Labour’s new advisor to the party's policy review on industrial strategy, Lord Adonis, tells Heather Spurr all is not well between Downing Street and Whitehall.
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Labour’s new advisor to the party’s policy review on industrial strategy, Lord Adonis, tells Heather Spurr all is not well between Downing Street and the mandarins
Lord Adonis this week warned Number 10 is in a “state of warfare” with Whitehall, just weeks before sweeping civil service reforms are announced by the government.
Adonis, appointed Labour’s industrial strategy adviser last week, said the government was becoming “deeply unpopular” in Whitehall because of its “anti-civil service rhetoric”, while ministers felt a “deep sense of frustration” with public officials.
The coalition is expected to announce far-reaching reforms to the civil service within the next month. It follows reports David Cameron’s former chief adviser Steve Hilton wanted to slash the number of civil servants by 90 per cent.
Adonis said:
“It’s not a good idea to have a state of warfare between the government and the civil service – which appears to be happening at the moment…
“The government is becoming deeply unpopular in Whitehall by its anti-civil service rhetoric and I deeply regret that because it’s possible to be in favour of civil service efficiency whilst also supporting the professionalism of the civil service.
“I deeply regret the attacks on civil service moral which are taking place at the moment. I don’t quite understand it either because at the end of the day, if the government wants its programme delivered, they need the civil service because no one else is going to do it.”
Until last January, the former transport secretary was head the Institute for Government, which seeks to improve efficiency in the civil service.
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When asked why he thought hostility exists between Whitehall officials and government, Adonis answered:
“There is clearly a deep sense of frustration about how things are going in Whitehall at the moment – which the government holds. I don’t think it’s justified. I was a minister for five years, I worked in Whitehall for 12 and I was constantly impressed by the professionalism of the civil service.
“There’s a need to improve efficiency and that is taking place – but I’’s all the more important when you’re improving efficiency that you support the integrity and the professionalism of one of the best administrative systems in the world.”
Damaging civil service moral would have a negative impact on Whitehall, Adonis added, explaining the government “needs to demonstrate” further cuts “are not going to harm essential public services”.
Earlier this month, the Telegraph revealed civil servants will be “rated” on their performance at work as government ministers, from the prime minister down, grow increasingly frustrated with institutional failures.
34 Responses to “Adonis: There’s a “state of warfare” between Number 10 and Whitehall”
Anonymous
Ah yes, the “real figures”, that those nurses and teachers are inherently evil, that statistics are wrong.
Of course you oppose skills training, why, people might be able to command a decent salary with SKILLS. You’re trying to drive the better people out of government jobs with a culture of fear and poor pay and benefits, and you’ll then use that as an excuse to cut the social infrastructure further, rinse and repeat.
Typical Tory, on board with the “fire 90% of public workers” bandwagon. People are not taking to the streets because of inefficient, top-down systems government systems which take 3 rather than 2 weeks to process something but because they’re no longer being able to afford to have a roof over their head and feed their kids – thanks to your policy.
Awtanner
You must try to control your party-hack hysteria – it stops you seeing the wood for the trees – we are in dire need of cleaning up managerial incompetence, along with poor performing civil servants, many of whom are promoted to high office paying themselves millions in unearned bonuses.
If you are unaware of the many inept and fraudulent public sector officials, I suggest you do a little research.
For your information I am sick of politics – it is the party hack who keeps the system going.
Anonymous
What party is that? I’m a left winger, no party speaks for me. (Moreover, I’m a mutualist, not a socialist)
As usual, you’re engaging in a Tory, party-political war on the public sector, so you can line your pockets. At the same time, as you say you’re working very hard to undermine worker’s rights.
And you call any resistance to your ideology as hysterical, in line with the anti-democratic approach…the usual, no more. You’re so typical of a Tory 1%’er it’s not even funny.
Blarg1987
There are always staff in all areas who are poorly performing, however to throw a spanner in the works, the people demand more accountability on public sector workers should things go wrong, so nurses now have to fill out large volumes of paperwork detailing what they have done with the patient, what medication they have given, how the patient loooed atc all in case the patient dies and people demand accountabiity.
Meanwhile, people demand nurses spend more time with patients and their professeion is seem as lazy because they don’t.
So which do people want? More accountability = less time with patients or more nurses or:
Less accountability = exisitng staff have more time with patieents.
I say this as an example of the flaw in the whole sytem of goverment that we as the electorate encouraged through a mixture of viting and through socities use of no win no fee lawyers.