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Francis Maude: Shake-up 'not attack on civil service' Francis Maude: Shake-up 'not attack on civil service'
(about 1 hour later)
  
Plans to make it easier to sack under-performing staff members are "not an attack on civil servants," Francis Maude has told MPs. Plans to make it easier to sack under-performing staff members were "not an attack on civil servants", Francis Maude has told MPs.
And many of the ideas in the wider package of reforms were backed by civil servants themselves. Many of the ideas in the wider package of reforms were backed by civil servants themselves, he added.
The bottom 10% of staff will be fired after a year if they fail to improve and minsters will be given the power to choose who runs departments. The bottom 10% of staff will be fired after a year if they fail to improve and ministers will be given the power to choose who runs departments.
Labour said it would support "sensible" reforms but not "chaotic" change. The PCS union said reversing job cuts was the best way to boost performance.
In a statement, Mr Maude told MPs many of the proposed measures had come from civil servants themselves who had found Whitehall to be "overly bureaucratic, hierarchical and focused on process rather than outcomes". In a statement to MPs Cabinet Office minister Mr Maude said civil servants had told the government they found Whitehall to be "overly bureaucratic, hierarchical and focused on process rather than outcomes".
And he said the plans were just the "first step" in a process of "continuous improvements". He said he wanted to see the civil service operate more like a business, with a tougher appraisal system, increased accountability and a more entrepreneurial culture.
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. 'Smaller, pacier'
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. The planned changes come against a backdrop of deep cuts and job losses across Whitehall - and are likely to be resisted by civil service unions.
Mr Maude said cuts to the size of the civil service and budget cuts had exposed weaknesses in the way to Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union, said: "I don't accept there's that under-performance.
Mr Maude announced that the worst performing members of staff will be given a year to make improvements or face dismissal. "People work in incredibly stressful conditions. And, there's already procedures in every government department to give support to those people who may need some extra help with development."
'Modern employers' He said Mr Maude should increase the number of civil servants if he wanted them to perform better.
But Mr Maude said the cuts had exposed weaknesses in the way the civil service was being run, and the reforms were vital to creating a slimmed down service fit for the 21st Century.
He told MPs: "The civil service of the future will be smaller, pacier, flatter, more digital, more accountable for effective implementation, more capable with better data and management information, more unified, consistent and corporate. It must also be more satisfying to work for."
He said he wanted to slash the "eight layers" of management he said existed in many government departments, to "empower" frontline staff to make more decisions without referring up the hierarchy.
"This is not an attack on civil servants. Neither have civil servants been rigidly resistant to change," the minister told MPs.
'Arbitrary' target
And he defended plans to place the worst performing 10% of staff on a year's probation, which Labour MP Nia Griffith said would promote a "dog-eat-dog" culture and transform the civil service into something resembling a "ghastly" reality TV show.
The minister admitted the 10% figure was "by its very nature relatively arbitrary" but evidence showed "you don't get the focus on poor performance" without setting such a target.
"It isn't fair to the rest of the civil servants, who work hard and are dedicated, to see the reputation of the civil service pulled down by those who are constantly under-performing," he told MPs.
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.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.
Mr Maude said he wanted to make the civil service operate more like a business and encourage greater "cross-fertilisation" between Whitehall and industry.
"It has often been tried. Far too rarely has it worked, but we are going to have another go," said the Cabinet Office minister.
Senior civil servants will be expected to be more accountable before parliament for their actions and the projects they manage.
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.
'Cronyism'
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. Mr Maude said this was a "modest" proposal which would be thoroughly tested before being fully implemented.
"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. He also attempted to calm fears that giving ministers a "stronger role" in the recruitment of permanent secretaries - the top civil servant in each department - would not undermine their impartiality - seen as a key hallmark of the British system of government, in contrast to America where top bureaucrats are political appointees.
"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." The Government would consult the Civil Service Commission on how that could be done, he told MPs.
Siobhan Benita, a former top civil servant and London mayoral candidate, said she would welcome plans to get rid of poor performers but criticised allowing ministers to appoint permanent secretaries. But Labour warned that it could lead to "a rise in cronyism and of the dangerous politicisation of the civil service".
She told BBC2's Daily Politics: "One of the big things envied about the UK civil service is its impartiality and to me that seems to be removing that." Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jon Trickett said the Civil Service Reform White Paper "would do little to correct the chaos which exists in many Whitehall departments".
'No incentive' He added: "The point of reform is, after all, to make things better than they were before."
Other measures 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.
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".