The prime minister has agreed that ministers and civil servants need to work in a trust-based partnership in response to a letter from the FDA union raising concerns about his “tepid bath” comments.
FDA general secretary Dave Penman wrote to Keir Starmer last Friday following the prime ministers comments that “too many people in Whitehall are comfortable in the tepid bath of managed decline”. The remark was made during a speech in which the PM announced his ‘Plan for Change’.
Duchy of the chancellor of Lancaster has since said that Starmer was making a point that "good people are caught in bad systems" when asked about the "tepid bathgate" remarks.
In the letter, Penman said Starmer’s language was “disappointing” and “frankly insulting”, and that the PM “must work immediately to rebuild trust” with the civil servants who will be tasked with implementing his plans for this parliament.
In Starmer’s response, published yesterday, he said: “From my time as director of public prosecutions, I know first-hand just how fortunate this country is to have a civil service that is admired across the world. Nothing I have encountered in my first five months in government has changed my view on that.
“But, as your letter acknowledges, government must deliver better for the people we both serve, and ministers and civil servants should work in a partnership that is based on trust.”
Echoing his message to civil servants earlier this week, Starmer said the civil service “has been held back for too long by a lack of consistent direction and mission focus, and this government is absolutely on the side of realising their potential”.
And he said civil servants “bring something very special to their work: an unwavering and invaluable sense of public service that I see in real time every day”.
But Starmer there is” equally no doubt that we will need to reform the way we approach government if we are to deliver the change that people across the country want to see in their lives”.
Starmer said there are “too many cases, across government, where the current approach delivery is not working”, either for civil servants or the country. He said the milestones set out in the ‘Plan for Change’ “are ambitious, but every step we take brings us closer to transforming someone's life and rebuilding Britain”.
The PM said the civil servants he has spoken to since Labour came to power “want to see change, precisely because they believe in this mission of service”.
Starmer added that the FDA’s input in the government’s plans for reform will be “welcomed”, and that Pat McFadden, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, will be meeting with unions to discuss this.
Reacting to the PM’s response, Penman said he is “grateful” for Starmer’s “swift response” and for recognising civil servants’ dedication to public service, that they also want to see change and the need for partnership.
Penman added: “I am sure he will have reflected on the events of the last week and the impact they had. I look forward to working with Pat McFadden to help strengthen that partnership on civil service reform.”