The civil service still does not manage its staff effectively, MPs say Poorly performing senior civil servants are far less likely to be sacked than their equivalents elsewhere, say MPs. Penalties for their failure are "weaker" than in other government areas and private firms, a public accounts committee report found. Attempts to make government departments more responsive had made headway but there was a "long way to go", it added. Future reviews would focus on how officials promoted innovation and value for money, the Cabinet Office said. Lack of confidence The way the civil service manages its staff still needs to be significantly improved, the committee's report concluded. Progress had been made since 2006, it found, when the Cabinet Office introduced its first "capability reviews" of departments, subjecting them to external assessment for the first time. The reviews were of "great value, with real potential as a driver for improvement", it said. Without a culture that focuses consistently on the needs of the user, improvements to performance in delivering services will simply not happen

Edward Leigh MP As a result, senior managers had become more visible and were providing more leadership. However, subsequent reviews of certain departments found staff confidence in senior management was "still too poor". Senior officials in under-performing departments seemed insulated from the sack, the MPs suggested. "We see no evidence that senior leaders in poorly performing departments are likely to lose their jobs in the way that has become established in local government," the report said. "Even at senior levels in the civil service, incentives to perform better and sanctions to tackle failure are far weaker than those in the private sector." The report cited the size of redundancy pay-offs as one "barrier" to removing senior staff. Private comparisons The committee also found not enough attention was being paid to the role of frontline staff in helping departments boost public services. In assessing staff, the civil service had to rely less on subjective judgements and compare their performance against those of other public sector organisations and private firms. "Where departments differ conspicuously from many private sector organizations is in having a much poorer understanding of what their customers want," said Conservative MP Edward Leigh, chairman of the committee. "Without a culture that focuses consistently on the needs of the user, improvements to performance in delivering services will simply not happen." The Cabinet Office said it was "very proud" of the reviews of departmental performance and intended to build on their work. "I am pleased the committee agrees it represents a significant step forward in the improvement of the civil service," said Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell. "The next round of capability reviews will take this further with an added focus on factors such as innovation and value for money, helping us to do more with less and ensuring that Britain emerges from the recession stronger."



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