2024 was a year of change for the UK government and civil service. A new government, ministers, advisers and a new cabinet secretary.
Despite this, the second half of last year felt pretty familiar for most civil servants. If 2024 was a year of change in name, 2025 needs to be the year of recognisable progress and meaningful reform.
While the FDA has been vocal about our disagreement with the new prime minister on his interpretation of why change is slow in the civil service – we can agree on the need for change and reform. The test of success for this government in 2025 will be whether its actions can match its ambition.
By the end of 2025, the government will have been in office for 18 months. It will have set out the longer-term Spending Review. The many commissioned policy reviews will make their recommendations, moving the government onto what needs to be done rather than what has happened.
But as this government will no doubt be aware, change takes time. In order to deliver on its goals by the end of this parliament it will need to start demonstrating evidence of progress in 2025.
The delivery of this presents challenges for the civil service. Civil servants have been set the task of delivering more, with less. Little has been set out from the government so far in how it intends to achieve its ambitions of reforming the public sector, to take one government ambition, while continuing to maintain delivery of other state functions.
Departments have been asked to shape priorities for the Spending Review in line with the government’s milestones and missions, and create efficiencies elsewhere. Many mentions have been made of increased use of technology, but implementation of AI and new technology to a scale that can genuinely lead to productivity gains takes time and investment.
There is still no real plan for how to do this. Properly utilising AI requires attracting skills and retaining talent. Whilst the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, looks to increase job mobility by recruiting for secondments in the civil service, elsewhere a job advert went viral a few weeks ago. The post highlighted that a UK government role, based in Washington, responsible for driving engagement with the US on defence digital and AI strategy, would qualify for low income housing vouchers in Washington DC. The issue of civil service salaries becomes even starker when you compare them across the globe.
It bears repeating (and we will) that without a long term workforce strategy, underpinned by a plan for pay reform, the government will fall short of its aims.
All the building blocks should be there: clear objectives, agreed finances, and a new cabinet secretary to lead the charge. 2025 has the potential to be a defining year for the UK civil service, public sector, and government. Every civil servant I know is ready to deliver it.