Radical reform of UK civil service is very unlikely

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Radical Reform ◽  
Fit For Purpose ◽  
The Uk

Subject Civil service reform. Significance Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief strategist, Dominic Cummings, has declared that the main priority in the new parliament will be fixing the machinery of the UK government. Cummings believes the public administration is not fit for purpose in dealing with post-Brexit challenges: cabinet has too many ministers, which makes it impossible to take rational decisions; the civil service lacks delivery expertise and is weak at getting things done; there are too few genuine experts; and the centre of government is brittle and struggles to enforce decisions. Impacts Uncertainty in the civil service will undermine the government’s efforts to negotiate an EU-UK trade deal. Expected initial conflict between civil servants and ministers will result in greater incidence of policy blunders. Cummings will likely leave government sooner than expected, exasperated by the impediments to change within the public service bureaucracy. Cummings's departure would raise questions about Johnson’s strategy and durability as prime minister.

Myanmar civil service reform risks a two-tiered system

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
Administration System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Tiered System ◽  
The Government

Subject Outlook for civil service reform in Myanmar. Significance On April 21, the government confirmed that permanent secretaries, abolished in 1962, will be reintroduced into the public administration system. The decision is part of President Thein Sein's "third wave" of reforms, following commensurate political and economic measures after the 2010 elections and Myanmar's transition to semi-civilian government. By restoring this most-senior bureaucratic post, Naypyidaw intends to enhance the bureaucracy and signal its intention to modernise public administration. Impacts Further civil service reform will require the government to define the centre-province administrative balance. Until then, civil service reforms may initially be felt in urban centres only. Additional pay may be required for civil servants.

Administrative elites and the crisis: what lies ahead for the senior civil service in Greece?

2014 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calliope Spanou
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
The Public ◽  
Administrative Elites ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The nature of the relationship between the public administration and politics and the subsequent role of the administration appear to be incompatible with the emergence of an administrative elite. After analysing the reasons for this incompatibility, the article explores the impact of the measures taken in the wake of the economic crisis on the civil service and its reform, and also the prospects for the development of a senior civil service. The key, and also the challenge, to any change in this direction remains the rebalancing of the relationship between the public administration and politics. Points for practitioners What might interest practitioners is the issue of the conditions of effectiveness of civil service reform in times of economic crisis and significant pressure.

“Representative bureaucracy as a leadership issue: the Canadian case”

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-410
Author(s):  
Tim A. Mau
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Representative Bureaucracy ◽  
Gender Representation ◽  
Administrative Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Leadership ◽  
Federal Public Service

PurposeThe public administration literature on representative bureaucracy identifies several advantages from having a diverse public service workforce, but it has not explicitly focused on leadership. For its part, the public sector leadership literature has largely ignored the issue of gender. The purpose of this paper is to rectify these limitations by advancing the argument that having a representative bureaucracy is fundamentally a leadership issue. Moreover, it assesses the extent to which representativeness has been achieved in the Canadian federal public service.Design/methodology/approachThe paper begins with a discussion of the importance of a representative bureaucracy for democratic governance. In the next section, the case is made that representativeness is fundamentally intertwined with the concept of administrative leadership. Then, the article provides an interpretive case study analysis of the federal public service in Canada, which is the global leader in terms of women's representation in public service leadership positions.FindingsThe initial breakthrough for gender representation in the Canadian federal public service was 1995. From that point onward, the proportion of women in the core public administration exceeded workforce availability. However, women continued to be modestly under-represented among the senior leadership cadre throughout the early 2000s. The watershed moment for gender representation in the federal public service was 2011 when the number of women in the executive group exceeded workforce availability for the first time. Significant progress toward greater representativeness in the other target groups has also been made but ongoing vigilance is required.Research limitations/implicationsThe study only determines the passive representation of women in the Public Service of Canada and is not able to comment on the extent to which women are substantively represented in federal policy outcomes.Originality/valueThe paper traces the Canadian federal government's progress toward achieving gender representation over time, while commenting on the extent to which the public service reflects broader diversity. In doing so, it explicitly links representation to leadership, which the existing literature fails to do, by arguing that effective administrative leadership is contingent upon having a diverse public service. Moreover, it highlights the importance of gender for public sector leadership, which hitherto has been neglected.

The Impact of Differentiation and Differential on Hong Kong's Career Public Service

2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-233
Author(s):  
Brian Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
The Public ◽  
Documentary Sources ◽  
One Country Two Systems ◽  
The One ◽  
Career Employment ◽  
The Impact

The public administration principles characteristic of many Commonwealth countries served as the foundations for building the Hong Kong civil service. These have continued to operate in line with the `one country two systems' concept under which Hong Kong has been administered, since 1997, as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. Career employment, hierarchy and public service values combined to provide an overarching unity to a system that nevertheless has developed considerable differentiation over time. This article examines the developments that are currently modifying Hong Kong's public sector. The discussion draws on documentary sources and a recently completed qualitative study on the experiences and perspectives of senior Hong Kong managers working in a dozen government departments and agencies. The discussion addresses questions about whether greater differentiation across government departments, in combination with increasing differential within these organizations, will ultimately bring about the demise of the traditional civil service system.

Civil service reform in the mirror of budget expenditures

2016 ◽  
pp. 57-73
Author(s):  
G. Borshchevskiy
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Budget Process ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
General Direction ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Macroeconomic Indicators

The article is devoted to issues of reforming the system of national civil service. This problem is considered in conjunction with the budget process. A new methodology is presented, which allows determine the share of the costs for the maintenance of public service in terms of changes of budget classification. The connection between the costs of financing of public service and other groups of budgetary expenditures in 1991-2014 has been traced. The hypothesis of relationship between the course of the civil service reforming and the general direction of social and economic development of the country has been tested by comparing the dynamics of budget expenditures for the maintenance of the public service with the dynamics of a number of macroeconomic indicators. The ways to enhance the validity of planning budget expenditures have been offered.

DEFINITION AND FEATURES OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
Feruza Yuldasheva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Main Concept ◽  
Legal Concept ◽  
The Public ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Legal Literature ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
Definition Of

The purpose of this article is to study theoretical approaches to the definition of the concept of public service. The author has researched a significant list of Soviet and modern legal literature devoted to topical issues of the institute of public service. The main concept of this article is that the institute of public service is considered by us from the standpoint of consistency. The author's definition of the concept of "public service" is proposed. In addition, the article presents various concepts of understanding the concept of "public service". At the same time, the author draws attention to the fact that there is no unified normative establishment of the legal concept of "public service" in the domestic legislation. The conclusions are based on the analysis of the experience of foreign countries.Keywords: public service, civil service, public service, public administration, types of public service

Performance-related-pay in the UK public sector

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zofia M Bajorek ◽  
Stephen M Bevan
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Human Resources Management ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Scheme Design ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Behavioural Sciences ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an up-to-date, comprehensive, independent and credible assessment of relevant academic and other literature since 2007, on the effectiveness and value for money of performance-related-pay (PRP) in the public sector. Design/methodology/approach – PRP was studied using both economics-based literature and literature from the organisational and management field (including human resources, management sociology and psychology). An initial search of databases identified 7,401 documents regarding PRP in the public sector, which was reduced to 57 final papers included in the study (27 in the health sector, 16 in the education sector and 16 in the civil service) after abstract and full paper screening. Findings – The review found some evidence that PRP schemes can be effective across the three domains of the public sector for which there was evidence available (health, education and the civil service), but findings within and between the sectors are mixed, with scheme effectiveness often dependent on scheme design and organisational context. Research limitations/implications – The research highlights the importance of considering both economics-based and organisational literature when discussing PRP in the public sector, and the implications for motivation and PRP design. Practical implications – The results indicated that the design of PRP schemes could influence their effectiveness and outcomes, and the research suggests how the challenges of designing and implementing PRP schemes can be overcome in the public sector. Social implications – The review highlights that when implementing PRP schemes there may be gender differences in their overall effectiveness (especially in education) and there must be consideration for how fairly the PRP scheme is perceived. Originality/value – The paper uses literature from economics and behavioural sciences when looking at the motivational implications for PRP in the public sector.

The relationship between leadership style and employee performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 274-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank L.K. Ohemeng ◽  
Emelia Amoako-Asiedu ◽  
Theresa Obuobisa Darko
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Leadership Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
The Public ◽  
Alternative Practices

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance critical theoretical insights into the idea of “relational bureaucratic leadership” and its implications for public administration in developing countries (DCs). In doing so, the paper sets out new agendas for public service governance in DCs that recognizes the changing nature and emerging complexities of both the public service and society. Design/methodology/approach This is an exploratory study which synthesises literature in management, human resources, leadership studies and public administration, to understand the limitations of mainstream approaches to bureaucratic leadership in DCs, particularly SSA, with a view of identifying alternative practices. Findings Findings from this paper suggest that public service governance in DCs are embedded in complex dynamics between power relations, complexity and social norms, and bureaucratic leaders should, therefore, focus on building relationships as a means of deepening trust and enhancing cooperation among critical actors. The case for a shift in focus to “relationality” reflects changes in the broader global political economy, including emerging wicked and multi-faceted policy problems that require heterodox and context-sensitive responses from governments and greater collaboration among key stakeholders. Originality/value The analysis of the limitations of traditional approaches to public service governance in this essay reveals the importance of a shift from a preoccupation with conventional organizational forms and functions, to place greater emphasis on social networks and relationships, as a way of improving leadership efficiency in the public services of DCs.

Wider applications for Lean

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 550-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Bateman ◽  
Peter Hines ◽  
Peter Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Royal Air Force ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lean Principles ◽  
The Public ◽  
Lean Enterprise ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – The lean enterprise model has been adopted in a wide range of industries beyond its origins in the motor industry. To achieve this there has been a considerable extension of the lean concept outside high-volume repetitive manufacture. The purpose of this paper is to present an in-depth study of the application of lean within the British Royal Air Force. It offers a number of new insights which have implications for the future development and adoption of lean in service contexts, and the public sector in particular. Design/methodology/approach – To illustrate the issues of application of lean outside automotive, this paper considers the adoption of the lean concept by the Tornado joint integrated project team within the UK Ministry of Defence. A review of methods of application of lean used within Tornado are studied. The paper considers how the fundamental principles of lean apply in this environment and how, considering these principles, methods of implementation should be modified. Findings – This paper finds that the five lean fundamental principles apply in Tornado but they need to considered specifically within the public service context particularly the pull principle. Hence the authors offer three propositions relating to the use of the lean principles of value, waste, flow and pull in the public sector, and one for perfection only relating to military organisations. Originality/value – This paper makes an important contribution by demonstrating that lean can be successfully applied, in a public service context, with only modest modifications to its core principles, principally about how customer demand (pull) is managed. The implication of this finding demonstrates that to be adopted successfully, lean must be adapted to its context and the lean principles need to be reviewed too.

scholarly journals La administración pública en Gran Bretaña

1993 ◽  
pp. 35-46
Author(s):  
William Plowden ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
The Public ◽  
Margaret Thatcher ◽  
The Past ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
The Government

This article focuses on the central national government of Great Britain. It outlines the most important permanent features of the British administration, those which have remained constant over the past hundred years or so. It then describes the major changes in the public service between 1960 and 1970 and during the government of Margaret Thatcher. It also discusses some unresolved issues and identifies key lessons learned on how to reform and maintain an efficient public administration. Furthermore, it is explained that the British civil service has been altered by accession to the European Community, because their laws restrict the formulation or implementation of British public policies. Finally, thirteen essential elements for an effective civil service in a modern democratic state are mentioned.

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