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| Why are senior staff fleeing the Government Digital Service? | Why are senior staff fleeing the Government Digital Service? |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The Government Digital Service (GDS) has brought digital to the top of the agenda over the past four years. It started off a small start-up at the centre of Whitehall and grew to have serious political clout thanks to its ability to prove that services could not only be better designed, but could also cost less. | The Government Digital Service (GDS) has brought digital to the top of the agenda over the past four years. It started off a small start-up at the centre of Whitehall and grew to have serious political clout thanks to its ability to prove that services could not only be better designed, but could also cost less. |
| GDS, however, was still just getting started. The redesign of GOV.UK and other “exemplar services” were mere mechanisms that could be used to gain momentum to get buy-in for the bigger picture. That bigger picture was “government as a platform” – a shared digital infrastructure for all parts of government. The idea was to build a public sector version of Amazon, where government departments could be innovative, come up with ideas about how to fix problems, request the services they need, try to test the design cheaply and roll out if successful. | GDS, however, was still just getting started. The redesign of GOV.UK and other “exemplar services” were mere mechanisms that could be used to gain momentum to get buy-in for the bigger picture. That bigger picture was “government as a platform” – a shared digital infrastructure for all parts of government. The idea was to build a public sector version of Amazon, where government departments could be innovative, come up with ideas about how to fix problems, request the services they need, try to test the design cheaply and roll out if successful. |
| This is is game-changing stuff in government circles and the whole world was watching. This has led to the likes of the US and Australia seeing the UK as leaders in digital government, following in our footsteps, copying our set-up and are even using our code. | This is is game-changing stuff in government circles and the whole world was watching. This has led to the likes of the US and Australia seeing the UK as leaders in digital government, following in our footsteps, copying our set-up and are even using our code. |
| However, last week GDS director Mike Bracken announced he will be stepping down at the end of September. It was a shock to many, and it has become increasingly clear that the agenda around “government as a platform” and the wider digital transformation that is required is at risk. This threat is being driven – perhaps inadvertently – from the very top and we at diginomica reluctantly have to say that we have no confidence in civil service chief executive John Manzoni to get the job done the way it needs to be done. | |
| Related: Will Whitehall's finest back a new John-Manzoni-model civil service? | |
| A lack of faith | A lack of faith |
| I have been told that Bracken pitched the idea of “government as a platform”, which requires institutional reform and the complete redesign of public sector services, to Manzoni, the man responsible for civil service reform – only to have it rejected out of hand. Bracken laid his cards on the table and, according to those in the know, Manzoni just didn’t get it. | |
| Off the back of Bracken’s announcement last week, three senior figures inside GDS have also resigned: deputy director Tom Loosemore, director of strategy Russell Davies, and director of design Ben Terrett. These are some of the people who have saved services, such as universal credit, which if had been left to its own devices would be a train-wreck by now. | Off the back of Bracken’s announcement last week, three senior figures inside GDS have also resigned: deputy director Tom Loosemore, director of strategy Russell Davies, and director of design Ben Terrett. These are some of the people who have saved services, such as universal credit, which if had been left to its own devices would be a train-wreck by now. |
| Read between the lines and it doesn’t take much to understand why. Loosemore, for example, says in his blogpost: | Read between the lines and it doesn’t take much to understand why. Loosemore, for example, says in his blogpost: |
| “In the UK, the imperative of such a radical re-invention of the civil service is yet to be recognised. It will require bold, brave, reforming leadership from the centre; leadership with the conviction, commitment and authority required to successfully challenge the shape, the size and the dominant culture of Whitehall. Come that revolution, I’ll be first in line to serve HMG again.” | “In the UK, the imperative of such a radical re-invention of the civil service is yet to be recognised. It will require bold, brave, reforming leadership from the centre; leadership with the conviction, commitment and authority required to successfully challenge the shape, the size and the dominant culture of Whitehall. Come that revolution, I’ll be first in line to serve HMG again.” |
| The departures don’t mean that GDS is now redundant. There are still great people there doing great work. Chief operations officer Steve Foreshew has just announced that he will be replacing Bracken, and I’m told that he’s very good at what he does. There are still very talented teams working on interesting projects within the department. | The departures don’t mean that GDS is now redundant. There are still great people there doing great work. Chief operations officer Steve Foreshew has just announced that he will be replacing Bracken, and I’m told that he’s very good at what he does. There are still very talented teams working on interesting projects within the department. |
| But how far can they get without the support of Manzoni at the top? At the very least, it would be useful to have someone running the civil service that understands why a platform approach makes sense for public services. | But how far can they get without the support of Manzoni at the top? At the very least, it would be useful to have someone running the civil service that understands why a platform approach makes sense for public services. |
| From my understanding, Manzoni isn’t willing to take on permanent secretaries and the roles of their departments, which may require a fundamental restructuring to get government as a platform going. If we don’t have a civil service chief executive that isn’t willing to ruffle a few feathers, and is more interested in making friends, I don’t hold much hope for the short to medium term. | From my understanding, Manzoni isn’t willing to take on permanent secretaries and the roles of their departments, which may require a fundamental restructuring to get government as a platform going. If we don’t have a civil service chief executive that isn’t willing to ruffle a few feathers, and is more interested in making friends, I don’t hold much hope for the short to medium term. |
| Both Bracken and his successor Foreshew have hinted that the spending review, which is set to be published on 25 November, will be critical to securing the future of GDS’s platform plans. | Both Bracken and his successor Foreshew have hinted that the spending review, which is set to be published on 25 November, will be critical to securing the future of GDS’s platform plans. |
| The next few months will see somewhat of a battle from those at the top of the digital agenda to fight for funds, to limit the chance of budget cuts and to stop any sort of significant headcount reduction within GDS. | The next few months will see somewhat of a battle from those at the top of the digital agenda to fight for funds, to limit the chance of budget cuts and to stop any sort of significant headcount reduction within GDS. |
| My take | My take |
| There is a lack of political willingness to undertake a complete redesign of the Whitehall institution. It needs complete reform. But the current system suits too many people and parties that have spent years building themselves a power base within Whitehall from which they can make money. The status quo is a comfortable place. | There is a lack of political willingness to undertake a complete redesign of the Whitehall institution. It needs complete reform. But the current system suits too many people and parties that have spent years building themselves a power base within Whitehall from which they can make money. The status quo is a comfortable place. |
| We need Manzoni to be the leader that drives the necessary change. He had the people that were willing to do it and now some of those people are gone. It’s not too late if action is taken now. | We need Manzoni to be the leader that drives the necessary change. He had the people that were willing to do it and now some of those people are gone. It’s not too late if action is taken now. |
| Derek du Preez is a journalist specialising in writing about technology. This is an edited version of a blog originally published by diginomica | Derek du Preez is a journalist specialising in writing about technology. This is an edited version of a blog originally published by diginomica |
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