Permanent secretaries and other top civil servants should be forced to stay in post long enough to see through key policies and programmes, according to the Better Government Initiative.
The group – whose executive committee comprises 14 former permanent secretaries and ministers – suggests that “a clear expectation that senior individuals will remain in post long enough to see through key policies and programmes” will tackle this issue, and added that only in “exceptional circumstances” should perm secs and other top civil servants be moved or “allowed to move”.
In a report published today, the Better Government Initiative said that the recruitment of non-civil servants into senior roles, while welcomed overall, coupled with the movement of senior civil servants between departments, has damaged “corporate memory”.
Executive committee member and former DWP perm sec Sir Leigh Lewis said: “It used to be that it was the perm secs complaining about the rate of change of ministers. When I was at the DWP I saw five different secretaries of state and eight pensions ministers. Now it is the perm secs who don’t stay anywhere long enough to gain the expertise to fulfil their roles properly.”
Treasury permanent secretary Nicholas Macpherson is the only perm sec still in post since the 2010 general election. The Department of Transport, Ministry of Defence and Home Office have each had three perm secs during this period.
Along with the measures to reduce perm sec churn, the report, entitled The Deployment and Development of Senior Civil Servants, recommends four other steps to overcome “serious deficiencies in the deployment and development of senior civil servants” – two of which are aimed at new civil service CEO, John Manzoni.
As well as recommending that Manzoni is formally designated head of human resources for the civil service, the report also suggests he should be responsible for “a succession planning system for the senior civil service”.