Shadow Cabinet Office minister John Trickett has raised concerns over the government’s plans to split Sir Gus O’Donnell’s role into three on his retirement at the end of this year.

Sir Gus has been cabinet secretary, head of the home civil service (HHCS) and Cabinet Office permanent secretary since 2005.

Jeremy Heywood, currently Number 10’s permanent secretary, will take over as cabinet secretary, while Ian Watmore – the chief operating officer of the Efficiency and Reform Group – will become permanent secretary of the Cabinet Office. Another permanent secretary will be appointed as HHCS, while retaining their departmental role. Watmore has indicated that he will not apply for the HHCS job.

Trickett, who was appointed shadow Cabinet Office minister earlier this month, told CSW that the arrangement appears to be “dysfunctional”. He argues that it makes sense for the HHCS to hold the cabinet secretary’s job too, because “government itself is a linear structure; it doesn’t have someone running Downing Street and a prime minister located somewhere else.”

“We need to understand better how they intend it to work,” he said, noting that it seems “odd” for the HHCS not to be in charge of the Cabinet Office, which is co-ordinating civil service reform.

Outgoing education department permanent secretary David Bell, however, played down concerns about the splitting of the cabinet secretary and HHCS jobs: “I know Jeremy [Heywood] wants it to be the case that you have proper shared leadership of the civil service, so the cabinet secretary and the HHCS will work very closely together,” he said.

He added that it will be important for the HHCS to have “appropriate access to the prime minister and deputy prime minister.”

Asked about the risks of poor alignment between the HHCS’s work and Ian Watmore’s job pursuing efficiency, a Cabinet Office spokesman said: “They are distinct roles but clearly there are areas where they will cross, and the two will work hand in hand on the big issues.”

See also Editorial and Analysis. This month Sir Gus and colleagues from the civil service and CSW ran a half-marathon to raise money for the charity Build Africa. Donations can be made via http://bit.ly/nQWYPj.

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Written by CSW