DECENTRALIZING the CIVIL SERVICE from Unitary State to Differentiated Polity in the United Kingdom
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Decentralizing/civil service 18/12/02 5:28 PM Page 1 DECENTRALIZING THE CIVIL SERVICE From Unitary State to Differentiated Polity in the United Kingdom This book is concerned with the civil services of the United Kingdom, examining their characteristics and trends since 1970. It provides a map of the British civil service beyond Decentralizing theCivil Service Whitehall, giving an individual country-by-country analysis of Decentralizing the civil services of the UK. It considers the implications of the changing nature of the civil services for our understanding of British governance, especially in the context of the public sector management reforms of the 1980s and 1990s and the impact of constitutional change (chiefly devolution) since 1998. Given that devolution has been characterized as a process the Civil rather than an event, the book brings to bear evidence of how existing longstanding differences within some parts of British public administration may come to be replicated elsewhere in the UK. The authors also explore two controversial propositions. First they ask whether Britain is moving from the unitary, strong Service executive of the ‘Westminster model’ to a ‘differentiated polity’ characterized by institutional fragmentation. Second, they consider whether an unintended consequence of recent changes is a ‘hollowing out of the state’. Is the British executive losing functions downwards to devolved From unitary state to differentiated governments and special-purpose bodies and outwards to regional offices and agencies with a resulting loss of central capacity? Substantial empirical data (both quantitative and polity in the United Kingdom qualitative) has been amassed here in order to give answers to Rhodes, Carmichael,McMillanand Massey these questions. Decentralizing the Civil Service assesses the UK’s changing civil services in the wake of two decades of public sector management reforms and New Labour’s constitutional reform programme, most notably devolution to Scotland, Wales and R.A.W. Rhodes, P. Carmichael, Northern Ireland. This assessment has significant implications for how we view governance in the UK. J. McMillan and A. Massey R. A. W. Rhodes is Professor of Politics (Research) at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Dr Paul Carmichael is a Senior Lecturer in Public Administration at the University of Public Ulster, Northern Ireland. Dr Janice McMillan is a Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at Northumbria University. Policy and Andrew Massey is Professor of Government at the University of Portsmouth. Management www.openup.co.uk Decentralizing the Civil Service Public Policy and Management Series Editor: Professor R.A.W. Rhodes, Department of Politics, University of Newcastle. The effectiveness of public policies is a matter of public concern and the effi- ciency with which policies are put into practice is a continuing problem for governments of all political persuasions. This series contributes to these debates by publishing informed, in-depth and contemporary analyses of public admin- istration, public policy and public management. The intention is to go beyond the usual textbook approach to the analysis of public policy and management and to encourage authors to move debate about their issue forward. In this sense, each book describes current thinking and research and explores future policy directions. Accessibility is a key feature and, as a result, the series will appeal to academics and their students as well as to the informed practitioner. Current titles include: Christine Bellamy and John A. Taylor: Governing in the Information Age Tony Butcher: Delivering Welfare, Second Edition David P. Dolowitz with Rob Hulme, Mike Nellis and Fiona O’Neill: Policy Transfer and British Social Policy John Ernst: Whose Utility? The Social Impact of Public Utility Privatization and Regulation in Britain Lucy Gaster: Quality in Public Services: Managers’ Choices Patricia Greer: Transforming Central Government: The Next Steps Initiative Steve Leach, Howard Davies and Associates: Enabling or Disabling Local Govern- ment: Choices for the Future David Marsh (ed.): Comparing Policy Networks R.A.W. Rhodes: Understanding Governance: Policy Networks, Governance, Reflex- ivity and Accountability R.A.W. Rhodes and Patrick Weller (eds): The Changing World of Top Officials R.A.W. Rhodes, P. Carmichael, J. McMillan and A. Massey: Decentralizing the Civil Service Chris Skelcher: The Appointed State Gerald Wistow, Martin Knapp, Brian Hardy, Julien Forder, Jeremy Kendall and Rob Manning: Social Care Markets: Progress and Prospects Spencer Zifcak: New Managerialism: Administrative Reform in Whitehall and Canberra Decentralizing the Civil Service From Unitary State to Differentiated Polity in the United Kingdom R.A.W. Rhodes, P. Carmichael, J. McMillan and A. Massey Open University Press Buckingham · Philadelphia Open University Press Celtic Court 22 Ballmoor Buckingham MK18 1XW email: [email protected] world wide web: www.openup.co.uk and 325 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA First Published 2003 Copyright © The authors, 2003 All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1P 0LP. A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 335 21234 4 (pb) 0 335 21235 2 (hb) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Decentralizing the civil service: from unitary state to differentiated polity in the United Kingdom / R.A.W. Rhodes – [et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-335-21235-2 – ISBN 0-335-21234 -4 (pbk.) 1. Civil service – Great Britain. 2. Great Britain – Politics and government – 1945 – I. Rhodes, R.A.W. JN425.D356 2003 351.41–dc21 2002074968 Typeset in 10/11.5pt GraphBembo by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed in Great Britain by Biddles Limited, www.biddles.co.uk Contents List of figures and tables vi Preface and acknowledgements vii 1 Introduction 1 2 The differentiated polity 23 3 Northern Ireland 35 4 Scotland 70 5 Wales 100 6 England – government offices for the regions 128 7 The differentiated polity revisited 151 Useful websites 168 Bibliography 169 Index 183 List of figures and tables Figure 4.1 The implementation of the Framework for Economic Development in Scotland 91 Table 1.1 Non-industrial civil service staff by economic planning region/location 10 Table 1.2 Non-industrial civil service staff by principal department 12 Table 2.1 Characteristics of markets, hierarchies and networks 27 Table 3.1 Departmental structure of Northern Ireland government since 1921 40 Table 3.2 Northern Ireland Civil Service agencies, 2000 49 Table 4.1 Employment provenance of Scottish Executive senior management as at November 2001 83 Table 4.2 Distribution of pay awards across the senior civil service as a whole, 2001/02 86 Preface and acknowledgements Writing this book has proved to be a challenging experience during a period of momentous upheaval in the nature of British governance and the civil service. When we embarked on our research in 1997, devolution had yet to occur. Five years later, it is a reality. While the political arguments continue over the wisdom and longer-term impact of the devolution process, those charged with administering the state, both at the central government and devolved administration level, have quietly continued to fulfil their duties. As such, the British civil service has been the subject of exhaustive inquiry over many years, but a gap persists in the literature about the variations that exist across the UK. Over thirty years have elapsed since Gladden’s seminal work in 1967 on the theme of intra-UK variation. Hence, a fresh examination is timely and forms the essential rationale for this book. The core aim of the book is to update and interpret the map of the civil services of the UK beyond Whitehall. It explores two controversial propositions. First, it asks whether Britain is moving from the unitary, strong executive of the Westminster model to a differentiated polity char- acterized by institutional fragmentation. Second, it considers whether an unintended consequence of recent changes is a ‘hollowing out of the state’. Simply, is the British executive losing functions downwards to devolved governments and special-purpose bodies and outwards to regional offices and agencies with a resulting loss of central capacity? In seeking to secure agreements for policy formulation and implementation, senior Whitehall officials will now need to cross the domestic borders as emissaries, not as proconsuls. Devolution and the redefinition of the role of the British civil viii Decentralizing the civil service service represents the most substantial addition to the process of the hollow- ing out of the state since Britain signed the Treaty of Rome (1972). The civil service is changing, but we do not yet know into what it is changing. The uncertainty is compounded by two decades of public sector management reforms and ‘new’ Labour’s constitutional reform programme, most not- ably devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as its