nothing to do with what services can be outsourced at this stage. One look around the local government and quango sector will show both involved in huge numbers of projects spending £100's millions doing stuff that doesn't need doing at all. As an example Tory KCC with their TV station, gardening companies, digital innovation agencies etc etc etc.
Make public sector organisations focus on their core services and ONLY on their core services and you will save huge amounts of money straight off.
libertarian
December 6th, 2011 4:47pm Report this comment@Trevors Den
You're a parody of yourself. The only thing Cameron has swept away is his OWN plan. He hasn't moved ANY of the civil servants or Lib Dems that block this at all. He is still happy to have Lib Dem criminals in the cabinet and a business secretary that despises business.
This is a total failure of leadership , the man is actually WORSE than Gordon Brown. Oh and why is now not the time to scrap his EU integration plan which is also not working?
John Moss
December 6th, 2011 6:02pm Report this commentThe principle should be that the user of a service is funded, not the provider.
So education vouchers for parents, grants for university students, apprentices and trainees in the workforce and hypothecation of payroll taxes to social insurance schemes for health, unemployment and retirement welfare.
The provision of most services would then become competitive and benefit from competition, innovation and choice.
TGF UKIP
December 6th, 2011 6:52pm Report this commentThe Grand Old Duke of Witney
He had ten thousand men
He marched them up to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again
Mike Bennett
December 6th, 2011 8:09pm Report this commentThe public services white paper was always a difficult issue for the coalition. It was meant to provide a positive narrative of change in public services but it was always a bit of a badge, stuck on to create the impression of change and running the risk of over-promising what the government had no idea how to deliver. My post here: http://publicintelligence.wordpress.com/
David L
December 7th, 2011 9:54am Report this commentA good starting point would be to re-read The Next Steps, which led to a massive improvement in the quality and cost-effectiveness of services, but was gradually diluted by the Sir Humphreys in the Blair years.
Whitehall Departments are very much a roadblock to reform. Unfortunately Ministers als rely very heavily on them for the round-the-clock briefing and support they need. Ergo public service reform needs to be tackled urgently and early in the life of a Government. Two years in is too late....
...as one of the more perceptive Ministers in the previous Government observed, "I know we're losing our cutting edge: I find myself agreing with my civil servants all the time".
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