An FDA alternative White Paper

2

Delivering for the Nation - Securing a World-Class Civil Service

Foreword 

Executive summary including

list of recommendations
6
Chapter 1
Modernising the civil
service: the challenge 

12

Chapter 2
Equipping the civil service
to deliver in the modern
context 
15

An FDA alternative White Paper

Chapter 3
Getting accountability
and impartiality right

21

Chapter 4
How to improve morale
and motivation to
deliver for the nation

26

Next steps

31

Foreword

Dave Penman
FDA general secretary
A world-class civil service is
critical for delivering world
class public services and
efficient, effective Government.

t matters because it forms the bedrock

of our democracy, it makes Government
work, makes policy real and changes
peoples lives. It is hugely important for us all
that our civil service works effectively in the
national interest.

Although the current civil service is under

severe pressure, it is not broken. Neither is it
perfect. The FDA is not resistant to change:
we share the aspiration of a better civil
service - a world-class civil service. But we
think an approach based on learning from
experience and continuous improvement not a stark choice between radical reform or
no reform at all - is the way to achieve that.
This is the approach we advocate in this
paper.
All too often the debate about modernising
the civil service is framed within negative
headlines. There have been suggestions
of obstructionism and a considerable part
of the recent Parliamentary debate has

4

focused on the issue of permanent secretary

appointments and accountability of the most
senior officials.
Meanwhile, in the day-to-day real world,
the civil service is made up of dedicated and
highly skilled public servants who are really
committed to Delivering for the Nation. In
the real world, civil servants are operating in
an exceptionally challenging environment
of diminishing resources, radical change,
and pay levels that have fallen dramatically
behind the market.
Civil servants are not faceless bureaucrats
but real people striving every day to serve
the Government and the public. They include
those who stop tax evasion, prosecute
criminals, improve the performance of
schools, represent our national interests
abroad and protect our borders. These
are just a few of the key public service
occupations the FDA represents as well as
those who provide support and advice to
Ministers, the Mandarins as the press love
to describe them.
The FDA, the trade union to which 19,000
of these senior public servants and
professionals working in Whitehall and

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

foreword

throughout the UK belong, is keen to ensure

that there is a longer term, more strategic
debate about reform of the civil service, that
is built on a shared analysis of the challenges
facing the civil service and which looks at
building political consensus on what needs
to be done to achieve effective civil service
reform.
Our White Paper proposals are therefore
designed to deliver improvement and
progress on a range of issues. We advocate
a considered evolutionary approach based
on three core principles, which we hope can
secure support across all political parties:
l the starting point for reform must be a
proper appraisal of the challenges the civil
service faces, the skills that are required
and the resources required to deliver
policy commitments;
l that we must learn from experience and
expertise and build on the many examples

of success rather than focus on occasional

failure; and
l that the process of reform can only really
succeed if there is respect on both sides:
respect by civil servants for the extremely
difficult and changed role of Ministers, and
respect by politicians for civil servants
unique and complex role in policy
development and implementation.
I very much hope that you will read the
FDAs alternative White Paper with interest,
and take part in the debate over the coming
months about how together we can secure a
world-class civil service that truly delivers for
the nation.

Dave Penman
FDA general secretary

Civil servants are not faceless bureaucrats

but real people striving every day to serve
the Government and the public.

An FDA alternative White Paper

Executive summary

ince the last comprehensive review

of the civil service in 1968 by Lord
Fulton we have seen huge structural
change, both in terms of who now makes
decisions and the process by which decisions
are made. Policy making has constantly and
rapidly evolved during this period and we
have also seen radical transformation in the
way that public services are delivered. The
one constant has been that the impartial
civil service has kept at its heart its core
mission of speaking truth unto power,
which comes from the principles first set
out in the Northcote Trevelyan report of
1854 that established the civil service.
Impartiality is at the heart of the strength of
the civil service and any reform must be very
cautious not to damage it.

The FDA accepts the argument that there

is no right size for the civil service, however
this does not mean that continuous
reductions in the size of the civil service is
justified. Reductions on the scale, and at the
pace, of those underway currently will place
enormous pressures on those who remain in
the civil service, and undermine the capacity
to deliver the quality of services the public
quite rightly expects. By 2015, matching
resources to workload will be profoundly
challenging. It is clear that the civil service is
currently facing unprecedented challenges,
and to ensure that it can deliver for the nation
it must have the skills it needs for a changing
environment and expectations, but it is also
imperative that there is clarity on what the
civil service is expected to do.

By 2015, matching resources

to workload will be profoundly
challenging.

6

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

Executive summary

Equipping the civil service to deliver in the modern context

The FDA welcomes the Governments

commitment to put skills, learning and
development onto a stronger footing through
five-year capability plans in each department.
This needs, however, to be reinforced with

a commitment to invest in the skills and

capabilities of all civil servants. We make a
number of recommendations in this White
Paper for improving the skills, capability and
diversity of the civil service.

Recommendations
1. The FDA recommends that departments
should have to report the training received
by staff on a yearly basis, with a target of
at least 95% of all staff having received five
days accredited training. There should be
regular independent skills and training audits
to ensure compliance. If departments do not
spend an allocated sum on training 120%
of that underspend should be recovered
centrally and re-distributed in the following
year.
2. The FDA recommends that the Civil Service
Competency Framework is aligned to other
public service frameworks.
3. The FDA recommends that public sector
training should be joined up so that public
servants can access training across the whole
sector. This should be supported by a bespoke
Sector Skills Council to at least embrace the
civil service and local government.

5. The FDA recommends that there should

be regularly reviewed development plans
for staff on release so they do not actually
experience a career detriment from the
arrangement.
6. The FDA recommends that the
Governments commitment to reduce the
turnover of senior responsible officers
should be extended to other senior roles.
This approach must be reinforced by explicit
recognition and reward of those senior
people, who will now be required to remain in
key posts for longer.
7. The Government should provide investment
to support the FDAs work to improve
diversity and leadership in the civil service
and across the public sector.

4. The FDA recommends that secondments/

loans between departments and the wider
public sector should be encouraged through
a greater central management and resource,
with targets for departments to incentivise
take up.

An FDA alternative White Paper

Executive summary

Getting accountability and impartiality right

The civil service must ensure that it retains

the confidence of the public and elected
politicians to provide impartial objective
advice to the Government of the day and
deliver high quality public services. Trust
between civil servants, the Government
they serve and Parliament is critical for the
effective working of Government and a
healthy democracy. What is vital is that civil
servants, Ministers, Parliament and the public
understand how accountability operates
and - to the extent that it is possible - there
is general agreement on how public servants
and ministers are held to account for their
actions. It is vital, therefore, that as far as is
practical, a consensus is achieved on how the
Osmotherly Rules should operate.
The ability of an incoming Government of a
different political persuasion to trust senior
appointees to act in a politically impartial
fashion is clearly of great constitutional
significance. Government must be able to
operate effectively when there are changes
of Minister or administration. The FDA
rejects, therefore, the notion that it would
be better to move to an approach in which
there would be wholesale changes of senior
civil servants after each General Election. The
FDA does accept that Ministers should have
an opportunity to influence the selection
process of the most senior civil servants but
believes that the ability of the Civil Service
Commission to appoint individuals on the
grounds of merit, who can also command
the confidence of ministers, is the ultimate
test. Accordingly we support the current

8

arrangements for appointment of permanent

secretaries but are recommending that these
should be reviewed and outcomes tested on a
regular basis.
The FDA recognises that the civil service
does not have a monopoly on the expertise
needed to underpin high quality policy
advice. Harnessing external expertise,
through commissioning research and
stakeholder consultation, plays a vital role
in the policymaking process. It should be
recognised, however, that the civil service is
the only organisation in the field whose remit
is indivisible from, and truly complementary
to, that of the Government of the day. An
impartial civil service is vital to assuring
Ministers of robust advice on implementation
options and costs. The civil services ability
to speak truth unto power is an asset to be
prized, not to be condemned as obstructive.
Whilst there is currently much discussion
about the need to ensure that civil servants
have the right skill set for running modern
public services, there is little recognition
that Ministers also need an increasingly
complicated set of skills to provide the
necessary political leadership to make
Government work. We are therefore
recommending in this White Paper that
consideration should be given to the support
and training provided for Ministers in the
operation of Government, role of the civil
service and specific departmental policy
responsibilities.

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

Executive summary

Recommendations:
1. The FDA believes that it is important to
ensure that high quality, easily accessible
data is available to hold the Government
to account, accompanied by the right
information to inform its use. The FDA
recommends therefore that sufficient
impartial resource and expertise should be
secured in the civil service to make data
available, explain its meaning and maximise
its use and reuse for holding Government to
account.
2. The FDA believes it is vital that as far as
is practical, a consensus is achieved on how
the Osmotherly rules should operate. The
review should consider the experience of
the other Parliaments in the UK and how
the relationship between civil servants
and politicians operates, often in a much
more collaborative environment. The FDA
recommends that the review should consider
wider issues around training and support for
those giving evidence. It is essential that the
FDA is fully involved in establishing a revised
process.
3. The FDA fully supports the current
arrangements for appointment of permanent
secretaries but recommends that these should
be reviewed and outcomes tested on a regular
basis.

An FDA alternative White Paper

4. The FDA recommends that consideration

should be given to the support and training
provided for Ministers in the operation of
Government, role of the civil service and
specific departmental policy responsibilities.
5. The FDA does not believe the numbers of
special advisors should be artificially limited.
However the FDA recommends that greater
emphasis should be placed on the training
and oversight of special advisors. This should
ensure that they have the capability to
perform the vital task of providing Ministers
with political advice and support, without the
risk of becoming a barrier to the relationship
between a minister and their civil servants.
6. The FDA believes - subject to the overriding
principles of appointment on merit, and
oversight by the Civil Service Commission that it should be possible to devise a truncated
appointments process to cater for exceptional
circumstances where they may be an urgent
need for a particular expertise.
7. The FDA firmly believes and recommends
that the civil service must retain the job of
presenting final policy advice to Ministers,
making sure that advice is objective and
reflects all the costs, evidence and options
available. Ministers can then take policy
decisions clear about the risks and benefits of
all the alternatives.

Executive summary

How to improve morale and motivation to deliver for the nation

No well-functioning organisation - in the

private or public sector - can exist without a
motivated workforce focused on achieving
its goals and purposes. The civil service is
not in a position to be able to present itself as
the ideal employer. Civil servants as a whole,
and in the higher grades in particular are
witnessing a substantial fall in remuneration,
which for some could be as high as 25%.
For successive years, across more than one
political administration, pay restraint in
the civil service has been seen as a political
imperative. With each year that passes the
pay gap between the public and the private
sector widens and issues of turnover, quality
recruitment and ongoing morale worsen.

There is a great disparity between pay in

the higher grades of the civil service and the
pay for comparable roles in the wider public
and private sectors. The problems raised by
an expanding gulf between pay in the civil
service and comparable employments are
not unsolvable, but action does need to be
taken. Continuation of the current approach
is simply not viable. We are making a number
of recommendations in this White Paper that
we believe will help to address the current
situation and which could help to avert an
exodus of skills and experience from the civil
service.

Recommendations:
1. The FDA recommends that the
responsibility for setting civil service pay
policy for all grades represented by the union
should be transferred to a strengthened,
independent and autonomous salary review
body. A recent survey of MPs showed
significant support for this position with
majority support from politicians in all main
political parties (Com Res Survey January
2013).
2. The FDA recommends that the Cabinet
Office should instigate, in early course, a
review process similar to that undertaken
for the SCS in Northern Ireland to examine
and make recommendations in relation to the
analogous pay system in Great Britain.
3. The FDA recommends that the Cabinet
Office should initiate a dialogue with nonexecutive directors on departmental boards
about the level of remuneration paid to
private sector leaders in order to retain key
skills and capabilities.

10

4. The FDA recommends that civil service

employers should be allowed sufficient
funding and flexibility to address recruitment
and retention concerns before they became
acute.
5. The FDA recommends that the Cabinet
Office should review and address the longhours culture in the senior civil service and
take forward lessons on flexibility learned
during the London 2012 Olympics.
6. The FDA recommends that there should be
fresh engagement between employers and
the union on performance management that
is genuinely about improving performance
and recognising achievement. Any system of
performance management will not succeed
if it does not have the confidence of staff and
this should be a key objective.

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

History of civil
service reform
1854 The 1854 Northcote-Trevelyan Report established the values of

the civil service including that it should be permanent, unified and

politically neutral. It also recommended a clear division between staff
responsible for routine (mechanical) work, and those engaged in
policy formulation and implementation in an administrative class.

1918 The 1918 Haldane Report established the structure of British

Government, which is still shaped by the seminal reports basic

principle of defining the field of activity in the case of each
department according to the particular service which it renders to
the community as a whole. It advocated separate ministries for
health, education, finance, foreign affairs and defence - all of which
essentially remain.

1968 The 1968 Fulton Report found that administrators were not

professional enough, and in particular lacked management skills;

that the position of technical and scientific experts needed to be
rationalised and enhanced; and that the service was indeed too
remote. Its 158 recommendations included the introduction of a
unified grading system for all categories of staff, a civil service
college and a central policy planning unit. Fulton also said that
control of the service should be taken from the Treasury and given
to a new department, and that the fast stream recruitment process
for accessing the upper echelons should be made more flexible, to
encourage candidates from less privileged backgrounds.

1980 The 1980 Osmotherly Rules state that civil servants (officials) are

not directly accountable to Parliament but instead it is the Secretary

of State (or Ministers of State, Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of
State and Parliamentary Private Secretaries as the elected/appointed
agents of the Crown) who are accountable to Parliament. Civil
servants essentially carrying out actions under ministerial powers
and authority are merely responsible to them, and thus cannot
be summoned by select committees, as they are protected by the
same rule that prevents Members of Parliament being summoned.
However, in general, if there is a dispute about the attendance of
an official, the relevant minister should attend instead as a matter
of courtesy. The Rules have been updated a number of times - most
recently in 2005 - and civil servants frequently do appear before
select committees, although the rules under which this happens
remain somewhat unclear.

An FDA alternative White Paper

11

Chapter 1
Modernising the civil service:
the challenge
The civil service was last comprehensively
reviewed in 1968 by Lord Fulton. Since then
we have seen huge structural change both
in terms of who now makes decisions with
for example devolved administrations in
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well
as increasing localism and the process by
which decisions are made. To take but one
example, technology has transformed the
way we work, the way we communicate and
the way citizens and the state interact. It has
transformed society, business and inevitably
politics including the civil service.
In fact politics, and policy making, has
constantly and rapidly evolved over recent
years during which time we have also seen
radical transformation in the way that
public services are delivered. There have
been fundamental shifts with many public
services now privatised or provided by non
departmental public bodies or commissioned
rather than delivered. There have also been
changes in actual delivery so that they are
more local, flexible and personal.
The specific role of the modern Secretary of
State has changed enormously since 1968. If
what politicians do has changed as it clearly
has with communication and consultation to
the fore as well as the ever present demand
for media comment and public transparency
then it is clear this necessitates change
in what the civil service does. Moreover
we have also seen, very recently, more
institutional shifts such as fixed Parliaments,
a presumption towards five years for
ministers to be in the same post and more
flexible working following arrangements
introduced during the Olympics.
In this context, the impartial civil service has
of course constantly evolved keeping at its

12

heart its core mission of speaking truth unto

power, which comes from the principles first
set out in the Northcote Trevelyan report of
1854 which established the civil service (see
previous page).
But we agree with Sir Bob Kerslake, head of
the civil service, who said in the foreword of
the Civil Service Reform Plan about the civil
service of the future:

We are facing unprecedented challenges

which call for profound change and
adaptation. We have already started this
process The challenge is to work together
to deliver change whilst maintaining our core
strengths and enduring values.
Unfortunately, the Coalitions Civil Service
Reform Plan, published in June last year, has
not provided a basis for the comprehensive
debate that is needed. We do recognise that
it acknowledges the significant changes and
challenges being faced by the civil service
and the Governments strength of feeling
that reform is necessary. However, it has
to some extent been diverted into a debate
around a very limited number of issues such
as accountability, and at worst been used
as a pretext for further eroding the reward
package for civil servants.
The Plan drew together a broad range of
issues around five themed chapters: the
future size and shape of the civil service,
improving policy-making capability,
implementing policy and sharpening
accountability, building capability, and
creating a modern employment offer for
staff. The FDA naturally has views on each
of those. We agree, for example, that there
are areas where the civil service could,
and should, improve - the areas of project

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

chapter 1

management, procurement and leadership

are clear candidates. Chapter 2 presents our
thinking in these areas.
The FDA has strong views on the section
of the Reform Plan on implementing policy
and sharpening accountability, touching
as it does on important matters about the
constitutional role of the civil service. The
current position set out by the Armstrong
doctrine is that the civil service as such has
no constitutional personality or responsibility
separate from the duly elected Government
of the day. This principle is important in
protecting the ability of the Government of
the day to demand fearless and impartial
advice from their civil servants, without the
political risk of that advice being used against
ministers out of context by their political
opponents. This impartiality is at the heart
of the strength of the civil service and any
reform must be very cautious not to damage
it. We examine these issues in more depth in
chapter 3.

The FDA accepts the argument that there

is no right size for the civil service, however
this does not mean - and therefore should
not be used to justify - that continuous
cutting back is the right approach. In fact, we
believe reductions on the scale, and at the
pace, of those underway currently will place
enormous pressures on those who remain in
the civil service, and undermine the capacity
to deliver the quality of services the public
quite rightly expect. By 2015, matching
resources to workload will be profoundly
challenging. Whilst the FDA will work hard
to meet that challenge, and will engage
constructively on reforms that facilitate
delivery, the civil service cannot ever be
seen as expendable - an alternative means
by which to finance reducing the deficit. This
issue, along with the build-up of frustration
over pay and reward, have impacted on levels
of morale which continue to fall. We examine
issues of morale and motivation in chapter 4.

The civil service cannot ever be seen as

expendable an alternative means by
which to finance reducing the deficit.

An FDA alternative White Paper

13

chapter 1

Is there still time for the Civil Service Reform

Plan to engender the debate that is needed
about a modern civil service or is time for a
more comprehensive, authoritative and cross
party review of the civil service perhaps
a Commission similar to Fulton? This is
a question we believe must be seriously
considered and answered in the next few
months.
Perhaps it is time to go back and ask the
very basic question: what is required of a
civil service in a highly complex, advanced
western state in the twenty first century?
If we could all agree on the functions of the
civil service then its form should follow, and
we can perhaps look forward to it delivering
for the nation rather than attracting
headlines and being treated like a political
football.

But whether or not the call for a more

fundamental review is taken forward, the
FDA has a clear vision of the modern civil
servant - someone who is professional,
well-disciplined and creative as well as highly
motivated. It is someone who deserves
respect as well as gives it. It is someone who
is equipped and supported to do their job.
Someone proud to deliver for their nation and
recognised not as a faceless bureaucrat but a
real person with real talents and an essential
job. In this respect we do agree with Prime
Minister David Cameron, who said:

The core of the Civil Service Reform Plan is

this: harnessing the world-beating talents
of those who work in our civil service and
making sure they arent held back by a
system that can be sclerotic and slow.

The FDA has a clear vision of the modern

civil servant someone who is professional,
well-disciplined and creative as well as
highly motivated.

14

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

Chapter 2
Equipping the civil service to
deliver in the modern context
The last decade has witnessed a continued
reduction in the size of the civil service: from
the Gershon review to the age of austerity
there has been a constant salami slicing of
resources. At no point has any Government
stepped back to consider more fundamentally
what the civil service is here to do, how it
relates to the wider public services and how it
should be resourced.

need to deliver effectively in an increasingly

complex environment. It specifically sets out
the need to develop dynamic and flexible
career path(s) which links to commitments
in the plan to supporting a more flexible
approach to delivery of public services. The
FDA fully supports this commitment and
welcomes the opportunity to work with the
Government on this agenda.

Too often budgeting and planning in

Whitehall starts at the answer - cuts - and
works backwards. Control rather than
creativity is championed, more so now given
the ever increasing scale of budget cuts. But
it is clear that to deliver for the nation the
civil service must have the skills it needs for a
changing environment and expectations. But
it also means we must be clear about what we
are asking the civil service to do.

In particular, the FDA welcomes the

commitment to put skills, learning and
development onto a stronger footing
through five-year capability plans in each
department. The identification of the key
skills and capabilities required, with a clear
plan as to how gaps are to be filled, will be a
most welcome development. This needs to
be reinforced with a commitment to invest in
the skills and capabilities of all civil servants.
Sadly, the experience to date is that spending
on skills development is amongst the first
casualties of the squeeze on discretionary
spend resulting from austerity measures.

However that question is resolved, it is clear

that it must provide strategic leadership,
continuing to ensure that the civil service is
free to speak truth unto power, to provide
impartial and authoritative advice to Ministers
as well as deliver essential services. It will also
need to continue to be well managed. This
means ensuring that the civil service is able
to attract and retain the best staff and that
the current reward package does not deter
those who have a contribution to make. We
know that civil servants are motivated by a
commitment to public service more than pay,
but a civil service that is under paid and under
resourced is not sustainable and will leach
talent.
Investment in skills
The Civil Service Reform Plan sets out the
Governments commitment to ensure that
staff have the skills and expertise they

An FDA alternative White Paper

The FDA recommends that

departments should have to report the
training received by staff on a yearly
basis, with a target of at least 95% of
all staff having received a minimum
of five days accredited training.
There should be regular independent
skills and training audits to ensure
compliance. If departments do not
spend an allocated sum on training,
120% of that underspend should be
recovered centrally and re-distributed
in the following year.
The FDA also supports work to ensure that
the civil service has a strong, clear and
relevant competency framework. But this

15

chapter 2

has to reflect the actual skills people need

to deliver in the modern context. As such,
the FDA has pressed for some years for an
approach that seeks to join up not just within
the civil service, but also across the wider
public sector.
In his review of fair pay in the public sector,
Will Hutton stated that: To increase the
supply of candidates for top positions and
reinforce public service management as a
career, the Government should facilitate
greater opportunities for managers to move
across different public services, and between
the public and private sector. The absence of
a consistent competency framework across
the public sector does not facilitate such
opportunities.
The FDAs work on professional development
is entitled Professionalism in public delivery
precisely to recognise the need for change in
how we should deliver flexible careers that
extend beyond short term secondments. We

believe that there is a strong case for a more

flexible approach to embrace the wider public
sector and address issues such as diversity.
We welcome the opportunity to work with
the Government on this agenda and are
keen to do so. This is why the FDA is actively
engaged in developing cross sector career
opportunities in our work with civil service,
health and local government employers.
The FDA recommends that the Civil
Service Competency Framework
is aligned to other public service
frameworks.
Because of our commitment to developing
cross-sector approaches, the FDA felt it
was unfortunate that Government Skills
surrendered its Sector Skills Council (SSC)
licence rather than engage with local
government for a common public sector SSC.
Whilst Skills for Justice is a highly professional
SSC with whom the FDA has a strong
partnership, we do feel that there should

Too often budgeting and planning in

Whitehall starts at the answer cuts
and works backwards.

16

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

chapter 2

be a bespoke SSC driving work for joined up

training and development in the public sector.
The FDA recommends that public
sector training should be joined up, so
that public servants can access training
across the whole sector. This should be
supported by a bespoke Sector Skills
Council to at least embrace the civil
service and local government.
Civil service professions
The FDA represents many of the key
professions in the civil service and works
closely with heads of professions in
departments and nationally. As well as other
areas (such as pay and reward) attention
to the development of those in bespoke
professions to help both the individual
and the employer to focus on maximising
opportunity is vital. The FDA knows from
our own work that whilst (for example)
economists and tax professionals want to be
able to use their high levels of expertise in
their chosen professional area, they generally
want to do this in a way that offers them
flexible and challenging careers with real
advancement opportunities.
Giving attention to developing management
and leadership capability is a key factor,
and the FDA shares the Governments view
on this. However this requires investment,

An FDA alternative White Paper

and recognition that high quality training

and development outcomes need a resource
commitment, especially in time to train,
which is increasingly under attack.
However, whilst we welcome moves to
extend secondment opportunities, the FDA
feels that the approach to this needs to be
better managed. We must ensure that those
released on loan or secondment maintain
contact with their originating department
and/or profession so that upon return the
best value can be obtained.
The FDA recommends that
secondments/loans between
departments and the wider public
sector should be encouraged through
a greater central management and
resource with targets for departments
to incentivise take up.
The FDA recommends that there should
be regularly reviewed development
plans for staff on release so they do not
actually experience a career detriment
from the arrangement.
The Reform Plan looks at operational delivery,
policy advice and programme and project
management as key areas for development.
The FDA broadly welcomes the move to
equality of esteem across areas of specialism,

17

chapter 2

moving from the generalist tag that can

cause resentment amongst highly specialised
professionals delivering in areas not currently
given the same recognition as the formal
professions. In terms of skills investment we
are pleased that operational delivery is now
developing clear career pathways and we are
pleased to be involved in the work around
that.
Stability at senior levels
The FDA has for several years argued that
the current policy of rotating senior civil
servants is inefficient and counter-productive.
Currently, a typical senior civil service (SCS)
appointment is expected to be of four years
duration but in practice is often less. Short
tenures and a rapid rotation through a
range of roles can lead to a lack of collective
corporate memory. The FDA welcomes,
therefore, the commitment that departments
will take steps to identify the key posts
that would benefit from greater stability of
tenure in order to retain a more stable cohort.
However, we believe that this commitment
should extend beyond senior responsible
officers and embrace other senior roles.
The FDA recommends that the
Governments commitment to reduce
the turnover of senior responsible
officers should be extended to other
senior roles. This approach must be
reinforced by explicit recognition and
reward of those senior people who will
now be required to remain in key posts
for longer.
Supporting a more diverse public
sector at senior levels
Leadership and its quality are key to the
future of the civil service. The FDA welcomes
the proposals to further improve the fast
stream, an area where we have been closely
engaged. The FDA will be concerned to
see that the promise of the fast stream
is delivered, and that there are indeed
opportunities for those completing their fast
stream programme to move on to the more
challenging senior roles.

18

The Civil Service Reform Plan commits to:

deliver a broader, deeper leadership talent
pipeline that reflects the diversity of talent
available, as well as the diversity of wider
society. The FDA welcomes the commitment
to that and in particular the efforts of the civil
service fast stream.
The FDA has been working to encourage
a more diverse graduate entry across the
sector. We do this through facilitating training
and engagement by existing senior-level
public servants of those who aspire to be
so. We are committed to improve the gender
split, ethnicity and sexual orientation at
senior levels and also strongly advocate
an approach to enhance socio economic
diversity. The FDA believes that this is vital
to delivering a senior public sector cadre that
better represents the communities we seek
to serve. We are currently engaged in work
on this (see opposite page) with the civil
service fast stream, local government national
graduate development programme and a
number of modern universities. As well as
attracting diverse talent the engagement of
existing public servants enhances career and
development opportunity for members.
Evidence of poor advancement rates for those
in traditionally under-represented groups in
the public sector is also a big concern. The
FDA is engaging in this area with events and
interactions in partnership with public sector
employers to encourage and support those in
under-represented groups who are seeking
career advancement .We strongly believe that
a real investment to back up the commitment
would yield benefits.
The Government should provide
investment to support the FDAs work
to improve diversity and leadership in
the civil service and across the public
sector.

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

FDA delivering
FDA work on leadership
development at senior levels
The FDA has been working with employers
and partners since 2010 to build a series of
initiatives with private sector and employer
initiatives, as well as supporting staff
from under-represented backgrounds who
aspire to advance to senior levels.
This began with Unlocking the SCS,
launched by Sir Gus ODonnell in 2010
(and more recently supported by Sir Bob
Kerslake). These events offer support and
advice to those aspiring to the SCS. Whilst
the FDA is fully committed to positive
action for change, the success of these
events is the focus on where we are now
rather that how we might wish things

were. The Unlocking model is also applied

to Professionals into Leadership, launched
in 2012 and targeted specifically at those
in the formal professions who are seeking
advancement. Again, these events focus on
the reality of the moment whilst the FDA
reserves the right to campaign for change.
Women into Leadership and BME into
Leadership focus on those groups and do
include an element of focus on positive
action for change but seeking consensus.
However, the key theme remains
supporting under-represented groups in
accessing career opportunities.

The public sector development

and mentoring scheme
The FDA is engaged with the civil service
fast stream, the local government graduate
development programme, public sector
employers and modern universities to
provide a bespoke mentoring scheme
and assessment centre experience, for
students and existing public servants
from traditionally under-represented
backgrounds. The aim of this positive
action initiative led by the FDA is to
support the concept of a senior civil service
of the future more closely resembling
the community it seeks to serve. This is
delivered by encouraging and supporting
a diverse base of people to apply for
graduate schemes and other public sector
employment opportunities or promotions,
in order to make a difference.

the space of just one year, been a number

of successes from students getting onto
different public sector schemes such as the
summer diversity internship scheme. The
number of different groups the centres
have facilitated has also broadened out
over the last two years to include:
l undergraduate and postgraduate
students from under-represented
backgrounds, both BME and socioeconomic, from a variety of universities;
l internal civil service participants in
partnership with diversity networks;
and
l NEET graduates (Not in Employment,
Education or Training).

The experience of participants has been

universally positive overall in reports back
and surveys undertaken. There has, in

An FDA alternative White Paper

19

FDA members delivering

Phil Pandolfo
HM Revenue and Customs
specialist investigations - London

In these times of higher public

awareness of the hitherto opaque world
of tax avoidance, I want to highlight the
work tax professionals in HMRC are doing to
combat the behaviours of the promoters of
aggressive tax schemes and those high net
worth individuals and companies who try
to profit from them. The ideas and efforts
used to challenge these schemes come
substantially from a relatively small number
of operational teams. The tax professionals
in those teams have developed root and
branch investigation and analysis techniques
and, followed where necessary by robust
and focused legal action, they are highly
successful in challenging and disrupting
damaging practices and protecting large
amounts of desperately needed revenue.
I am proud to lead one such team of 20 tax
professionals that is in the forefront of the
fight against determined rule breakers and
highly-resourced tax dodgers. In 2012/13
my team achieved a yield of 242m, which

20

equates to around 12m for each member of

the team. There is no sign yet of diminishing
returns and the broader effects of the skill
and commitment of teams such as the one I
lead are immeasurable overturning complex
planning and signposting the downside of
avoidance leads to second thoughts, and a
change in behaviour for those tempted to
make use of dodgy schemes.
The cost to the Government of employing
and supporting these highly-trained and
dedicated civil servants is a small fraction
of what it would cost to buy in the same
services from the private sector. However,
whilst the teams are dedicated, they are
struggling to keep up with the support and
technology needed to keep pace with the
job and even in these straitened times key
members are defecting for greatly enhanced
salaries.
Recognition of the work these teams do - and
their value to society and to the public good is long overdue.

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

Chapter 3
Getting accountability and
impartiality right
The civil service must ensure that it retains
the confidence of the public and elected
politicians to provide impartial objective
advice to the Government of the day and
deliver high quality public services. The
simple fact is, that it is easy for all of us - from
politicians to the public - to criticise the civil
service, but like the NHS and the BBC it is
envied across the world. We must be careful
not to denigrate it needlessly or to adopt
changes which would ultimately undermine
its reputation that has been earned over
many years.
At the same time these issues are extremely
important - as evidenced by the recent House
of Lords select committee on the constitution
report into accountability - and as already
indicated the civil service must continue to
evolve.
Ensuring accountability of civil
servants
The traditional protocol has been that
Ministers take full responsibility to
Parliament and the public for accepting the
advice given by civil servants, and for the
implementation of policies by civil servants
responsible to them. This has always been an
over simplification1 and it is now perceived
as inadequate, but there is no clarity as to
what should replace it. Unless and until this
is clarified, pointless argument and dispute
about responsibilities and blame for mishaps
will continue.

1 Thus the resignation

of Sir Thomas Dugdale
in 1954 over the Crichel
Down affair was presented
at the time as being despite
his having no knowledge
of the issue; more recently
it transpired that he had
had some significant
involvement.

What is clear is that there is an increasing

drive towards transparency in decision
making, openness and inclusiveness in policy
making. In addition, MPs, the media, and
the public all enjoy much greater access to
information with which to hold Government
to account. This, in part, results from:

An FDA alternative White Paper

the Freedom of Information Act 2000,

which sets a presumption that if data
exists it will be released on request, unless
there are good reasons for not doing so;
more information exists than did in the
past - for example, detailed comparative
data on the performance of public services
in different parts of the country are now
available on the internet; and
the increased effectiveness and
independence of Parliamentary select
committees in holding to account the
Government and increasingly the civil
service, as well as other public bodies.
To ensure the accountability of civil servants
as well as Ministers, it is important that the
data needed to understand the changes in
the economy and society and the impacts
of Government policy is available to all and
properly explained. The Governments open
data agenda is increasing the volume of data
available through initiatives such as data.gov.
uk. But for this data to have maximum impact
and reach it needs to be of high quality,
accompanied by the information to inform its
use and be easily accessible and combined.
Civil servants have a key role in making data
available and explaining what it means. The
impartiality of civil servants is a key aspect
of this role. Therefore sufficient resource and
expertise should be made available to ensure
the right data is available with the right
information to explain.
The FDA believes that it is important
to ensure that high-quality, easily
accessible data is available to hold the
Government to account, accompanied
by the right information to inform its
use. The FDA recommends therefore

21

chapter 3

that sufficient impartial resource and

expertise should be secured in the civil
service to make data available, explain
its meaning and maximise its use and
reuse for holding the Government to
account.
Greater access to information has led to
greater consciousness of the scope for
better public services, and wider scope for
questioning policy and implementation. It is
therefore no longer realistic to presume that
Ministers are totally accountable for every
aspect of delivery. The key question is how to
get the right balance.
There has always been a tension between
civil servants and ministers on what
accountability actually means in practice
and this has been the subject of a number of
reviews over time. At its extreme, Ministers
believe they are accountable for matters or
events to which they have no knowledge or
responsibility, and civil servants feel they are
easily scapegoated by Ministers for failure
of policy or resource with no opportunity
to defend themselves. Often it is the search
to blame an individual, Minister or civil
servant, driven by a political agenda from
the Government, opposition, Parliamentary
committee or the media. This can lead to
tension when inevitably the answer is often
more complex.
However trust between civil servants, the
Government they serve and Parliament
is critical for the effective working of
Government and a healthy democracy.
What is vital is that civil servants, Ministers,
Parliament and the public understand how
accountability operates and, to the extent
that it is possible, there is general agreement
on how public servants and Ministers are held
to account for their actions.
The FDA believes civil servants and other
public sector managers at various levels are
responsible for delivery within the policy
framework set by Ministers. It is appropriate
therefore that they are accountable for
delivery. They should not, however, be held
accountable if the public is adversely impacted

22

as a consequence of the implementation of

priorities clearly set by Ministers.
A critical element of accountability is the
relationship between civil servants and
Parliamentary select committees. The
Osmotherly Rules2 were established as
guidelines to govern the interaction between
civil servants and Parliament. It is time they
were reviewed.
The FDA believes that there must be an
appropriate balance between the rights of
Parliamentary committees to refer issues
of individual performance or conduct to
departments and the right to a fair process
for civil servants. The FDA is therefore
recommending that a revised process, which
has the confidence of both Parliament and
civil servants, should be established. It is
important to note that such moves may serve
to put civil servants under the spotlight of
public attention and that a benefit of this
should be greater recognition of the excellent
work delivered by the civil service.
The FDA believes it is vital that as far
as is practical, a consensus is achieved
on how the Osmotherly Rules should
operate. A review should consider the
experience of the other Parliaments
in the UK and how the relationship
between civil servants and politicians
operates, often in a much more
collaborative environment. The FDA
recommends that the review should
also consider wider issues around
training and support for those giving
evidence. It is essential that the FDA is
fully involved in establishing a revised
process.
Political appointments and
impartiality
The ability of an incoming Government of a
different political persuasion to trust senior
appointees to act in a politically impartial
fashion is clearly of great constitutional
significance. It was never more important
than in supporting the transition to the
Coalition Government in 2010, a constitutional
challenge which our permanent, impartial

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

2 The Osmotherly Rules

set out detailed guidance
for civil servants giving
evidence before select
committees. The Rules
were first formally issued
in May 1980 by E.B.C.
Osmotherly, a civil servant
in the Cabinet Office. They
were revised most recently
in July 2005.See chapter 1
for further details.

chapter 3

civil service was uniquely placed to manage

and succeeded in doing so.
The ability to deal effectively with a variety of
Ministers is a key competence for more senior
civil servants generally, as is recognised in the
new Civil Service Competency Framework.3
Civil servants who are recognised as having
this competence will make progress in their
career. The key point in the framework is
variety of Ministers - even within the same
administration.
No civil servants career should be determined
by a single Minister or Government. Indeed,
continuity in appointment is important
in maintaining expertise and historical
background, and in carrying forward complex
policies which often take several years
to deliver and evaluate. The FDA rejects,
therefore, the notion that it would be better
to move to an approach in which there would
be wholesale changes of senior civil servants
after each General Election.
In fact the Government must be able to
operate effectively when there is a change
of Minister or administration. The closer a
minister is to an individual appointment, the
greater the danger that key officials will be
seen as associated with a particular Minister
or political affiliation, and this will also be seen
as vital to advancement for those aspiring
to reach the most senior levels of the civil
service. In this way, there is a risk of creeping
politicisation which should be resisted.
The work of all more senior civil servants
combines direct involvement in, or influence
over, advice to Ministers with delivery or
management of the resulting decisions and
policies. Long experience has shown that
when Ministers lay down clearly and firmly
what they want to be done, it is delivered as
effectively as possible. This was well put by
Lord Tebbit some time ago:
3 Competence 5 states
At senior levels, its
about building effective
partnerships including
relationships with
Ministers.
4 Norman Tebbit, Upwardly
Mobile (Weidfeld and
Nicolson, 1988), p. 182

I had rather more fun at my first meeting of

my key eight or ten officials. I told them that I
wanted no misunderstandingsI would not be
thwartedFrom there on, the ice was broken
and once again I found I had the benefit of

An FDA alternative White Paper

officials of the highest integrity and ability.

Once I had laid down policy they were tireless
in finding ways to deliver what I wanted.4
It is, of course, understandable that a Minister
with a large reforming agenda will see as vital
the capability of the most senior civil servant
running their department. It is therefore
important that Ministers feel that they are
able to influence the selection process to
ensure that the right set of skills is being
sought.
Ministers currently do have an opportunity
to influence the selection process. However
the ability of the Civil Service Commission
to appoint individuals on the grounds
of merit, who can also command the
confidence of ministers, is the ultimate test.
The Commission must be free to appoint
candidates on merit, but the outcome of
that process must ultimately deliver high
quality candidates in whom Ministers can
have confidence. Equally the Commission
must ensure that the senior ranks of the
civil service have the skills that are required
to deliver quality public services and be
representative of the public they serve.
Three alternative models are available in the
United States, New Zealand and Australia
and are understood to be currently under
consideration. The US model is one of personal
appointments, which may offer advantages
in terms of Ministers personal confidence
in their own appointees, but leads to huge
practical disruption and cost at changes of
administration and does not preserve political
impartiality. In New Zealand, appointments
are decided by a strong, independent State
Services Commission and although ministers
are consulted, the relationship with them is
formally mediated through a highly vertical
contractual delivery model, with drawbacks
for cross-government working. The
Australian model places permanent secretary
appointments in the gift of the Prime Minister,
and strongly entrenched expectations have
ensured it is compatible with a politically
impartial public service, but it gives individual
Ministers potentially even less say than they
enjoy now in the UK.

23

chapter 3

The FDA fully supports the current

arrangements for appointment
of permanent secretaries but
recommends that these should be
reviewed and outcomes tested on a
regular basis.
Ministers come from a variety of backgrounds
and to many, the role and relationship with
civil servants will be new or different. Much
is made of the need to ensure that civil
servants have the right skill set for running
modern public services yet ministers are often
appointed on the basis of politics rather than
skill or experience of their Ministerial or policy
responsibilities.
The FDA recommends that
consideration should be given to
the support and training provided
for Ministers in the operation of
Government, role of the civil service
and specific departmental policy
responsibilities.
Ministers require high quality impartial
advice from civil servants but also the
ability to receive political advice from special
advisors. They perform a vital task that
helps maintain the impartiality of the civil
service. The number of special advisors in
Government or a particular department has
become a matter of political point scoring
and their conduct called in to question by
the actions of a few individuals. The FDA
believes that the most important issue with
respect to special advisors is not so much
their number, which should not be artificially
restricted, but the clarity of their role and
relationship with the Minister and wider civil
service.
The FDA does not believe the numbers
of special advisors should be artificially
limited. However, it recommends that
greater emphasis should be placed on
the training and oversight of special
advisors. This should ensure that they
have the capability to perform the
vital task of providing Ministers with
political advice and support, without
the risk of becoming a barrier to the

24

relationship between a Minister and

their civil servants.
The civil service can never have a monopoly
of expertise on any particular policy area and
at times that expertise is required, often for a
limited period of time. Appointment on merit
rather than belief is the cornerstone of an
impartial civil service and any civil servant,
whether appointed for a fixed period or
permanently, must have an ability to serve
different Ministers or Governments. However,
it is clear that Ministers can often get
frustrated at what they see is an overly long
process of appointing individuals, particularly
if this is focused on external rather than
internal processes, and where this is for a
time limited appointment.
The FDA believes - subject to the
overriding principles of appointment
on merit, and oversight by the Civil
Service Commission - that it should
be possible to devise a truncated
appointments process to cater for
exceptional circumstances where they
may be an urgent need for a particular
expertise.
Policy making
It is imperative for good Government that
policy making remains evidence-based, and
that the evidence on which policy is based
is of the highest quality, from wherever it is
sourced. The FDA recognises that the civil
service does not have a monopoly on the
expertise needed to underpin high-quality
policy advice. Harnessing external expertise,
through commissioning research and
stakeholder consultation, plays a vital role in
the policymaking process.
However, external advice may not be
impartial, but the partiality of that advice
may not always be obvious. Some think tanks
are openly politically orientated, while others
may give the appearance of independence.
Charities and other third sector bodies also,
quite reasonably, have their own agendas.
They may, in addition, be subject to financial
pressures, or reliant on funding from
organisations that may have a commercial

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

chapter 3

interest in the outcome of any research and

policy options. Moreover, there may well
be areas of policy development given that
it will be difficult to find a truly impartial
organisation with expertise in the field.
The FDA also believes that implementing
policy should never be separate from making
it. Good policy is not only well-informed by
the best expertise, but it is also policy that
can be implemented, without costs that are
disproportionate to the potential benefits.
An impartial civil service is vital to assuring
Ministers of robust advice on implementation
options and costs. The civil services ability
to speak truth unto power is an asset to be
prized not to be condemned as obstructive.

The FDA therefore supports approaches

to improve and extend the use of external
expertise to support policy-making, but the
civil service is the only organisation in the
field whose remit is indivisible from, and truly
complementary to, that of the Government of
the day.
The FDA firmly believes and
recommends that the civil service
must retain the job of presenting final
policy advice to Ministers, making sure
that advice is objective and reflects
all the costs, evidence and options
available. Ministers can then take
policy decisions clear about the risks
and benefits of all the alternatives.

FDA members delivering

Emma Frost
Ministry of Defence (MoD) assistant head international,
materiel strategy, previously assistant political advisor to
the general officer commanding multi-national division
(south east) in Basra, Iraq.

In Basra, the main emphasis was

in preparing the remaining three
provinces for Provincial Iraqi Control (PIC) and
supporting and training the Iraqi security
forces to a level at which they were ready
to assume responsibility for security. My
role was to advise both the general officer
commanding and his command group, and
to develop and maintain relationships with
partner nations and other government
departments.

Despite frustrations, we did see clear,

tangible success. Memorable for me was
working with the United States, Australian
and Italian forces, our own superior
commands, and with the governor of Dhi Qar
and his office, in drafting and negotiating the
memorandum of understanding to transfer
Dhi Qar province to Iraqi control. In what
could be a frustrating environment, it was
important to celebrate success and it felt as
though progress was being achieved.

As an MoD civil servant, my deployment

mirrored that of service personnel and I
travelled, worked and was accommodated
alongside my military colleagues. The tempo
of operations demanded a 16- to 17-hour
working day. The hours often felt gruelling
and tiredness sometimes kicked-in, but a
sense of purpose, duty and camaraderie were
more than sufficient to keep going.

My experience has highlighted the unique

role the civil service has, working both at
home and overseas, in delivering Government
policy to the benefit of both the UK and those
nations we support.

An FDA alternative White Paper

25

Chapter 4
How to improve morale and
motivation to deliver for the nation
No well-functioning organisation in the
private or public sector can exist without a
motivated workforce focused on achieving
its goals and purposes. As the CBI states:
Engaging employees effectively, using their
skills to best effect and rewarding them
appropriately - including provision for their
eventual retirement - are central to business
success in a globalised economy. It is clear
from the FDA members survey and the
civil services own People Survey that the
civil service is not in a position to be able to
present itself as the ideal employer on this
or any other viable criteria - less than half of
civil servants for example would recommend
their department as a great place to work.
Staff turnover figures of 25 to 30% in a
number of organisations and disciplines
are reflected in stakeholder criticisms of
inconsistency and lack of competence
in some areas. Hurried restructurings,
inadequate succession planning and cuts to
training lead to an ill-prepared and unstable
workforce. When that is as prevalent in the
managerial levels of the civil service as it is
on the front line, the problem is exacerbated
and permeates all areas of public service
delivery.
Pay policy
Pay is the most obvious factor in the
remuneration package, but it is by no means
the only element. The pay freeze has hit civil
servants hard over the last few years but
the situation is made significantly worse by
arbitrary increases in pension contributions
that disproportionately affect higher earners.
Although the average increase in pension
contributions will be 3.2% over the three
years to 2015, many senior civil servants will
end up paying 6% in higher contributions.
Compounded by higher levels of inflation

26

than had been projected, civil servants

as a whole - and the higher grades in
particular - are witnessing a substantial fall
in remuneration which for some could be as
high as 25%.
For successive years, across more than one
political administration, pay restraint in
the civil service has been seen as a political
imperative. Whether to set an example to
others or to give the impression of a prudent
approach to public spending, freezing,
capping or cutting, pay in the civil service
has been as much a part of the Budget or
Autumn Statement as Black Rod is to the
opening of Parliament. With each year that
passes the pay gap between public and
private sector widens and issues of turnover,
quality recruitment and ongoing morale
worsen. Incremental reductions in terms
and conditions further weaken the resolve
of those seeking a career in the civil service,
making promotions unattractive to those
who would otherwise develop their skills and
utilise their experience to the benefit of the
service.
Pay has been heavily restricted throughout
the civil service over a number of years
and successive administrations. While the
political masters of the civil service have
the Independent Parliamentary Standards
Authority (IPSA) to apply independent
thought and consideration to the payment
of parliamentarians, free from political
interference, in contrast the civil service pay
arrangements and increases are subject to
little more than a competition between all
political parties to see who can reduce the
real value of civil service pay the most. If
transparency and independence is the order
of the day for Ministers, why not for those
delivering the Ministers agenda?

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

chapter 4

The current process of negotiating pay

in the civil service does not serve anyone
adequately. Staff are not receiving fair
reward, as demonstrated by the continual
fall in the number of positive responses on
pay in the Cabinet Office People Survey:
just 26% of all grades in 2012 thought they
were paid reasonably in the civil service
compared with people doing a similar job
in other organisations (down from 31% in
2010). In relation to pay and performance
the results are also pretty damning of the
current arrangements: 31% felt that their
pay adequately reflected their performance
in 2012 compared with 38% in 2010. It is not
tenable for the Government, the civil service
or the public to believe that this situation can
remain as a long term phenomenon without
there being significant consequences for the
quality and motivation of staff and the quality
and efficiency of public service delivery.
Some support for this contention can be
found in the most recent report of the
independent Senior Salaries Review Body
(March 2013). The SSRB makes clear in its
report that The problems with the SCS pay
system are deep seated. We have drawn
attention to them in successive reports.
In addition to expressing disappointment
that the Government has not proposed a
fundamental reform of the SCS pay system,
the SSRB states clearly that We do not
believe that it is possible to reform the civil
service without reforming the SCS pay
structure. Whilst acknowledging that reform
may be difficult at a time of severe restraint
on public sector pay, they nevertheless
believe that it is possible to do so much more
than the Government proposes, particularly

We do not believe
that it is possible to
reform the civil service
without reforming the
SCS pay structure.
SSRB Report 2013

An FDA alternative White Paper

since SCS numbers have been reduced by

some 17% since 2010 and pay bill is down
by 20% (nearly 100million) over the same
period.
The SSRB provides a useful model for a fair
and considered approach to setting pay. It is
not immune from arbitrary political pressure
but is imbued with an evidence based process
that invites engagement and transparency.
Like the IPSA, the SSRB can avail itself of
evidence and make recommendations on that
basis. In reality however, when it comes to
implementation, the political imperative is
often greater than the evidential steer given
by the SSRB, which has weakened trust as
well as confidence in the process.
The FDA would be interested in exploring
new models for setting pay parameters in
the civil service both for the SCS and other
senior civil service grades. It is appropriate for
all relevant considerations to be part of that
process, including market comparisons and
the employer-employee relationship, not just
the political agenda.
The FDA recommends that the
responsibility for setting civil service
pay policy for all grades represented
by the union should be transferred
to a strengthened, independent and
autonomous salary review body.
A recent survey of MPs showed
significant support for this position
with majority support from politicians
in all main political parties (Com Res
Survey January 2013).
In Northern Ireland some progress has been
made recently. Following a review undertaken
by the SSRB and extensive discussions with
the FDA and others, the Northern Ireland
civil service has introduced a new pay
system that is widely seen as addressing the
fundamental flaws of the previous system.
In summary, the new system shortened pay
ranges, eliminated overlaps in pay ranges,
introduced a new performance-dependent
progression system and assimilated staff on to
the appropriate range. The FDA believes that
not only is the end result broadly supported,

27

chapter 4

Civil service (CS)

grade

CS median salary as %
of wider public sector
median salary

CS median salary as %
of private sector median
salary

Grade 7

94

72

Grade 6

83

65

SCS 1

87

77

SCS 1A

80

73

SCS 2

67

58

SCS 3

n/a

43

(Sources: Grades 6 & 7 IDS March 2012 Regional Pay Report; SCS - SSRB 2013 Annual Report, Cabinet Office April 2011)

but the process of developing the new

arrangements has much to commend it.
The FDA recommends that the
Cabinet Office should instigate, in
early course, a review process similar
to that undertaken for the SCS in
Northern Ireland to examine and make
recommendations in relation to the
analogous pay system in Great Britain.
The reality of pay for senior managers
and professionals
Much is made of crude averages comparing
overall public and private sector salaries but
this actually reveals little in terms of gleaning
a picture of the pay profile of senior public
servants. In fact, the higher up the salary
scale you look, the greater the disparity.
Total remuneration
When looking at total remuneration the
situation is even worse. Many erroneously
believe that the defined benefit pension
arrangements available to civil servants
more than compensate for any shortfalls
in basic salary. Again the higher up the
earnings profile you go in the civil service,
the more apparent it becomes that this is a
woefully simplistic misrepresentation. As the
SSRB Annual Report for 2013 revealed, the
highest earning civil servants are in receipt
of total remuneration packages worth only
one quarter of comparable employees in
the private sector (167,000 for SCS Grade
3s compared with 659,300 in the private
sector).

28

To continue in this way, as is the

Governments confirmed intent, poses serious
risks to the capacity of the civil service
to recruit and retain the highest quality
employees. As the Civil Service Commission
noted in its 2011-2 Annual Report: There
appears little doubt that the Governments
tight cap on senior civil service salaries has
driven down overall pay rates. But with this
there is an increasing danger that it is also
limiting the fields of candidates for some
jobs, where the salary on offer is simply
not competitive. This can make it difficult
to attract rising stars from outside the civil
service, who are not at a stage in their career
where they are able or willing to take a
sizeable reduction in salary.
The problems raised by an expanding
gulf between pay in the civil service
and comparable employments are not
unsolvable but action does need to be
taken. Continuation of the current approach
is simply not viable. The FDA is making a
number of recommendations which we
believe will help to address the current
situation and which could help to avert an
exodus of skills and experience from the civil
service.
The FDA recommends that the Cabinet
Office should initiate a dialogue
with non-executive directors on
departmental boards about the level
of remuneration paid to private sector
leaders, in order to retain key skills
and capabilities.

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

chapter 4

Pay is the most significant, but not the only

element of the reward package that requires
considered reform. Currently each element is
examined, reviewed and invariably reduced
in isolation. Pensions, pay, annual leave and
other workplace benefits that form part of
the remuneration and reward package are
each reformed with no read across to any
other element. The balance between central
civil service guidance and departmental
autonomy is delicate and in the view of the
FDA, not currently fit for purpose. When in
practice the vast majority of departments
slavishly follow the central guidance and
dont consider the local appropriateness
of such guidance except in extremis, then
opportunities for early intervention and
timely reform are missed. The evidence
from the pay remit guidance to departments
over the last few years is testament to this.
The straitjacket of pay freeze and pay caps
has resulted in some acute recruitment and
retention issues, mindful of this the latest
guidance allows departments some limited
flexibility to address this with extra pay
beyond the 1% cap.
The FDA recommends that civil service
employers should be allowed sufficient
funding and flexibility to address
recruitment and retention concerns
before they became acute.
The employment relationship
In their 2012-13 review of terms and
conditions, the Cabinet Office presented an
objective to provide a modern employment
offer to civil servants. Lacking the necessary
engagement with staff around what that
concept actually might mean, the result in
many places is an arbitrary lengthening of
hours of work, reduced leave and reduced
flexibility for employees while employer
flexibility is enhanced. The message sent to
existing employees is one of distance and
lack of understanding and appreciation. The
2013 FDA survey of working hours found
that one in five members routinely work
more than ten hours above their contracted
weekly hours. However, instead of working
with staff to address this excessive hours
working, guidance for departments from

An FDA alternative White Paper

the Cabinet Office recommends raising the

number of the contracted hours.
FDA members recognise their need to be
flexible in terms of their hours and approach
to work. The fact that many routinely
work what amounts to an extra day a
week for free cannot be said to reflect a
lack of commitment. Government should
be recognising that while cheap in the
short term, perpetuating this situation is
probably not the best way to motivate staff
to perform well and may result in errors and
inefficiencies that cost far more in the long
term. The FDA believes that the Government,
as the employer, has a responsibility to take
the long-hours culture seriously. Currently,
the FDA report that fewer than one in five
civil service employers record the excess
hours worked. Without such records it is
impossible to assess either the problem
or the solution which may rest in wider
concerns discussed in this White Paper such
as workloads, staffing levels and skills.
Glimmers of hope do exist. There are many
positive anecdotal reports about the benefits
of the extra flexibility about working hours
and locations the civil service in London
adopted during the London 2012 Olympics.
For many, this opened their eyes, and
managers eyes, about the opportunities that
technology and a bit of forward thinking
can afford to the civil service. Civil servants
were told that the lessons learned from
the summer of 2012 would pay long term
dividends for ways of working. So far,
evidence of this has been in short supply.
Technology is improving, albeit slowly
in some cases, so remote access and
teleconferencing are enabling staff to travel
less and work more. However, location
flexibility in some places is leading to an over
reliance on hot-desking, where flexibility
is jettisoned as teams rush to their office
in the morning to ensure they secure an
appropriate workspace. Departments
collected experience data and views as a
result of the London 2012 experiments
with different working flexibilities - the FDA
believes more should be done to implement

29

chapter 4

the lessons learned, not just in London but

across the UK.
The FDA recommends that the Cabinet
Office should review and address the
long-hours culture in the civil service
and take forward lessons on flexibility
learned during the London 2012
Olympics.
The vast majority of civil servants are
committed public servants who have a
desire to deliver high quality public services.
However, the twin issues of addressing
poor performance and rewarding excellence
remain steadfastly prominent in employees
criticisms of the civil service. Only 37% of
those participating in the Civil Service People
Survey 2012 believed that poor performance
was dealt with effectively while only 38%
believed that their civil service employer
motivated them to help it achieve its
objectives.
The conclusion that should be drawn from
this is that civil service employers should
openly welcome engagement with staff to

address issues rather than merely informing

employees of the outcomes of decisions. Too
often performance management systems
are designed to deliver headline results or
arbitrary quotas and are overly bureaucratic,
rather than addressing real issues of
performance.
The FDA can help in this process, providing
management are genuinely willing to listen
and respond on the basis of the evidence
produced. To do that management must
have the trust of Ministers to pursue positive
reform.
The FDA recommends that there
should be fresh engagement
between employers and the union
on performance management
that is genuinely about improving
performance and recognising
achievement. Any system of
performance management will
not succeed if it does not have the
confidence of staff and this should be a
key objective.

FDA members delivering

Jonathan Allen
HM ambassador to Bulgaria

My job is to develop the best possible

relationships and partnership with the
Bulgarian Government, politicians, local
authorities, media and others with influence.
This is in order to get the best possible results
for the UK - especially for British business
and exporters - in protecting our country
from threats and in looking after British
tourists and residents here who need our
help.

30

To give one example, this year, through a

personal meeting with the Bulgarian Prime
Minister, I made sure a major UK investor in
Bulgaria got the contractually agreed licences
they needed tocomplete their business.
They have told the Government that this
will directly contribute to them earning 44
million over six years.

Delivering for the Nation: Securing a World-Class Civil Service

Next steps
This White Paper represents the start of the
FDAs campaign - Delivering for the Nation:
Securing a World-Class Civil Service. Our
members believe passionately in a worldclass civil service and care deeply about the
services they provide. The FDA wants to
work with those who share our passion for
improving the civil service, public service
delivery, and the working lives of civil
servants.

We will continue to present evidence and

recommendations to inform and influence
the debate on how a world-class civil service
can be secured and, critically, to ensure
that reform is influenced by those whose
commitment and professionalism deliver the
services on which the public relies.

FDA
8 Leake Street
London
SE1 7NN

www.fda.org.uk
@FDA_union

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