Civil servants are not noted for their tempestuous characters or tendency to fly off the handle, but there is a real streak of anger at this year’s Civil Service Live. Expressed in diplomatic terms in many instances – and in surprisingly intemperate language in others – delegates and speakers alike have been voicing their irritation with the frequent changes in machinery of government that have attended ministerial reshuffles in recent years. Changing ministers is bad enough, visitors have said – but changing departmental structures, with all the attendant derailing of ongoing policy formation, back office functions, work programmes and interdepartmental connections, creates still more delays and disruption. In fact, my ear has been bent on the topic of machinery of government changes several times each day – whether I’ve been on the platform or the floor. On the platform, I heard from an unfortunate lady who, having worked in the civil service for five years without changing jobs, has found herself in four different departments. On the floor, I encountered a permanent secretary who is trying to introduce a pioneering new change to departmental operations – but is now having to dramatically reconfigure the programme in order to adapt to a new set of departmental structures. “I get quite irritated by the idea that you can solve the problem by moving things around and changing the labels on things,” said Guardian journalist David Hencke (pictured) in a session on Tuesday. It is no exaggeration to say that he was speaking for the vast majority of the civil service.