Involving civil servants is key to success of civil service reform, says Prospect

Yesterday, the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, Dame Antonia Romeo, gave a lecture at the London School of Economics on ‘rewiring the state and the future of the civil service.’

Her speech can be read in full here.

Reacting to Dame Antonia Romeo’s speech on civil service reform, Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said:

“Civil servants are not hostile to reform, many agree that things need to change, but the key to success is making sure civil servants are actively involved and bought into the process and understand how statements and announcements impact them and the public they serve.

“We agree with much of the diagnosis set out by Antonia Romeo- for example that progression in the civil service is too dependent on constantly changing jobs and does not reward people who build up specialist expertise- and will be looking for concrete action to rectify these issues after years of neglect.

“Finally, we must avoid the trap of seeing AI as a magic wand to improve productivity. AI adoption only really succeeds when the workforce is deeply involved in decisions about where and how to integrate technology- and crucially where not to.

“Getting this right is not impossible, but it will need to involve much deeper and better quality engagement with workers and unions than has been the case in recent years.”