Josh Smith: We Conservatives must recast the civil service and rewire the state

The Civil Service’s capacity for inertia is nothing short of a scandal.

I’m friends with many civil servants, and while their stories about colleagues who haven’t done any work in 20 years or those who disappear for six months of full sick pay, only to move directly into another civil service job, can be amusing, they ultimately highlight a systemic failure. This inefficiency and unaccountability at the heart of the British State acts as a fire blanket on the flames of economic renewal.

If Rory Stewart and Dominic Cummings are united in an assessment – something is going on.

The Civil Service is blunted by dithering, endless process and unchallenged incompetence.

One of the biggest challenges faced by the last Government was a Civil Service that was at times unwilling, incapable, or even actively opposed to its efforts. A strong Civil Service is essential; it must be able to resist unlawful actions and provide Ministers with honest advice without fear of reprisal. However, the current structures have fostered two core issues: an entrenched culture of inefficiency and a lack of ministerial control over decision-making.

Too many civil servants coast through their careers, failing to meet performance standards, yet remain in place due to a system that makes them difficult, if not impossible, to remove.

Ministers – despite being accountable to the public – lack the authority and capacity to drive meaningful change, overwhelmed by thousands of decisions they have no ability to oversee.

Ahead of the election Conservatives should place reforming the system at the heart of its pitch, as a critical enabler of wider economic renewal. This will signal a seriousness for ending the inertia that has entangled this government and the last.

The solution lies in three key areas:

1. Greater democratic control and accountability at the top of the Civil Service.
2. Independent funding of political parties to strengthen policy development across the spectrum.
3. Improvements in Civil Service performance through stronger internal accountability and more flexible recruitment.

The UK Civil Service has expanded significantly in recent years, but this growth has primarily been at the senior levels. Ever more senior civil servants dominate the policy process, while the number of Ministers and Special Advisers has remained stagnant. As a result, Ministers now have less oversight and control over the decisions they are ultimately held accountable for by the public and media.

Ministers must be empowered to make decisions and delegate them to individuals who share their commitment to delivering results. Civil servants are there to serve the Government of the day, but they lack the political legitimacy and drive required to push through transformative policies. That is why senior Civil Service leadership should be politically appointed.

A new Secretary of State, alongside their Ministerial team, should have the power to appoint Permanent Secretaries, Director Generals, and Directors. Operational roles such as Chief Operating Officers, Finance Directors, and HR Directors should remain apolitical and continue under the existing appointment system. However, the overarching leadership of departments – responsible for delivery, policy, and communications – must report directly to Ministers and share their mission.

Ministers must be confident that the growing network of Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) should not stand in opposition to the Government.

The continuous legal challenges from entities like Natural England or the Sentencing Review Board are an outrage. No part of Government, no matter how distant, should be able to override the will of the democratically elected. Just as Ministers can direct civil servants within their departments, they should have the authority to instruct ALBs to halt any actions. Only the courts, Parliament, and public scrutiny should limit the power of a democratic Government. Unelected bureaucrats, far removed from accountability and common sense, should not be allowed to undermine Ministers, as we’ve seen repeatedly.

The UK’s network of think tanks, and campaign groups has grown substantially. However, if senior Civil Service roles are to be filled with allies of the Government of the day, this ecosystem must be made more sustainable.

Formalised funding for parties that command significant Parliamentary representation, for instance any party with over 50 seats in Parliament, would help sustain political parties between election cycles, ensuring they remain effective in opposition and are well-prepared for government. Labour’s woeful lack of preparation for government was the pinnacle of this failure.

The transition to a politically appointed senior civil service requires a much deeper pool of politically minded leadership talent outside of Parliament. Changes to party funding would allow the donations political parties had previously received to go to the think tanks and campaigning centres developing the next generation of leaders for the Civil Service. This is essential if we are to develop a pool of policy and administrative talent capable of assuming leadership roles in the Civil Service when their party comes into Government.

For too long, both Conservative and Labour governments have relied on broad cost-cutting and efficiency drives that fail to address the foundational problems within the Civil Service. Voluntary redundancy rounds and temporary hiring freezes push out talented individuals while underperformers cling to their roles due to the high levels of job security. A different, more targeted approach is needed.

1. We should empower senior civil servants to remove underperformers. Performance management systems must be reformed to allow swift dismissal of staff who fail to meet standards. Bureaucratic hurdles should be reduced, and financial buyout options should be introduced to enable the streamlined restructuring of teams while retaining top talent.
2. Adaptions to the existing recruitment and retention practices would mean the Civil Service can move away from rigid pay banding, cumbersome “behaviours” based hiring processes, and the lack of in-role pay increases. Instead, individual teams should be allocated staffing budgets, with the flexibility to determine salaries, bonuses, and promotions. If a team wants to pay more for fewer, higher-quality staff or reward top performers with significant raises, it should be free to do so within its budget. In turn, responsible managers should receive performance-based incentives tied to efficiency and effectiveness.

This approach will create a more competitive Civil Service, capable of attracting and retaining top talent while holding underperformers accountable. High-quality managers will have the tools they need to build effective teams, and the long-standing problem of staff in unproductive roles remaining indefinitely will finally be addressed.

Reforming the Civil Service is critical not only for the success of the next Conservative Government but for any future government. The sheer size of the bureaucracy means that Ministers and their advisers cannot effectively control or direct its operations under the current system. A serious democratic deficit has emerged, one that must be corrected by rethinking how the upper levels of the Civil Service are appointed and how the whole Civil Service is managed

Next Gen Tories exists to remake the Conservative Party so that it is fit for the task of renewing our country. To do that, we must also remould the levers of the state. At the next election we want to see Conservative MPs elected with a clear appetite for fixing the deep-seated challenges this country faces. However without reform, the Civil Service will continue to act as a damp rag, smothering the spark of economic renewal. .

By politically appointing top officials, streamlining Civil Service operations, and fostering a sustainable policy ecosystem, we can build a state apparatus that is both efficient and accountable. A modern, high-functioning Civil Service will ensure that governments of all colours have the capacity to deliver on their promises and drive real change for the British people.