Department for Communities and Local Government permanent secretary Melanie Dawes has vowed to focus on getting the "basics right for our people" as she chaired her first meeting of the Civil Service People Board, the senior leadership group which makes decisions on Whitehall HR matters.
Dawes takes the reins at the People Board, a sub-committee of the full Civil Service Board, following the departure of former HMRC chief executive Lin Homer, who retired from the civil service at the end of March.
The Board has 16 members drawn from across government and includes permanent secretaries as well as officials at director general level and the civil service's recently-appointed chief people officer Rupert McNeil. It holds monthly meetings and has responsibility for drawing up civil service-wide workforce strategy, including on pay, pensions and terms and conditions for officials.
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It also oversees Whitehall's push to improve its record on diversity and bolster civil service skills and development.
Setting out the key themes she wanted the board to focus on, Dawes – who is also the civil service's lead official for diversity – said the organisation needed to ensure it gets "the basics right for our people", including "paying them correctly and on time" and ensuring they have correct information on pensions entitlement.
And she added: "Other big themes include continuing to build really strong leadership; taking a more strategic look at reward and pay; and encouraging greater movement in and out of, and within, the civil service. We have a strong programme of work, which we’ll set out in more detail in the coming months."
The promise of a "more strategic" approach to pay comes after civil service chief executive John Manzoni confirmed that the Cabinet Office was drawing up plans for new permanent civil service payscales to try and help Whitehall recruit and retain specialists at a time of ongoing pay restraint – with a view to reducing the organisation's reliance on contractors and help with retention.
On skills, the government has meanwhile relaunched its Civil Service Learning platform in a bid to improve user experience and tailor courses more directly to departmental needs. A dedicated "leadership academy" is also being designed to train the next generation of civil service leaders.
"Leadership was rarely mentioned as a concept, let alone diversity" – DCLG perm sec Melanie Dawes
Writing on GOV.UK, Dawes said the civil service had "already changed so much for the better" during her own decades in the organisation, when jobs had been allocated "almost entirely by a mysterious process of managed moves".
"As a young woman, I was always significantly outnumbered by men in meetings, and leadership was rarely mentioned as a concept, let alone diversity," she added.
"So, I’m always pleased to reflect on the improvements that individual departments and cross-departmental working – like the People Board – have made. The challenge for the years ahead is to keep building on the strengths of the Civil Service – including our core values and the fantastic, varied and fascinating work we do."
The capability of the civil service will also be brought into focus during a new inquiry launched week by MPs on the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee.
PACAC has asked for evidence on whether Whitehall's current pay structure is "attracting and retaining the right people" – and wants to find out how the organisation's highest tier, the Senior Civil Service (SCS), can be made "into a more effective leadership group".