Organizational reform within government: accountability and policy management
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-162X(199702)17:1<71::AID-PAD901>3.0.CO;2-I |
| Published date | 01 February 1997 |
| Author | ROBIN MOUNTFIELD |
| Date | 01 February 1997 |
Organizational reform within government:
accountability and policy management
ROBIN MOUNTFIELD
Cabinet Of®ce, United Kingdom
SUMMARY
The article considers, from a United Kingdom perspective, the ways in which relations
between Government Departments and Agencies are organized to ensure clarity of roles and
effective accountability; and also looks at the ongoing need for effective policy management at
the centre of Government. It describes the progress of the Next Steps programme, examining
its successes and perceived weaknesses. In particular, it rehearses the debate running in the UK
on the question of Ministerial accountability, and considers the distinctions between
responsibility and accountability, and between policy matters and operations. (&1997 by
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)
INTRODUCTION
The UK Civil ServiceÐsize and range of activities
In the UK we have a Civil Service that is reducing sharply in size. Seventeen years
ago, when our present Conservative Administration came to power, the Civil Service
was approximately three-quarters of a million strong. This year it fell, to its lowest
level since 1939, at just below half a million. Of that half-million, over 70% are now
in Executive Agencies.
`Next Steps' Executive Agencies
In the United Kingdom, we have been developing the concept of the Executive
Agency, so-called `Next Steps' Agencies, after the 1988 Report (`Improving
Management in GovernmentÐthe Next Steps') that led to their creation.
The concept of the Next Steps Agency was an essentially managerial one. I want to
stress that, and return later to the distinctionÐfrequently misunderstoodÐbetween
managerial and constitutional delegation. Next Steps Agencies remain part of the
central Civil Service. Civil servants within Agencies remain in a formal sense exactly
what they were beforeÐemployees of a Government Department, answerable
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT, VOL. 17, 71±76 (1997)
CCC 0271±2075/97/010071±06$17.50
&1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Robin Mount®eld CB is Permanent Secretary, Of®ce of Public Service, Cabinet Of®ce, 70 Whitehall,
London, SW1A 2AS, UK.
To continue reading
Request your trial