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Building capability in the Senior Civil Service to meet today’s challenges

Full report: Building capability in the Senior Civil Service to meet today’s challenges

Full Report

Executive Summary

The leadership of the civil service needs the skills to meet today’s challenges if it is to deliver value for money, according to the National Audit Office. There has recently been progress in developing a new approach. The Government now accepts the urgent need for a leadership group that can think across departmental boundaries and lead change, and there is action in hand, but there is still a long way to go to change the long-standing culture of the Senior Civil Service.

The spending watchdog earlier this year welcomed the ambition of the Civil Service Reform Plan and emphasized the urgent need to make progress, given that the plan underpinned the Government’s chances of achieving further efficiency savings.

The Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Head of the Civil Service want the civil service of the future to be ‘skilled, unified, open and accountable’. At present, however, there are significant skills shortages, particularly in the areas of commerce, project management, digital delivery and change leadership. In December 2012, only four out of 15 Permanent Secretaries at major delivery departments had significant operational delivery and commercial experience. The government is now placing a stronger focus on these skills in the recruitment and development of senior and future leaders.

The Government’s five-year plan for improving skills and performance describes a new corporate approach that is coherent, innovative and ambitious, but there are challenges. The 24 professional networks in the civil service lack influence across departmental ‘silos’ and may not be the right groupings to meet the needs of the modern service.

The Senior Civil Service cannot be described as a unified leadership group at present. Below the ‘top 200’ civil servants, senior civil servants see themselves, first and foremost, as members of a department and many have no expectations of moving. The Government intends to open up the service, with more internal transfers and free flow of skills to and from the private sector, and build on an approach already in place for the top 200. But the proportion of new recruits from the private sector fell in 2009-10 as departments cut spending, and has yet to recover.

Today’s report also cites evidence that promotion to the Senior Civil Service is becoming so financially unattractive as to put off talented people. Owing to the pay freeze, and changes to pensions and benefits, the total reward for senior civil servants has been reduced by around 17 per cent in real terms over four years. The NAO warns that the latest moves to increase pay flexibility and offer incentives for business critical roles may not be enough to recruit, motivate and retain the right people. While there is currently a low rate of resignations, there is a risk that economic recovery could see an exodus of the most talented and marketable senior people, at the very time when effective corporate leadership is needed to meet the challenges of the remainder of the Parliament.

“The real challenge is to shift the long-standing culture in the civil service to create a leadership group with the full range of skills needed for success, today and in the future, and which is a shared resource across government. This is far easier said than done. The case for a corporate approach is now inescapable but achieving full buy-in from departments will take time. Progress will need to be rapid and involve all senior civil servants, not just those on corporate talent programmes.”

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 19 June 2013

Notes for Editors

3,616
Senior civil servants in post in April 2012

2,753
Senior civil servants who are deputy directors

£303m
Total basic salaries paid to the senior civil service in 2011-12

17.4 per cent
Real-terms reduction in base salary for senior civil servants since 2009

4 out of 15
Permanent secretaries at the main delivery departments who have significant operational delivery and commercial experience

£60,600– £78,200
The median deputy director salaries at the lowest- and highest- paying Whitehall departments – a range of 29 per cent

20 per cent
Senior civil servants thinking of leaving within 12 months

2.8 per cent
The percentage of senior civil servants who resigned in 2011-12

16.9 per cent
The turnover rate of senior civil servants in 2011-12

  1. Press notices and reports are available from the date of publication on the NAO website, which is at www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
  2. The National Audit Office scrutinises public spending for Parliament and is independent of government. The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), Amyas Morse, is an Officer of the House of Commons and leads the NAO, which employs some 867 staff. The C&AG certifies the accounts of all government departments and many other public sector bodies. He has statutory authority to examine and report to Parliament on whether departments and the bodies they fund have used their resources efficiently, effectively, and with economy. Our studies evaluate the value for money of public spending, nationally and locally. Our recommendations and reports on good practice help government improve public services, and our work led to audited savings of almost £1.2 billion in 2012.

 

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