Cabinet Office
INTRODUCTION
[Political content removed]
I am proud of what the [Political content removed]Government has done, working with the Civil Service, to modernise public service and prouder still that there has been no let up on that process of continuous improvement. And we continue to deliver results.
We boast a modern, outward looking civil service, distant in every way from the characterisations of Yes Minister.
One can say that, whilst still having fond memories of the series. I was saddened to read of the death last week of John Nettleton, who starred as the gloriously devious Cabinet Secretary, Sir Arnold, in Yes Minister.
Because of how much everything has changed in the last 12 years we can afford to smile at Sir Arnolds retort when the Minister wished to deliver a speech on Reform.
He commented Once you specify in advance what a project is supposed to achieve and who is responsible the whole system will fall apart. We would end up with the whole squalid world of professional managementwe already have to move them around every 2-3 years to stop this nonsense - any more transparency and we would be moving them once a fortnight.
I will revisit Sir Arnold later.
We have made great strides but as the Fulton Report put it as long ago as 1968
We have found no instance where reform has pressed ahead too rapidly.
The stiff wind of competition provides an impetus for the private sector to modernise or die; in Health or Education an ever more informed and aware public demand improvements. Our Armed Forces through active combat, through allied exercises and through intense study of our adversaries are acutely aware of the pressure to change and meet an ever evolving threat.
The half a million colleagues that make up our Civil service are critical to our country and must be equally determined to deliver change.
They know that Modernisation is no end in itself. It is about delivering to every part of our country and every family, and doing so better, more effectively and cheaper.
For the overall UK productivity challenge to be resolved the public sector must up its game.
THE BACKGROUND
We have two great advantages on which to draw in continuing this push for reform.
The first and most important is continuity. [Political content removed]
In 2015, I was fortunate to be elected to succeed Francis Maude as MP for Horsham. Last year I again followed his footsteps in being appointed as Minister for the Cabinet Office.
I am delighted that my predecessors commissioned Francis Maude to report on Civil Service governance and accountability. I very much look forward to receiving it in due course.
But today is not intended to venture, yet, into those broader horizons. But to focus on the modernisation agenda being driven through daily across Government.
Franciss groundbreaking work between 2010 and 2015 created levers for continuous improvement.
This was a vital backdrop to the major step forward crystallised by Michael Gove as CDL in 2021.
The Declaration of Government Reform, jointly agreed by Permanent Secretaries and the cabinet, remains a consistent template for reform and one on which we are continuing to deliver.
I want to set out how the changes wrought since 2010 backed up by continuous attention to delivery, and innovation, are bearing fruit.
I said we have two great advantages. The first being a consistent [Political content removed] drive for modernisation. The second is the people with whom I work throughout the civil service.
Unlike some of my predecessors I have first hand experience of working as a civil servant, between 2008-2009 I served on secondment in a Treasury battling under enormous pressure the huge dangers of the financial crash as the UK provided world-leading innovative solutions.
We have all seen first hand how the modern generation of civil servants can again rise to the challenge whether it was the swift introduction of furlough, protecting the jobs of nearly nine million Britons at its peak, or the delivery of the worlds first COVID vaccination programme.
There are brilliant people in our Civil Service but I know there are many, as can be the case in any organisation, that feel frustrated and stifled by bureaucracy.
Alongside the Cabinet Secretary, I shared with civil service colleagues at Civil service live in Cardiff last week that we need every colleague to be calling out waste and inefficiency, determined to end the frustrations I know many share.
They can do so by more specialisation, more access to outside voices and fresh ideas, staying longer in post, delivering certainty on what we are seeking to achieve and benefitting from crisp evaluation on whether we have, while embracing the digital future which will transform all our working lives.
That is what I want to touch on today.
EFFICIENCY AS THE FOUNDATION OF A MODERN CIVIL SERVICE
In 2010 [Political content removed] the central government functions, including commercial, IT and digital, property, major projects, finance, and HR, did not exist.
The disciplines which underpin the commercial sector were at best segmented at worst viewed as otiose or counter-cultural.
Since then the embedding of the functions led universally by highly driven, effective individuals with outside experience has replaced one off jolts to the system, with ongoing rigour.
I am pleased to announce that a total of 4.4 billion savings were delivered by the central government functions in the financial year 2021/22. These are split between audited cashable (3.4 billion) and non-cashable (1 billion). The Cabinet Office has now published this on GOV.UK.
This wasnt a one-off event. In the year prior to that, the central government Function Teams also delivered 3.4 billion worth of audited savings. This means around 8bn of cashable and non-cashable savings were delivered in the last 2 years. We have achieved this by thinking differently and driving success.
The components of these savings vary year in year out this year for example over 1 billion of savings were delivered by identifying and correcting fraudulently claimed Universal Credit (UC). This is an area post our establishment of the Public Sector Fraud Authority which is likely to grow further.
I am delighted that to take this work further the Treasury are releasing today a Government Efficiency Framework, ensuring consistent reporting of efficiencies across the whole of Government and reporting processes to track delivery and drive continuous improvement.
Another step along the remorseless but critical path of delivering improved productivity across the civil service.
Our modernisation work is not limited to the services delivered by central government.
UKs public bodies which play a vital role in delivery but whose independence of action can risk them becoming divorced from a culture of continuing improvement are subject to reviews and improvement.
To date, 71 of the initial 125 public body reviews have been launched covering over 90% of ALB expenditure.
Most of the largest ALBs will be reviewed in the next 18 months, benefitting from experienced teams and the active support of ALB boards: completed reviews have recommended actions to improve governance, capability and use of resources to deliver the best possible value for the taxpayer.
REFORMING PROCUREMENT
As a Government we provide services. We spend, across the Public Sector, 300bn annually on procurement, and we deliver enhancements to our national infrastructure.
After a substantial effort we are now within weeks of the Procurement Bill clearing both houses. In a rare example of Government adopting the refreshing motto of Keep it Simple Stupid it cuts down the 350 different procurement regulations founded on EU Procurement, to create one simple rulebook.
It will help set the framework of an ever more outcomes-based approach to procurement so that we can buy goods and services: dont tell the market exactly how to build a bridge, engage with them on how we can best cross the water. You may be amazed by what you discover.
STRONGER PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR BETTER SERVICES
On which subject we know that better infrastructure delivers better productivity.
Over the last two years the governments major projects portfolio has doubled in size to oversee nearly 250 programmes, with a whole life cost of nearly 800bn.
Bringing more projects into the central portfolio has created better central oversight and investment, enabling more transparency and closer scrutiny. 89% of those projects now have a green or amber delivery confidence, up from 64% in 2020.
So, this rigorous focus on efficiency, on improving procurement and better project management is delivering the foundation to improve our productivity and enhance our public services.
When Francis introduced the functions it amounted to a revolutionary step - the Victorian departmental silo model being complimented by a lattice of cross-departmental experts with which most in the commercial sector will be familiar. 12 years on they continue to flourish, they continue to deliver and the GEF will make their job easier and their results even more transparent.