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Select committee: Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

Civil Service effectiveness inquiry

Closed Opened 20 Sep 2017 Closed 19 Mar 2019

Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Inquiry scope (the committee's words)
Government Response published 11th Special Report - Government Response to the Committee’s Fifth Report: The Minister and the Official: The Fulcrum of Whitehall Effectiveness 11th Special Report - Government Response to the Committee’s Fifth Report: The Minister and the Official: The Fulcrum of Whitehall Effectiveness [PDF 179KB] This inquiry continues the unfinished inquiry 'The Work of the Civil Service' , which had to be concluded with an interim report as a result of the snap election. This inquiry will focus more closely on how Ministers and civil servants work together. This reflects research based on extensive interviews with serving and former ministers, SpAds and Civil Servants conducted for the Committee over the past year. The Committee will also focus on the present context, which is the Civil Service’s capability and capacity to cope with leaving the EU.

Where it stands

The inquiry is closed, opened 20 September 2017.

The committee has published 1 report, most recently 5th Report - The Minister and the Official: The Fulcrum of Whitehall Effectiveness on 18 June 2018.

The government's response

Published 5 March 2019.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government welcomes the Committee's work and responds to each recommendation, agreeing with several and disagreeing with others, while stating that some of what the Committee proposes already exists.

  • On Single Departmental Plans, the Government agrees they should "continue to be developed and improved", but disagrees that departments' more detailed business planning should be published.
  • On a Parliamentary Civil Service Scheme, it is "scoping a scheme" and says it will update the Committee after the scoping period completes in early 2019.
  • On a new learning body, it believes the body recommended "is already in existence" through Civil Service Learning and the Civil Service Leadership Academy.
  • On non-executive directors, it disagrees with adding a stronger statement of duty to challenge flawed policy, saying there is "sufficient opportunity for challenge" in the current Code of Good Practice.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

Reports

All reports

Evidence

  • 6 oral evidence sessionsLatest 1 May 2018
All evidence

Recent activity

Reports

1 report

Oral evidence sessions

6 sessions

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Date Session and witnesses Source
1 May 2018
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded 		View ↗
15 Jan 2018
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded 		View ↗
19 Dec 2017
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded 		View ↗
5 Dec 2017
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded 		View ↗
21 Nov 2017
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded 		View ↗
7 Nov 2017
Oral evidence session
No witnesses recorded 		View ↗

Correspondence

2 letters

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PublishedDirectionLetter
12 Jun 2018 From committee Letter to the Chair from John Manzoni on Civil Service effectiveness, 31 January 2018
5 Jun 2018 From committee Letter to the Chair from Oliver Dowden MP regarding Civil Service effectiveness, 21 May 2018