HOUSE OF COMMONS SESSION 1993-94 TREASURY AND CIVIL SERVICE COMMITTEE Fifth Report THE ROLE OF THE CIVIL SERVICE VOLUME I Ordered by The House of Commons to he printed I November 1994 k 27-1 House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2007 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. 2 FIFTH REPORT FROM The Treasury and Civil Service Committee is appointed under S.O. No. 130 to examine the expendi- ture, administration and policy of the Treasury and the Office of Public Ser\'ice and Science (but exclud- ing the Office of Science and Technology and the drafting of bills by the Parliamentary Counsel Office), the Board of Customs and Excise and the Board of the inland Revenue. The Committee consists of a maximum of eleven members, of whom the quorum is three. Unless the House otherwise orders, all Members nominated to the Committee continue to be members of the Committee for the remainder of the Parliament. The Committee has power: (a) to send for j>ersons, papers and records, to sit notwithstanding any adjournment of the House, to adjourn from place to place, and to report from time to time; (b) to appoint specialist advisers either to supply information which is not readily available or elucidate matters of complexity within the Committee's order of reference; (c) to communicate to any other such committee and to the Committee of Public Accounts their evidence and any other documents relating to matters of common interest; (d) to meet concurrently with any other such committee for the purposes of deliberating, taking evidence or considering draft reports. The Committee has power to appoint one sub-committee and to report from time to time the minutes of evidence taken before it. The sub-committee has power to send for persons, papers and records, to sit notwithstanding any adjournment of the House, and to adjourn from place to place. It has a quorum of three. 13 July 1992 The following were nominated as members of the Treasury and Civil Service Committee: Ms Diane Abbott Mr John Garrett Sir Thomas Arnold Mr Barry Legg Mr A J Beith Mr Giles Radice Mr Nicholas Budgen Mr Brian Sedgemore Mrs Judith Chaplin (deed 19.2.93) Mr John Watts Mr Quentin Davies Mr John Watts was elected Chairman on 15 July 1992. Sir Thomas Arnold was elected Chairman in the place of Mr John Watts on 19 October 1994. The following changes in the membership of the Committee have been made: Monday 29 March 1993: Mr Nigel Forman appointed. Monday 13 December 1993: Mr John Garrett discharged: Mr Mike O’Brien appointed. Monday 31 October 1994: Mr John Watts discharged; Mr Matthew Carrington appointed. The cost of preparing for publication the Shorthand Minutes of Evidence taken before the Committee and published with this Rejx)rt was £10.398. House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2007 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. THE TREASURY AND CIVIL SERVICE COMMITTEE THE ROLE OF THE CIVIL SERVICE TABLE OF CONTENTS Paragraphs Page INTRODUCTION I. A CIVIL SERVICE FOR THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1-51 II. THE CONDUCT AND SCOPE OF THE INQUIRY. 52-62 (i) The context of the inquiry 52-54 (ii) Evidence and visits 55-57 X (iii) The proposed attitude survey 58-60 xi (iv) The scope and structure of the Report. 61-62 xiii B. A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERPINNING THE VALUES OF THE SERVICE III. A UNIFIED CIVIL SERVICE? 63-72 xm IV. VALUES MAINTAINED? 73-86 xvi (i) The impact of devolution on the values of the Servio 73-77 xvi (ii) Relations between Ministers and civil servants 78-83 xviii (iii) Conclusions 84-86 xxi V. CREATING A NEW FRAMEWORK .. 87-117 xxi (i) The Armstrong Memorandum. 87-90 xxi (ii) The Civil Service Management Code 91 xxiii (iii) Questions of Procedure for Ministers 92-93 xxiv (iv) Internal resolution 94-100 XXV (v) The existing framework: conclusions 101-102 xxviii (vi) A new Civil Service Code 103-107 xxix (vii) An independent appeals procedures 108-112 XXX (viii) A Civil Service Act 113-117 xxxii VI. THE PRINCIPLES OF ACCOUNTABILITY 118-140 xxxiv (i) The importance of accountability 118-119 X :xiv (ii) Ministerial accountability and responsibility 120-123 x.xxv (iii) Honesty and integrity 124-127 xxxvii House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2007 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. 4 FIFTH REPORT FROM (iv) The Executive, Parliament and its Select Committees. 128-131 XXXIX (v) Parliamentary accountability: conclusions . 132-134 xli (vi) Non-Parliamentary accountability 135-137 xlii (vii) Open Government 138-140 xliii C. ORGANISING FOR EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY VII. THE PURSUIT OF EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY. 141-151 xlv (i) The case for an effective and efficient Civil Service. 141-143 xlv (ii) From the Financial Management Initiative to the Citizen’s Charter . 144-146 xlvi (iii) International perspectives . 147 xlviii (iv) The New Zealand model of public service reform . 148-151 xlix VIII. NEXT STEPS AND THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS OF GoVERNMENt 152-171 Ii (i) An unfinished revolution 152-156 li (ii) Relations between Agencies and Departments. 157-162 Hi (iii) Accountability and responsibility 163-167 Iv (iv) Conclusions 168-171 Ivii IX. PRIVATISATION, MARKET TESTING AND CONTRACTING OUT 172-195 lix (i) The changing role of Government 172-175 lix (ii) Privatisation and prior options 176-179 lx (iii) The Competing for Quality programme: the arguments of principle 180-182 Ixii (iv) The management of the market testing programme. .. 183-190 Ixiii (v) Strategic contracting out 191-192 Ixvii (vi) The implications of contracting out for accountability. 193-194 Ixvii (vii) Market testing and contracting out: conclusions. 195 Ixviii X. MANAGING THE POLICY PROCESS 196-218 Ixix (i) The nature and characteristics of the policy process. 196-198 Ixix (ii) A case for reform? . 199-204 Ixx (iii) Proposals for reform 205-211 Ixxii (iv) Support for Ministers. 212-215 Ixxiv (v) The Civil Service and Opposition parties 216-218 Ixxvi House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2007 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. THE TREASURY AND CIVIL SERVICE COMMITTEE 5 XI. CORE DEPARTMENTS AND THE EXTENSION OF DEVOLUTION. 219-227 Ixxviii XII. THE ROLE OF THE CENTRE 228-243 Ixxxii (i) The organisation of the central Departments. 228-235 Ixxxii (ii) The approach of the central Departments .. 23b-237 Ixxxvi (iii) The Southgate review. 238-240 Ixxxvii (iv) The role of the Head of the Home Civil Service 241-242 Ixxxviii (v) Conclusions 243 Ixxxviii D. HUMAN RESOURCES IN THE CIVIL SERVICE OF THE FUTURE XIII. THE CIVIL SERVICE AS AN EMPLOYER 244-250 Ixxxix (i) “A good employer” . 244-246 Ixxxix (ii) A crisis of morale? 247-249 xc (iii) Conclusions 250 .\cii XIV. PAY, MANPOWER AND DELEGATION 251-264 xcii (i) A shrinking Civil Service 251-253 .xcii (ii) The delegation of pay and personnel functions 254-257 xciv (iii) Performance-related pay 258-259 xcvi (iv) Equal opportunities 260 xcvii (v) Conclusions 261-264 xcvii XV. SENIOR PERSONNEL 265-310 .xcviii (i) Amateurism and a cult of the generalist? 265-270 xcviii (ii) The current management and selection of senior civil servants . 271-288 ci (a) Career development, skills and composition . 271-273 ci (b) The Senior Appointments Selection Committee and “politicisation” . 274-276 cii (c) Open Advertisement and the Civil Service Commissioners 277-279 ciii (d) Secondments and interchange 280-282 civ (e) Conditions of employment and early departure.. 283-285 cv (0 Pay for senior civil servants 286-288 cvii (iii) Proposals for change 289-298 cviii (a) Extending open competition 289-290 cviii (b) Revised selection procedures 291-292 cix House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2007 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. 6 FIFTH REPORT FROM (c) Contracts, perfonnance assessment and the management of departures 293-298 cx (iv) The Government’s proposals 299-303 cxii (v) Conclusions and recommendations . 304-310 cxiv XVI. RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING 311-339 cxvi (i) The delegation of recruitment functions 311-315 cxvi (ii) Fast stream recruitment 316- cxvii 328 (a) History and development 316 cxvii (b) The current operation and rationale . 317- cxviii 321 (c) Criticisms 322-325 cxix (d) Responses to criticism and proposals for change 326-328 cxxi (iii) The Civil Service College 329-336 cxxii (iv) Conclusions and recommendations . 337-339 cxxiv Pages ANNEX 1: A CIVIL SERVICE CODE cxxvi PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE RELATING TO THE REPORT. cxxviii LIST OF WITNESSES cxxxiv LIST OF MEMORANDA INCLUDED IN THE MINUTES OF EVIDENCE cxxxvi LIST OF APPENDICES TO THE MINUTES OF EVIDENCE cxxxvii LIST OF MEMORANDA REPORTED TO THE HOUSE BUT NOT PRINTED .. cxxxix House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2007 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved, FIFTH REPORT The Treasury and Civil Service Committee has agreed to the following Report: I. A CIVIL SERVICE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1. The British Civil Service is a great national asset. Since the 1870s, it has been the perma- nent and impartial instrument of all administrations. Governments have always seen it as their duty to preserve its efficiency and honesty for their successors. The Civil Service’s commitment to the highest standards of performance and conduct is a guarantee of constitutional and financial propriety and good government. Wherever the boundaries are drawn between public and private sectors, there are certain crucial values which must underly public administration. The values of impartiality, integrity, selection and promotion on merit and accountability are as important today as they were in the last century.