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- the Office Words / the Navy Board
- staff appointed by purchase or patronage

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1806: The First college for administrators 

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1806: The First college for administrators 

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- the Honourable East India Company
- recommendations of officials in China
- examinations

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A permanent, unified and politically neutral civil service, in which appointments were made on merit

clear division between staff responsible for routine (“mechanical”) work, and those engaged in policy formulation and implementation

Advantages: removed corruption, ensured effective public service delivery and responded effectively to political change

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technical and scientific expertise was mushrooming.

the "good all-rounder" culture of the administrative civil servant with a classics or other arts degree could solve it.

keen respect for technocracy - technical, not political approach to solving the problem

the so-called «mandarins" of the higher civil service were too remote from the people.

only 3% of the recruits to the administrative class came from the working classes

only more than half of the administrators at undersecretary level and above were privately educated.

Lord Fulton's committee reported in 1968 that:

administrators lacked management skills, the position of technical and scientific experts needed to be rationalsed and enhanced

the service was indeed too remote.

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His 158 recommendations included:

1) the introduction of a unified grading system
2) the introduction of a Civil Service college and a central policy planning unit
3) control should be given to a new department instead of the Treasury
4) the recruitment process should be more flexible in order to encourage people from less privileged backgrounds.

However, Fulton failed because of the lack of political will and the passive resistance by a mandarinate.

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1979-1980s: Margaret Thatcher: small government

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1979-1980s: Margaret Thatcher: small government

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Margaret Thatcher came to office in 1972: government should be small but active.

Reduction of the size of the civil service.

A comprehensive system of corporate and business planning (MINIS) was introduced by Michael Heseltine.

1981 the Prime Minister: the abolition of the Civil Service Department, its powers are vested in the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office.

September 1982: A Financial Management Initiative(Efficiency and Effectiveness in the Civil Service) (efficiency scrutiny programme with a wider focus on corporate planning, efficiency and objective-setting)

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Robin Ibbs, February 1988: “Improving Management in Government: The Next Steps” (delivering featuring clear targets and personal responsibility, commercial approach)

Unfortunately, a lot of initiatives didn’t transform the system, some agencies were dismantled or sold off.

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1990s: From John Major’s Citizen’s Charter to the Present-Day

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1990s: From John Major’s Citizen’s Charter to the Present-Day

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New programme of market-testing of central government services began, with the White Paper Competing for Quality.

1. Five-yearly or three-yearly policy and finance reviews of all agencies and other public bodies were instituted

2. Strategic contracting-out (based on the principle that the private sector was always more efficient and more responsive.)

In 1991, Prime Minister John Major, the Citizen’s Charter (aimed at improving the Civil Service by making it more citizen friendly, increase transparency and take measures to motivate civil servants to work better and harder.)

The current Government is trying to develop and implement Civil Service reform which will reduce the costs and increase its efficiency.