The Next Government: Agenda for the Civil Service
| Published date | 01 January 1997 |
| DOI | 10.1177/095207679701200101 |
| Author | Patrick Nairne |
| Date | 01 January 1997 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
EDITORIAL
The
Next
Government:
Agenda
for
the
Civil
Service
Sir
Patrick
Nairne
Former
Permanent
Secretary,
DHSS
"This
was
one
of
the
most
dismal
occasions
of
my
entire
time
in
govemment."
Thus
Margaret
Thatcher
recalled
her
dinner
party
for
the
Whitehall
Permanent
Secretaries
on
6
May
1980.
I
remember
the
occasion
well.
I
was
sitting
down
one
side
of
the
long
rectangular
table,
conscious
that
one
formidable
Prime
Minister
and
some
30
senior
civil
servants
were
never
likely
to
be
the
right
mix
for
a
relaxed,
free-flowing
discussion.
The
Prime
Minister
came
into
office
"profoundly
suspicious"
of
the
Civil
Service
as
an
institution.
In
spite
of
her
appreciation
of
the
civil
servants
at
No.
10,
her
first
year
in
power
had
not
dispelled
that
view.
The
evening
of
May
10
led
her
to
the
conclusion
that
there
was,
in
her
words,
"a
desire
for
no
change"
at
the
top
of
the
Service.
Civil
Servants
welcome
political
change
as
a
challenge
to
their
professional
skill.
They
are
inclined,
however,
to
be
more
cautious
about
change
to
their
own
organisation
and
ways
of
working
if
they
see
that
as
a
threat
to
well-tried
systems
of
administrative
practice.
However,
if
no
desire
for
change
was
evident
to
the
Prime
Minister
in
1979/80,
the
subsequent
years
of
radical
developments
in
the
functions
of
government
effectively
demonstrated
the
Service's
readiness
to
make
it.
There
is
now
a
further
agenda
for
the
Civil
Service
waiting
to
be
addressed
by
the
next
govemment.
We
must
hope
that
Ministers
will
be
spared
any
"dismal
occasions"
in
the
company
of
Permanent
Secretaries.
This
agenda
is
needed
as
a
valuable,
perhaps
essential,
contribution
to
the
success
of
future
government
policies.
It
is
composed
of
three
parts:
*
strengthening
the
partnership
between
Ministers
and
civil
servants;
*
improving
the
processes
of
govemment
policy
making;
*
assessing
and
consolidating
developments
in
public
services
management.
Partnership
between
Ministers
and
Civil
Servants
The
close
partnership
between
Ministers
and
senior
officials
is
not
simply
important:
it
is
an
essential
feature
of
British
government.
During
a
general
Public
Policy
and
Administration
Volume
12
No.]
Spring
1997
I
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