All new ministers should undergo compulsory training and yearly appraisals led by one minister in the Cabinet Office, according to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee’s report published today.
The committee says in its report that one minister should be given responsibility for ministerial development and oversee training for all new ministers, as well as conduct “a yearly appraisal conversation” with all ministers “to provide feedback on their performance”.
The prime minister should draw on the advice of this specific minister when considering a reshuffle or when setting up ministerial teams – according to the report.
The report, which addresses the effects of ministerial reshuffle, calls on the government to leave ministers in post “long enough to make a difference” and carry out fewer reshuffles, which “have a negative impact on the effectiveness of government”.
Concerns have also been raised by the committee over the “recent high turn-over among permanent secretaries”, which, it says, can lead to less stability in departments.
The report also says secretaries of state should be left in post for the length of a Parliament.
Graham Allen MP (pictured above), chair of the committee, said reshuffles “hinder Parliament’s ability to hold government to account", adding: “In the UK, we’ve got used to having reshuffles every couple of years, but other countries manage very well without them.
“Every time there is a reshuffle, it is preceded by months of speculation about who will move where, which in itself causes a kind of paralysis within government.
“I welcome the fact that the current prime minister has had only one reshuffle. I hope our report will encourage future prime ministers to follow his example.”
The findings have been welcomed by the Institute for Government (IfG).
An IfG spokeswoman said most recent prime ministers had “reshuffled too frequently, chopping and changing their teams for the sake of short-term, often illusory, political gain and often at the expense of stable and effective political leadership”.
She added: “When reshuffles do take place, there should be a better planned handover process and incoming ministers should be provided with training and development support to enable them swiftly to get up to speed with the demands of the job.”
See also CSW’s latest feature on the benefits of ministerial training and why some ministers are resisting the measure.