Summary
The Civil Service is one of the great institutions of state which underpins our political and constitutional stability. It has no separate legal personality, and is accountable to ministers and to Parliament, yet it must also provide for its own sustainability and governance. It must provide itself with the leadership and capability which governments need, while remaining accountable to the government of the day.
Civil Service learning and development has undergone significant change since the closure of the National School of Government in 2012. This was a premature decision and has left a void which has not been filled by the body that replaced it, Civil Service Learning, and leaves the UK looking the odd one out, compared to other comparable countries which have retained a permanent institution for the learning and development of their civil service. Since then, a range of specialist academies have been established, reflecting the greater prominence of the cross-departmental Professions and Functions in the Civil Service. In addition, the Civil Service Leadership Academy and the National Leadership Centre have each been established to address leadership capability at more senior levels.
The Committee welcomes these developments, and the recognition of the importance of supplementing the Civil Service’s traditional emphasis on experiential or “on the job” learning with more conceptual and reflective learning. However, these new bodies have emerged largely ad hoc, rather than as the product of coherent strategy. The Government refers to its “academy system” but there is little evidence of the coherence that would be implied by this term. There are academies for certain areas but not for others. How the various parts of the “academy system” relate to each other is far from apparent.
The Civil Service Leadership Academy was established in 2017 to improve leadership capability in the Senior Civil Service. The Committee supports its efforts, but it has very limited resources. It has no permanent location and no proper faculty. After nearly two years in operation, it now warrants some core funding which should be used to establish a permanent home and dedicated faculty. These measures would go some way to filling the void left by the closure of the National School for Government.
The National Leadership Centre is a separate, Treasury-led initiative intended to improve productivity by developing leadership capability across the public sector, not just in the Civil Service. It has been given £21m for the first three years, which makes the £800,000 for the Civil Service Leadership Academy look derisory. The National Leadership Centre’s relationship with the emerging academies, including the Civil Service Leadership Academy, remains unclear, but we recommend the Government pursues the model envisaged to ensure it obtains a permanent HQ, some capacity to conduct research into public sector leadership, and provides a space for leaders to learn from each other. The Civil Service Leadership Academy should be given equivalent funding.
It is clear that significant efforts are being made to address concerns about capability and leadership development in the Civil Service. Overall, some £600m is spent across Whitehall on learning and development, but decentralisation has been at the expense of coordination and accountability. We find it astonishing that so little is known about how this money is spent. This raises fundamental questions about the leadership and governance of learning and development in the Civil Service. This is central to the sense of the Civil Service as an institution and its idea of itself.
We have no idea who the Head of the Civil Service should hold responsible for Civil Service learning and development. We recommend that the government identifies an individual or body to be accountable for this responsibility. We welcome that the Civil Service is taking steps to address its learning and development, but ministers must also give active support. The governance and strategy for civil service learning and development should be set out in a white paper, with the support of the Prime Minister, who holds the title, Minister for the Civil Service.
Drawing on the evidence of this and previous enquiries, we recommend establishing a new institution, building on the Civil Service Leadership Academy, in a permanent location, capable over time of delivering the full spectrum of civil service learning and development, through residential courses. As part of the Cabinet Office, this would be the body to hold the key information about what learning and development provision is being made available, and for whom. It would fill gaps in provision and develop synergies with separate provision provided by departments and the academies. It should work alongside and support the new National Leadership Centre. This would also provide a space for Civil Service leaders to enable the Civil Service as an institution to become more mindful of itself, its values and ethos, and how to sustain its internal governance, as well as its capability.
Published: 22 July 2019