Government ministers do not do enough to celebrate the work of the civil service, former Ministry of Justice permanent secretary Sir Suma Chakrabarti has said.
Chakrabarti, who served as the top civil servant at both the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Justice, told Civil Service World that ministers “should say more about how proud they are of the civil service” which, he says, is "the best in the world".
After leaving the Civil Service in 2012 Chakrabarti was elected as president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a position which sees him work with public administrations across Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans and in Asia.
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“It’s quite striking when you see public administration around all our countries of operations, and also our non-recipients as well…there is no doubt – and I don't think British ministers or the British civil service say this enough – that it is the best civil service in the world and it remains that way,” Chakrabarti said.
"I can see that every day when I work with other administrations. They should be proud of what they’re doing.”
Chakrabarti also warned against politicisation of the the civil service along the lines of the French or American model.
“It is often debated in Whitehall whether they should move to a French or American system. Woe betide you ever do that,” he said. “That is a system that was adopted in some parts of eastern Europe and with great regret now.”
Regularly replacing the top layers of a civil service to bring in political appointments – as happens in some countries – can, Chakrabarti warned, "destroy the public administration for another two or three years while these people learn what to do".
He added: "It’s not sensible. More and more leaders of the western Balkans are coming to the same conclusion.”
The former MoJ chief said “one of the greatest lessons from the British civil service is a meritocratic, non-political civil service".
Read CSW's full interview with Sir Suma Chakrabarti here