Maude signals greater central control over efficiency reforms

A Conservative government would introduce greater central control over some civil service functions, even while control over frontline services is devolved down to the local level, the shadow Cabinet Office minister has said.

Francis Maude, who has shadowed the Cabinet Office since 2007, told Civil Service World last week that “Our view is that there are some things that need to be tightly controlled from the centre, and currently aren’t very tightly controlled, while the delivery of frontline services needs to be pushed out.

“At the moment, government gets it the wrong way round. It doesn’t control from the centre some of the operational things that need to be controlled, like head count; the centre doesn’t have the power at the moment to exercise control. And yet it tries to micro-manage delivery.”

Under a Conservative administration, Maude said, the centre of government would exert more influence over Whitehall functions where greater coordination and political energy could cut costs, but departments would be freed from centralised target systems designed to shape and monitor frontline delivery.

“You need to have some pretty tight control, but very defined on a few things – which might include the delivery of shared services – and then responsibility for frontline delivery pushed as close to the front line as you can possibly get,” he said.

The Tories’ proposal to strengthen departmental boards, he added, would give departments greater autonomy and responsibility over policymaking. Maude announced plans last October to introduce more private sector non-executive directors onto departmental boards, and to have them chaired by secretaries of state. Under the plans, departmental business plans – which would replace public service agreements and annual reports – would require board approval, and boards would have the ability to recommend that permanent secretaries be removed.

The idea of centralising some Whitehall functions represents something of a turnaround for Francis Maude, who at the 2008 Tory conference told CSW that centralisation had damaged departments. “The fact that the centres of government in the Treasury, Cabinet Office and Downing Street have become so powerful is very damaging,” he said then. “Permanent secretaries should not see the cabinet secretary as their boss; they should be responsible to their ministers. The cabinet secretary will still be the head of the civil service [under the Tories], but departments must be empowered to get on with the job.” However, the Conservatives have since adopted a more nuanced approach, thanks partly to the party’s collaboration with think-tank the Institute for Government, which advocates greater central control over some functions such as IT and HR.

Last updated 751 days ago by Civil Service Live