Starmer’s chief secretary reveals plans to bust ‘the sludge’ in Whitehall
Keir Starmer’s chief secretary, Darren Jones, says he is going to bust “the sludge” in Whitehall by bringing in risk-taking taskforces to deal with problems, and providing the ability to sack senior civil servants who do not deliver,Jones, the MP for Bristol North West, said civil servants should feel “jeopardy” if they were underperforming, highlighting that only seven out of 7,000 senior civil servants were on improvement plans,As part of plans to “rewire” Whitehall, he said big bonuses would in future be reserved for those who showed exceptional achievement,Key performance indicators for senior officials would be set by ministers and those civil servants not meeting expectations would be “shown the door”,“Instead of the sideways shimmy to another team or department if you fail to perform, I’m afraid you will be sacked,” he said, adding that “the doers, not the talkers” would be in line for promotion.
Jones outlined the plans during a keynote speech at the What3Words tech company in west London on Tuesday, standing in front of a neon “move fast, fix things” slogan, as he argued the British state was “broken” and needed a complete digital transformation.He said small taskforces would be set up to deal with specific problems, with cabinet ministers bidding for extra help in their departments.These units would be subject to the “two pizza” test, which is a theory from startups that any team that cannot share two pizzas is too big and unwieldy to be agile.He said many brilliant civil servants were as frustrated as he was about the bureaucracy and slow pace in Whitehall, and were keen for change.Jones said he could not yet say which specific problems needed fixing, but earlier in his speech he highlighted childcare policy and the management of driving tests and licences as two areas that needed improvement.
The cabinet minister acknowledged that many previous governments had tried to make Whitehall more productive and efficient without huge success,This time would be different, he said, as he would try to inject more competition into the civil service at the same time as improving the experience of the public when it interacted with the state,“The public rightly ask: ‘If you can bank and shop online in a quick and convenient way, then why can’t it be done for public services too?’” he said,Jones said one part of the “sludge busting” would be carried out by Richard Hermer, the attorney general, alongside Nick Thomas-Symonds, a Cabinet Office minister, who will look at obstacles to getting things done in legislation, regulations and processes,He said the government would strip out some of the extra checks and consultations on new policy and delivery, giving the example of an HMRC pilot where a 40-step process was reduced to two layers of approvals.
At the event, Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union, pressed Jones on “whether the government can convince civil servants, who have too often been scapegoated by politicians, to take risks without knowing they won’t get quickly blamed by ministers when those risks don’t work out”.Jones said he was comfortable with a greater degree of risk-taking in order to increase the productivity.Mike Clancy, the general secretary of the Prospect union, said civil servants were eager to support changes “if these are done properly”.“There are already thousands of ‘doers’ in government, particularly Prospect members, who have specialist in-demand skills in areas like science, data, procurement and project management.These people are frequently underpaid, undervalued and often work outside Whitehall in areas vital to on-the-ground delivery,” he said.
“A series of government reports have recommended reforming the pay system to provide the flexibility to recruit and retain key specialists in the civil service.If the government wants a more agile and productive state, this is the place to start.”
The postponement of local elections could present an opportunity | Letters
One thing that’s been missing from the debate around the English devolution bill is what this change will mean for town and parish councils (More than 20 England council elections likely to be delayed until 2027, 15 January). As combined authorities start to form, it is these hyperlocal councils that will be taking the lead in shaping solutions that are genuinely rooted in place and driven by the people who live there.At Lewes town council, the conversations we are having focus on how these changes could be an opportunity for the town. Sussex is one of the six counties on the government’s priority programme for establishing a combined authority. As the possibility of a more unified county structure edges closer, we are having to think imaginatively about the future
Starmer’s chief secretary reveals plans to bust ‘the sludge’ in Whitehall
Keir Starmer’s chief secretary, Darren Jones, says he is going to bust “the sludge” in Whitehall by bringing in risk-taking taskforces to deal with problems, and providing the ability to sack senior civil servants who do not deliver.Jones, the MP for Bristol North West, said civil servants should feel “jeopardy” if they were underperforming, highlighting that only seven out of 7,000 senior civil servants were on improvement plans.As part of plans to “rewire” Whitehall, he said big bonuses would in future be reserved for those who showed exceptional achievement. Key performance indicators for senior officials would be set by ministers and those civil servants not meeting expectations would be “shown the door”.“Instead of the sideways shimmy to another team or department if you fail to perform, I’m afraid you will be sacked,” he said, adding that “the doers, not the talkers” would be in line for promotion
UK should consider expelling US forces from British bases, says Zack Polanski
The UK should consider expelling the US from British military bases, the leader of the Green party has said, as he advocated leaving Nato and spending less on American weapons as part of a wider dismantling of the two countries’ defence alliance.Zack Polanski told the Guardian he believed Britain should wean itself off its reliance on American military cooperation, though would not say whether he supported spending more money to replace that capability.His comments come as the prime minister, Keir Starmer, attempts to placate the US president and dissuade him from his threats to invade Greenland and to impose tariffs on European countries who oppose him.Polanski told the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast: “I think it’s pretty worrying that we’ve allowed ourselves to become so reliant on American interests, and that a lot of this depends on if Donald Trump is in a good mood or not.”He added: “We should be reviewing US bases on UK soil, and actually looking at a genuine strategic defence review
Reeves plans to refund some visa fees in effort to attract ‘trailblazer’ investment to UK
Rachel Reeves will pledge to refund visa fees for some global businesses on Tuesday, as she flies to the World Economic Forum in Davos aiming to showcase the UK as a haven of stability, despite Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats.The chancellor, who will be accompanied by the business secretary, Peter Kyle, will hold a series of meetings with business leaders at the annual gathering of the global elite in the Swiss mountain resort.She will announce tweaks to the visa regime aimed at encouraging “trailblazer” businesses to bring highly skilled staff to the UK – including refunding fees – and speeding up the time it takes to qualify as a sponsor of migrant workers.“Some countries give you a platform, but Britain gives you momentum. My message at Davos this week is clear: choose Britain – it’s the best place in the world to invest,” the chancellor said in pre-released remarks
Who said it: the Robert Jenrick memo or David Brent?
The fallout from Robert Jenrick’s abrupt and chaotic defection from the Conservatives to Reform UK on Thursday continued over the weekend, with the leaking of a memo prepared by his aides for how he should face the press after the event.The six-page document coaches Jenrick on how to answer some potentially tricky questions. While it reflects the character of the man himself, it also somehow manages to channel the spirit of David Brent, the character created by Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais, and played by Gervais in the original UK version of The Office, which aired from 2001 to 2003.With that in mind, your challenge is to decide whether the following nuggets of wisdom come from the office of a senior Conservative defector – or from the philosophical musings of the self-styled “friend first, boss second. Probably entertainer third” at Wernham Hogg in Slough
Romford MP Andrew Rosindell becomes latest Tory to defect to Reform
Andrew Rosindell, the Conservative MP for Romford since 2001, has announced his defection to Reform UK, the second such departure to Nigel Farage’s party in four days.Rosindell, who was a shadow Foreign Office minister under Kemi Badenoch, announced in a statement on X that he was joining Reform, giving as the main reason his opposition to the UK’s handover of sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.While Badenoch opposes the Chagos plan finalised by Keir Starmer, talks about the fate of the British-controlled islands began under the Conservatives, and Rosindell said he felt the party had not properly sought to oppose the plan.After the defection on Thursday of Robert Jenrick, who was Badenoch’s shadow justice secretary, Rosindell’s move puts Reform on seven MPs. While Rosindell is notably lower profile than Jenrick, the departure of another sitting MP is a blow to the Tories
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