Civil Service Reform—Trust on Trial

In July 2013 the UK's coalition government published “The Civil Service Reform Plan – One Year on”, reporting on progress against minister Frances Maude's objectives to shake up the civil service. This followed various reported disagreements between ministers and civil servants over policy implementation, and a research report commissioned by the government from think tank IPPR into lessons from overseas for civil service reform. This trio of short articles reviews the government's proposals from three perspectives: that of the lead author of the IPPR report, a former senior civil servant, and the chair of the House of Commons Public Administration Committee (PASC) which oversees the civil service. The authors take differing views on the proposals, which include introduction of ‘extended ministerial offices’, and greater control by ministers over choosing their civil servants. Should these be seen as useful next steps, worrying developments, and/or large and important enough to merit a Commission on the civil service, as PASC has suggested?     

Introduction: Regulation and deregulation

Abstract. 'Deregulation' is best conceived as covering two separate sets of processes: changes to the structure of rules embodied in regulatory systems; and disturbances to the stability of those systems due to the inability of system 'governors' to function effectively. The most striking feature of deregulation is variety - in incidence, form and extent. This variety is a function of three broad sets of variables: place, notably national setting; time, notably the historical epoch and the stage in a regulatory cycle when deregulation happens; and arena, notably the economic arena and policy networks where deregulation takes place.