UK government plans radical reform to ‘unshackle civil servants’
The UK government has set out a wide-ranging reform plan, with prime minister Sir Keir Starmer telling officials that the civil service needed to become the “engine room of delivery” for government.
Ministers have developed a blueprint to rewire the civil service, with plans to create a new scheme to incentivise under-performing officials to leave their jobs, as well as work to double the proportion of civil servants in the digital and data profession.
Full details of the plan will be revealed this week, but Starmer has today (10 March) written to UK civil servants to set out plans for a “more agile, mission-focused and more productive” government.
Starmer said that the civil service “must once again become the engine room of delivery for every person in every part of the UK”.
He said that, under his plan, civil servants would “be enabled to re-focus on your core purpose, away from the things that hamper your day to day work, delivering excellent, high-performing public services that improve people’s lives”.
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Pledge to empower civil servants
Starmer said that many civil servants feel “shackled by bureaucracy, frustrated by inefficiency and unable to harness new technology”.
The government would focus on addressing these constraints, he said.
“We are determined to empower you – not through words, but action – to maximise the collective power of the state.”
The government has set out the key elements of transformation for government. These include the development of a blueprint for digital government to focus on reform across Whitehall, a suite of artificial intelligence tools, known as Humphrey, to help officials use technology to perform routine tasks more efficiently, and an AI playbook with the aim of giving departments and public sector organisations “accessible technical guidance on the safe and effective use of AI”.
Further steps will be announced on Thursday, but Starmer’s letter to civil servants was co-signed by cabinet secretary and head of the civil service Sir Chris Wormald, who Starmer tasked with overseeing “nothing less than a complete rewiring of the British state to deliver bold and ambitious long-term reform.”
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Put substance before headlines, PM told
In the letter, Starmer praised the “talent, commitment and ideas” of officials, adding: “We are proud of what you do and thank you for your continued dedication.”
However, civil service trade unions criticised the emerging plan.
Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA, which represents senior civil servants, said that government “must set out what the substance of reform looks like”, and “put substance before headlines”.
Mike Clancy, head of the Prospect union which represents more than 32,000 civil servants, added: “Nobody would say the civil service is perfect, and our members are willing partners in reform, but this government must end the tradition of treating the civil service as a political punchbag.”
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