The government-commissioned report into civil service appointments, by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank, makes six recommendations for reform.
These include giving the PM the power to appoint from a list of candidates drawn up by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), as well as appointing permanent secretaries on four-year contracts whose renewal will be dependent on performance.
The head of the civil service – currently Sir Bob Kerslake, who is also a departmental permanent secretary - should be a full-time position and take on all responsibilities for line-managing perm secs and renewing their contracts, the IPPR adds.
The report, which is based on a study of leading international civil service systems, including countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, recommends providing ministers and secretaries of state with a larger "extended office" which they would appoint directly. These offices would be made up of a mixture of officials, external experts, and political advisers.
The think tank also called for officials to be seconded into opposition parties to help with policy development.
Further, it says that senior civil servants in key operational roles should be directly accountable to relevant departmental select committees in Parliament in their own right, and not just as spokespeople for their ministers.
Currently, permanent secretary appointments are made by the CSC and the prime minister has a veto. Last December, first civil service commissioner Sir David Normington reformed the system to give ministers the ability to give feedback on shortlisted candidates.
The government has also published online the personal objectives of the perm secs, set by ministers and against which their performance will be judged. However, it will not be publishing whether or not officials have met their personal targets.
IPPR director Nick Pearce said the think tank’s recommendations would “improve ministerial confidence in the civil service” and “build on the core traditions of the UK civil service”. He added that they “sit well with current Whitehall practice, and could be easily implemented”.
Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude has welcomed the report. He has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the civil service, which he said showed a “bias to inertia” and called for more ministerial involvement in the appointment of perm secs.
“I am pleased the IPPR’s recommendations are evolutionary and go with the grain of our Westminster system,” he said. The report will be considered by his office while it is formulating the next steps for the civil service reform.
A spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office said she could not provide details on whether or when the recommendations would be accepted. But the Independent newspaper reported today that the government was due to announce next month its recommendations to give ministers new powers to personally appoint teams of external experts, political advisers and seconded civil servants to run new expanded private offices.