External managers are not the ideal role models

The Commons public administration committee has struck a blow at the heart of one of the government's major reform policies for Whitehall by saying the senior civil service should rely less on bringing in managers from elsewhere. The cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, has made the policy of both bringing in external managers and of seconding senior civil servants to other parts of the government, an important focus in developing the professional capabilities of the senior civil service, but the MPs on the committee conclude that there is now too much dependence on external recruitment into the senior civil service. The report says there is no evidence that external recruits perform better than career civil servants, despite being paid more, on average. Many leave Whitehall relatively quickly. This is not a blanket ban on external recruitment, but the MPs report " a wider concern", which is the ability of the civil service to identify its current and future skills needs and to plan effectively to meet those needs. The report says employment policy in the civil service should focus more on developing internal people and skills, rather than drawing them in from outside. "This is long overdue. We have been making these points for years," commented Jonathan Baume, the general secretary of the FDA, which represents senior civil servants. Baume said bringing in external managers undermines the development of collective memory within Whitehall and allows the civil service to "fudge its own people development". Baume said there has been no real assessment of the value for money of those recruited from external jobs into the civil service and added that it is ironic, given that the civil service recruits some of the brightest graduates in the country, that there has not been more development of internal skills. Blocked promotion opportunities Baume added that bringing in more highly-paid senior managers has blocked promotion opportunities and skewed many departmental pay structures. "If you talk to permanent secretaries, they are often the lowest-paid member of their management team," he commented. Tony Wright, who chairs the committee, said the permanent civil service is increasingly not made up of permanent civil servants. He acknowledged that external appointments at senior levels have been contentious for some time now, "not least" because external candidates have generally been paid substantially more than internal ones. "We did not find evidence that outside recruits have drastically changed the nature and ethos of the senior civil service, but equally there is a lack of performance data to support the claim that they are good value for money," he said. A report last November by the National Audit Office highlighted a lack of commercial expertise in the government and said over-reliance on temporary specialists can lead to higher project costs and a loss of knowledge. While the report makes some good points, it is part of a wider picture, with the public sector awash with reports, reviews and strategies, all jostling for attention before the general election is called and the curtain comes down on policy announcements. Whatever the merits of each individual pronouncement, the collective effect is that of a sense of desk-tidying.