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| Francis Maude: Under-achieving civil servants 'could be sacked' | |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| Plans to make it easier to sack under-performing civil servants are set to be unveiled. | Plans to make it easier to sack under-performing civil servants are set to be unveiled. |
| The plan, part of a wider package of reforms, could see the bottom 10% of staff fired after a year if they fail to make improvements. | |
| Ministers will also be given the power to select which senior civil servant runs their department. | Ministers will also be given the power to select which senior civil servant runs their department. |
| Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude is expected to set out the reforms to MPs later. | |
| The government wants to see the civil service operate more like a business, with a tougher appraisal system, increased accountability and a more entrepreneurial culture. | |
| But the planned changes come against a backdrop of deep cuts and job losses across Whitehall and may face stiff resistance from civil service unions, who have been critical of previous efforts to introduce performance-related pay. | |
| Mr Maude is expected to announce that the worst performing members of staff will be given a year to make improvements or face dismissal. | |
| 'Modern employers' | |
| As well as looking at those at the bottom, the new appraisal system will identify the top 25% of civil servants so that good performance can be rewarded. | |
| Each department will carry out a full review of the terms and conditions of its staff to identify what additional perks civil servants receive which are not in line with other "good, modern" employers. | Each department will carry out a full review of the terms and conditions of its staff to identify what additional perks civil servants receive which are not in line with other "good, modern" employers. |
| In a change which could prove controversial, ministers will no longer be restricted to the civil service as their only source of policy advice. | In a change which could prove controversial, ministers will no longer be restricted to the civil service as their only source of policy advice. |
| They will be able to commission policy research from outside Whitehall, for example from businesses, charities and think tanks. A central fund will be created to pilot this new system. | They will be able to commission policy research from outside Whitehall, for example from businesses, charities and think tanks. A central fund will be created to pilot this new system. |
| Peter Riddell, head of the Institute for Government think-tank, said civil service chiefs will battle to retain their impartiality - a hallmark of the British system of government, in contrast to America where top bureaucrats are political appointees. | |
| "Impartiality's a big prize and it's one that's undoubtedly been defended by the senior civil servants and I think that's respected also by most politicians - not all, but most politicians," said Mr Riddell. | |
| "Nonetheless there is an argument that cabinet ministers should be allowed to influence the selection of senior officials and bringing in outsiders, not necessarily political outsiders, but expert outsiders." | |
| 'No incentive' | |
| Other measures expected in the reform plan include allowing ministers to get the final say over who should be the permanent secretary in their department, with the aim of having an equal number of permanent secretaries with operational as well as policy experience. | Other measures expected in the reform plan include allowing ministers to get the final say over who should be the permanent secretary in their department, with the aim of having an equal number of permanent secretaries with operational as well as policy experience. |
| Senior civil servants will be expected to be more accountable for their actions and the projects they manage before parliament, where they are often called to give evidence to select committees. | Senior civil servants will be expected to be more accountable for their actions and the projects they manage before parliament, where they are often called to give evidence to select committees. |
| In a report published last month, former BP chief Lord Browne, brought in two years ago to make the civil service more businesslike, said it needed better "talent management" and rewards for good performance, within public sector pay restraints. | |
| The report identified "ineffective or inadequate leadership" as the reason why major projects had gone over budget and said there needed to be a change in culture "by which government recognises better the value of a more commercial approach in specific areas". | |
| It also urged a major change in the way civil servants evaluated commercial risks: "Currently there is no incentive for civil servants to take risk, only downside." | |
| The report cited the Department for International Development as an example of good practice, saying it aimed to "have good performance management, both of high performers, and of poor performers who should be managed, and if necessary exited, robustly but with dignity". |