Civil Service Reform

This week we have seen the fiasco of the G4s/ Serco contracting and media comment that the PM is deeply frustrated with the Head of the Civil Service, Sir Bob Kerslake.
Cameron is not the first PM to be irritated about the slow pace of change and there are echoes here of Blair’s years as PM.
In my experience the senior Civil Servants in this country are amongst the brightest people you will meet. Articulate and intelligent.
What I have always been surprised about is how sheltered their life is. Those identified as being destined for significant promotion should be taken out of their environment and given structured management experience in the private sector, particularly those businesses involved in direct delivery to the public. Surely there would be no shortage of businesses that would want to be involved?
Formal management training should be in top class business schools where civil servants are deliberately mixed with those from other sectors of the economy.

What else has stuck me is that it is possible to rise to the highest levels of the Civil Service without any experience of implementing programmes. So you analyse problems, identify solutions agree on a package of measures and then have no responsibility for “doing”.
That has to change.
Like any other group, civil servants thrive on leadership. Politicians have to provide that by having a clear plan for change.

UPDATE: Interesting to listen to the former head of the Border Agency on the Today Programme. Words he repeatedly uses about the poor performance of UKBA: Culture and Leadership.