UK
Ministers’ attacks on civil servants ‘damaged Whitehall staff retention’

Rowena Mason and Matthew Weaver
Mon, 14 August 2023

Ministers’ disparaging public attacks on civil servants have damaged staff retention and morale in Whitehall, the government’s ethics watchdog has said.

Government officials have been accused of being “obstructive and furthering their own agenda”, according to the committee on standards in public life, which pointed to an erosion of the normal conventions that govern civil servants’ relationship with ministers.

In its submission to a parliamentary inquiry on Whitehall leadership and reform, the committee – which is chaired by a former head of MI5, Jonathan Evans – said ministers should be mindful of the power imbalance as public disparagement had consequences.

It also said there had also been a rise in anonymous briefings from within the civil service, with some officials opposed to the government’s “willingness to test the boundaries of legality”.

“In recent times there has been an erosion of the conventions that have governed the relationship, with public criticism of civil servants becoming increasingly disparaging in tone and an increase in anonymous briefings by civil servants to the media,” the committee said in evidence to the Commons public administration committee.

“During and after our review, we heard examples of low civil service morale. There will be a range of factors to explain this, but public accusations of civil servants being obstructive and furthering their own agenda is undoubtedly damaging for staff retention and is unlikely to attract the very best people to work in the public sector.”

The submission outlined findings from the committee’s report on leadership in public life, published earlier this year, which said it had heard that the government’s “willingness to test the boundaries of legality in challenging policy areas” had been difficult for some civil servants who had “struggled to reconcile their work with their own personal values”.

It said ministers were right to expect high standards of their officials. It had been suggested to the committee that in some cases civil servants may mistake a feeling of “dislike or discomfort” over policy choices for ethical considerations that could constitute a breach of the civil service code, the submission said.

The watchdog said civil servants must serve the government of the day impartially and if they felt unable to do that they must move roles or departments or leave.

The committee was set up in 1994 under John Major. It advises the prime minister on upholding standards of conduct across public life in England.

Its members include Lady Arden, a former supreme court justice, Dame Margaret Beckett, the former Labour minister, Ian Blackford, the former Westminster leader of the SNP, Lady Finn, a Conservative peer and former deputy chief of staff to Boris Johnson, Ewen Fergusson, a City lawyer, and Prof Gillian Peele.

Evans is nearing the end of his five-year term at the helm, telling Sky News recently that he thought there should be more transparency about the source of political donations and suggesting a ceiling on the amount MPs can earn from second jobs.

The inquiry on civil service leadership and reform was opened by the Commons public administration committee after a torrid period for relations between ministers and Whitehall, with relations hitting a low last year.

In February 2022, Jacob Rees-Mogg, then the Cabinet Office minister, outlined huge job cuts and left “sorry you were out” notes on the desks of civil servants working from home. Since leaving office, Rees-Mogg has claimed “idle”, “workshy and snowflakey” civil servants frustrated his efforts to scrap EU laws.

In April this year, Dominic Raab quit as deputy prime minister after he was found to have acted in an intimidating way towards civil servants. He then claimed to have been the subject of a concerted campaign by unionised officials trying to undermine him.

Relations have also been strained by protracted pay disputes and strikes, as well as the sacking of Tom Scholar as the Treasury’s permanent secretary by Liz Truss during her brief time as prime minister.

Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, defended the civil service in July, saying criticism of officials had been “insulting and dehumanising”. He said any minister labelling the civil service with terms such as “the blob” would be engaged in “self-defeating cowardice”.

Case, appointed under Boris Johnson, said relations had improved under Rishi Sunak since November but added: “The last five years or so have seen, I think, an increased number of attacks on civil servants individually and collectively by significant political figures which has undoubtedly undermined the good functioning of government.”

Some quarters of Whitehall previously felt Case failed to defend them sufficiently after Raab’s attack on “unionised officials” and when some civil servants were under fire during the Partygate scandal.

Earlier this year, the Institute for Government found that political turmoil had contributed to record levels of staff turnover and declining morale in the civil service.

Lucille Thirlby, the assistant general secretary of the FDA union, said: “Civil servants have no right of reply to the accusations levelled at them by certain politicians, and also have no effective means of raising concerns about ministerial behaviour when the prime minister remains judge and jury on any complaints.

“Our own survey of senior civil servants found over 17% had witnessed unacceptable behaviour by a minister, across 20 government departments, and nearly 70% said they did not have confidence that, if they raised a complaint, it would be dealt with fairly.”

She said ministers must “heed the warning and seek to rebuild trust with civil servants, end the negative briefings, and ensure the civil service is able to recruit and retain the most talented people to deliver our vital public services.”

Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the PCS union, the biggest civil service union, said: “The best way for ministers to improve the morale, efficiency and productivity of civil servants is to treat them with the respect they deserve and give them a fair pay rise to help them through the cost of living crisis and beyond.”

Asked about the committee’s submission, a government spokesperson said: “There is and always should be a professional and productive relationship between ministers and civil servants. The civil service continues to work closely and collaboratively with ministers to deliver for the public on the government’s priorities.”