Lions Supplied by Donkeys. Why?
November 11th 2009
It was ‘Horseguards' and the Admiralty Board in Napoleonic times; the Generals in the Crimea aided by an incompetent Civil Service; the Generals and the supply of munitions in World War 1; and a conspiracy between top Civil Servants and politicians in the 1930s Front line troops have usually been let down by the ‘supply chain' starting here at home. But in 2009 there has been a combination of terrible procurement (which has origins in the last Tory Government) and complacency which has led to there being as many civil servants in the Ministry of Defence as there are fighting troops available for the field of conflict.
The public vents its anger at poor performance at home by civilians, directed by politicians, leading to a greater number of casualties than is necessary. An incoming government will have to radically reform the civil service because however much we might wish that social progress should be centrally driven to make it fair and effective, it is not always the case and the overwhelming power of the British state can be used to cover inefficiency and malice.
While central targets eventually brought progress in the performance of the NHS, centralised pay bargaining and negotiations with the medical ‘trades unions' have retarded progress towards a more cost effective service. The Home Office has failed massively in two areas. The first is prisons where the ‘crisis' number of 50,000 of the early 1970s inmates is on the way to doubling by 2020; the police forces of the nation are controlled by the last of the medieval barons, weakly supervised by local politicians and worthies. Budgets are as out of control as the allocation of ‘warnings' to hard criminals. This column is too long to discuss failures in the field of immigration.
The more ‘modern' ministries connected with business and welfare might appear more progressive. But remember how long it has taken to get credit to small business and the utter mess of the Training industry in the country.
The next Government will be branded as ‘confrontationalist' as it will be compelled to re-organize the Civil Service. At last it will be de-centralised and its pensions will be more realistic. The question of ‘agency status' will be re-examined. Functions will be re-allocated to other bodies, many more local. Indeed the theme of ‘localism', until recently a domain of the Liberal Party, will be applied by whoever makes up the new Government. Although the South East of Essex boldly led by Douglas Carswell MP, provides a model, it will be too strong for the new class of MPs of 2010.
We have the chance to rebuild much of the public service in the next decade but can the ‘donkeys' stomach the reform for the sake of the nation?
Brian L. Strevens
11 November 2009
We will endeavour to update this blog on a weekly basis. Contributers Brian Strevens (Director of the Institute) and Francis Davis (Director of Policy) plan to submit their blogs on alternate weeks.