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The Civil Service should be moving towards a culture of 'dynamic capability' with Capability Reviews more tailored to individual departments and more resources devoted to ensuring that they deliver change, according to an evaluation of the Civil Service Capability Review (CR) programme by the National School of Government's Sunningdale Institute.

The report was commissioned by the Civil Service Steering Board (CSSB) - the cross-cutting governing body of the Civil Service – to evaluate what went well, what did not, and to suggest what the future direction for the CR programme should be.

Key findings and recommendations are that:

• CRs have provided a good start in launching a reform process.
• Although it’s early days to assess their impact, departments that have gone through initial review are actively delivering changes.
• CRs provide limited analysis of ‘delivery’, and cross-cutting issues and capabilities.
• To avoid tail-off, follow-through both within departments (vertically) and across the Civil Service (horizontally) should be pursued, requiring investment from departments and the corporate centre respectively.
• Future CRs should be less about ‘one size fits all’ and more tailored to the needs of each department.
• Developing a culture of ‘dynamic capability’ characterised by continuous improvement and a constant search for innovation and quality is the big challenge to develop a world class Civil Service.

Drawing on the Sunningdale Institute's network of academics and public sector leaders, the team of five professors comprised: Patrick Barwise (London Business School); David Macleod (Visiting Professor, Cass Business School); Howard Thomas (Warwick Business School); David Tranfield (Cranfield School of Management); and Sue Richards , seconded from the University of Birmingham to the National School of Government as Director of its Sunningdale Insitute. 

The evaluation team’s fieldwork included reading relevant documents, attending events relating to the latest tranche of reviews, interviewing people who had been involved on both sides of the process and some independent observers, and taking feedback from a high level advisory board and CSSB, chaired by Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell. The team’s ideas were then tested with permanent secretaries at their ‘Autumn Sunningdale’ meeting.

Professor Richards explains the team’s findings: “Capability Reviews have made a good start as a corporate change initiative, better than previous attempts by quite a long way. But the next stages are critical: what needs to be done to sustain the momentum that has been created – to prevent ‘tail-off’; and what needs to be done to create a real step change in the way the Civil Service operates”.

The 15 government departments that have gone through the initial review are actively delivering changes. The review team found the programme has provided a significant catalyst for change with capability issues being discussed more widely and openly, partly because the process of review has identified common capability gaps across departments.

Although there is great value in comparable and published scores, the report suggests there needs to be differentiation between those departments with high capability, and others that are not at the same place, with the corporate centre providing different kinds of support and challenge.

Professor Richards says: “Many things need to change before the Civil Service can deliver against this challenging agenda. Although a system characterised by ‘dynamic capability’ eventually would result in less ‘crisis management’ and immediate pressure for those who lead, getting there can increases current demands. This is a big challenge for Civil Service leaders.”

A full copy of the report is available on the National School of Government website at www.nationalschool.gov.uk/sunningdaleinstitute.

Notes to editors:

As the Government’s centre of excellence for learning and development, the National School of Government became a separate government department in January 2007. It strives to ensure the highest professional and academic standards in public service organisational and people development.

Chaired by Professor Cary Cooper of the Lancaster University Management School , and directed by Professor Sue Richards at the National School of Government, the Sunningdale Institute brings together leading academics and industry figures to advise public service leaders and organisations on operational and delivery issues. It offers knowledge exchange, consultancy, and learning and development activities for senior public servants.  Fellows give briefings, lead research projects, participate in high-level consultancy interventions, and facilitate dialogue on topics of importance to government. Visit www.nationalschool.gov.uk/sunningdaleinstitute for more info rmation.

Capability Reviews are part of a wider Civil Service reform agenda to deliver improved public services. They provide an assessment of capability for government departments, identifying key areas for improvement and outlining key actions. Visit www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/accountability/capability for more info rmation.

For media enquiries, please contact Rob Reynolds , National School of Government; email: rob.reynolds@nationalschool.gsi.gov.uk; tel 01344 634145; m 07881 518719, or Chris Blunkell , Media Associate; email: chris.blunkell@btinternet.com; tel: 01227 772747; m 07941 831341.