The Government's programme of devolution is a long-awaited opportunity for local government transformation. But, if we only focus on how councils operate, we may still fail to improve outcomes for communities and places. The question of where central government fits into this dynamic – what kind of Whitehall works – must be answered.
The reverberations from December's English Devolution White Paper were felt in areas with single tier and two-tier structures, within the Devolution Priority Programme and outside it. Many areas across England have called for more opportunities to take the initiative for their people and places. But they have also highlighted the need for central government to get out of the way, citing among other things, mandated central government policies that are insensitive to local contexts and a tendency for Whitehall to engage directly with communities without talking to local leaders or truly understanding the spirit of devolution.
Ultimately, for the civil service to play a positive role in devolution, we must think beyond the reorganisation of the status quo. We must start from first principles and imagine a government that is fully integrated, dynamic and cross-functional
A transformation of this size cannot simply be mandated but must instead be designed. Most civil servants care deeply about what they do, but their leadership has long been rewarded for delivering a model that still reflects its 1854 foundations, with an accompanying entrenched bureaucracy. In this context, you cannot simply tell people to do something different or shame or nag them into change. You must design change in and offer a purpose-drive alternative. Here's how...
Everyone working within the new system, at every level, must have a clear, purposeful role that sits within a structural redesign encompassing every part of the system and incorporating accountability, performance, and evaluation frameworks. This will ensure mayors and regional leaders are not undermined by government departments and civil servants that are separately accountable to Parliament.
The current framework does not adequately recognise and integrate the interaction between national, regional and local, or support effective co-ordination of resources and decision-making.
We must be more positive about the role of central government and the role of those who work within it. There remains a space for national policy-making where outcomes and expectations are described in a way that both liberates local leaders and also holds them to account for delivering with their places and communities.
Central government can use its ability to set regulation and statute, build capacity and share best practice, alongside providing funding, financing, and investment to support outcomes. It can help shape markets by addressing critical barriers as well as acting as ‘UK plc' in a bid to secure national and regional investment opportunities.
The civil service must focus on enabling public bodies, instead of directing and controlling them.
Ultimately, for the civil service to play a positive role in devolution, we must think beyond the reorganisation of the status quo. We must start from first principles and imagine a government that is fully integrated, dynamic and cross-functional.
Rather than wondering how to get civil servants to let go of power, we must build a government that integrates its specialisms and generalist capabilities, ensuring all those who work in government understand and participate in every scale of policy design and delivery.
In this way, those who work in government could better understand what is required to deliver devolution and information could flow more easily across all government layers and drive better decision-making.
We could remove current incentives to hold on to power rather than transfer it to where it is likely to have a better impact.
Only by reimagining all forms of government can we trigger the structural change we need to reverse the behaviours, practices and cultural norms that determine how government runs today.
In this way, we could expand upon the transformation hinted at in the devolution White Paper to dream and deliver an entirely new model of government at all levels: one that is able to inspire all public servants to serve all communities and places together.
Evie John is managing director of Inner Circle Consulting
