Homer Calls For Unity

I see on the civil service website that Lin Homer recently wrote a joint article article calling for unity within the civil service.

I wonder if this is a straw in the wind, and that she is preparing for a larger role outwith HMRC?

Anyone care to speculate?

Here is the aricle in full:

“The public establishments of this country … are regulated upon the principle of merely departmental promotion … The effect naturally is, to cramp the energies of the whole body, to encourage the growth of narrow views.”

These words were written by Stafford H. Northcote and C. E. Trevelyan in 1853 in their report on the organisation of the Civil Service. Since then the Civil Service has gone through many changes of structure, size and outlook, but our need to break down boundaries between departments remains.
Key to this is the Civil Service Reform Plan, which we very much hope you’ve all read and discussed in your teams. We both believe the Civil Service Reform Plan can and should be implemented. As part of this work, Lin is leading on creating a unified civil service, and this message will begin to set out what this means to us.

The first thing to say, is that a unified civil service isn’t just about sharing services – although we can and will share where we have the potential to make enormous efficiencies and savings, such as with payroll and HR. What we want to achieve is more fundamental.

The Civil Service has gradually evolved into a system where departments and agencies have a good deal of independence to deliver their priorities, rather than being firmly controlled by the centre. This has advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, departments are free to decide which areas they focus on and can act accordingly, quickly and efficiently.

On the other, it’s becoming increasingly clear that there are many challenges, and policy changes, that don’t fit neatly into departmental portfolios – that depend on interdependency to be successful. This is why we need to be better at working across our boundaries, to tackle issues such as youth unemployment and encouraging economic growth collectively. There are already some great examples of what we can achieve together – such as the recently launched GOV.UK website, which makes it quicker and easier for members of the public to access government services and information. We’ve also had great success with the Red Tape Challenge, where departments have collaborated closely to remove unnecessary regulations.

What we want to do, and what we want to encourage you all to do, is search for the best examples of working practises across Whitehall and make them standard – covering everything from policy to IT, from legal services to HR. It’s not about shifting back towards a structure where everything is controlled by the centre – it’s about using our many successes and positive examples to help each other. We want you to be proud, not just of working for your department, but also the Civil Service as a whole, and know that it excels at dealing with some of the most challenging issues this country has ever faced. This can be achieved, but only if we’re unified – if we all work together."

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