House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee Leadership of change: new arrangements for the roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary Further Report , with the Government Response to the Committee’s Nineteenth Report of Session 2010–12 Twenty Third Report of Session 2010–12 Report and appendix, together with formal minutes Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 26 March 2012 HC 1914 Published on 28 March 2012 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) The Public Administration Select Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the reports of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Health Service Commissioner for England, which are laid before this House, and matters in connection therewith, and to consider matters relating to the quality and standards of administration provided by civil service departments, and other matters relating to the civil service. Current membership Mr Bernard Jenkin MP (Conservative, Harwich and North Essex) (Chair) Alun Cairns MP (Conservative, Vale of Glamorgan) Michael Dugher MP (Labour, Barnsley East) Charlie Elphicke MP (Conservative, Dover) Paul Flynn MP (Labour, Newport West) Robert Halfon MP (Conservative, Harlow) David Heyes MP (Labour, Ashton under Lyne) Kelvin Hopkins MP (Labour, Luton North) Greg Mulholland MP (Liberal Democrat, Leeds North West) Priti Patel MP (Conservative, Witham) Lindsay Roy MP (Labour, Glenrothes) Powers The powers of the Committee are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 146. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at http://www.parliament.uk/pasc Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Steven Mark (Clerk), Charlotte Pochin (Second Clerk), Alexandra Meakin (Committee Specialist), Paul Simpkin (Senior Committee Assistant) and Su Panchanathan (Committee Assistant). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Public Administration Select Committee, Committee Office, First Floor, 7 Millbank, House of Commons, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 5730; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. Leadership of change: Further Report 1 Contents Report Page Report 3 Conclusions and recommendations 4 Appendix: Government response 5 Formal Minutes 17 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 18 Leadership of change: Further Report 3 Report 1. We reported to the House on Leadership of change: new arrangements for the roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary in our Nineteenth Report of Session 2010–12, published on 20 January 2012 as HC 1582. We received the Government response to that report on 19 March 2012.1 Review of the working of the Head of the Civil Service position 2. We recommended in our Report that “in July 2012 the Government conduct a full review of the working of the Head of the Civil Service position in practice to consider whether a full-time Head of the Civil Service is required to provide the Civil Service with the necessary organisational leadership”.2 The Government response “acknowledge[s]” our recommendation and states that “how the roles are operating will be kept under review by the Prime Minister” but claims that “six months may be insufficient to fully assess the success of the current arrangements”.3 The Government does not explain what would be learned by waiting nine or twelve months to conduct a review, that could not be learned after six months. We reiterate our recommendation that the Government should conduct a six-month review of the role. Such a review would be valuable, even as an interim measure. Format of Government responses to our Reports 3. It would be of assistance to us and, we believe, to others for the Government to respond in full to each of our recommendations and conclusions individually and in order, rather than grouping responses, as they have in this case. We have written to the Government to ask them to follow this practice in future. 1 The Government’s response is printed as an Appendix to this Report. 2 Public Administration Select Committee, Nineteenth Report of Session 2010–12, Leadership of change: new arrangements for the roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary , HC 1582, para 68 3 Appendix, p 7 4 Leadership of change: Further Report Conclusions and recommendations Review of the working of the Head of the Civil Service position 1. The Government does not explain what would be learned by waiting nine or twelve months to conduct a review, that could not be learned after six months. We reiterate our recommendation that the Government should conduct a six-month review of the role. Such a review would be valuable, even as an interim measure. (Paragraph 2) Leadership of change: Further Report 5 Appendix: Government response Letter from Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office to the Chair of the Committee Thank you for the Committee’s helpful report on Leadership of change: new arrangements for the roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary. Please find enclosed the Government’s response to the specific recommendations made in this report. As I and others indicated when we met the Committee last year, we intend to publish a Civil Service Reform Plan in Spring 2012. It will articulate the challenges and opportunities facing the Civil Service, and set out a roadmap for action against a small number of priority areas for change including, for example, building capability and implementing modern management systems and processes. As you may have already noted the Public Accounts Committee invited Sir Bob Kerslake and Sir Jeremy Heywood to attend to discuss their respective roles and some of the recurring challenges across Government and requested a letter prior to the hearing. This letter is enclosed as appendix A. Once again, we welcome the Committee’s thoughtful consideration of these important issues, and look forward to continuing engagement with the Committee in this area. 19 March 2012 Government response The Government welcomes the Committee’s report on “Leadership of change: new arrangements for the roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary.” As acknowledged by the Committee the roles of the Head of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Secretary are vital in leading the Civil Service through a period of substantial change to meet the Coalition Government’s objectives, to support economic growth and well-being, to improve public services, to devolve power to communities and citizens and to reduce costs. A full response to the Committee’s eighteen recommendations is set out below, grouped together where this is helpful. The combined role of Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service The role of Head of the Civil Service, and the relationship between the Head of the Civil Service and the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, are matters of vital importance to good governance and define the nature of the Civil Service itself. Our starting point for this inquiry was the recognition that, while the structure in which one individual holds the combined roles of Cabinet Secretary, Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office and Head of the Civil Service had been perceived to be an effective arrangement for leadership of the Civil Service and provision of support to the Prime Minister over the last thirty years, the Civil Service faces new and substantial challenges to reform, 6 Leadership of change: Further Report discussed in detail in PASC’s recent report on Change in Government: the agenda for leadership. Might an alternative arrangement at the top of the Civil Service prove more effective? Existing structures may have supported Civil Service reform through periods of incremental change: but the present agenda for reform, which includes substantial cuts in administrative budgets alongside considerable transfers of functions from the centre, requires a different approach to Civil Service leadership. It is in this context that we examined the decision to review and adapt the structure at the top of the Civil Service. (paragraph 16) The Government agrees with the Committee that the role of Head of the Civil Service and his relationship with the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for the Civil Service is vitally important; and, that given the substantial challenges of serving a coalition Government, of delivering substantial administrative changes, and of reforming the Civil Service the time was right to review the structures in place at the top and consider the options. The role of Parliament in changing Civil Service structures We suggest that, in the interests of good and transparent government, a discussion with PASC ahead of the decision to divide Sir Gus O’Donnell’s role as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service would have been beneficial. (paragraph 17) The Government recognises the importance of transparent government, however, as acknowledged by the Committee (paragraph 31), it is reasonable for a Prime Minister to choose who he or she wants at the most senior levels of the Civil Service and to decide which structures best suit the requirements of the Government. The Prime Minister was presented with options by the outgoing Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell and decided, with the support of the Deputy Prime Minister, that the adopted structure would best serve current needs. Ultimately, both the Cabinet Secretary and the Head of Civil Service are accountable to the Prime Minister. The post of Head of the Civil Service is a Civil Service appointment, regulated by the First Civil Service Commissioner, not a public appointment regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.