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Civil servants increasingly have to fill in the gaps between announcements made by policy advisers on behalf of their ministers, and the underlying reality on the ground. There is nothing new in this Whitehall perennial. But in the context, permanent secretaries would be wise to remain alert to levels of staff morale. The context, in case we'd forgotten, is a government undertaking wide-ranging reforms across a number of perilous fronts, including health, welfare and education, in the teeth of the deepest post-war spending cuts. Speaking recently with a senior official from a major department, they described astonishment on returning from leave to discover their most significant business case had been trailed in the national press during their absence. It wasn't enough that failure to consult with officials involved in the project caused some embarrassment, with the published article getting key facts wrong. As a ‘minion', they now feel even greater pressure to embark still further on the basis of incomplete business plans. They said flying into the unknown on assumptions rather than figures was a ‘huge, huge headache'. But, they complained, for the people higher up, maybe not so. The latest civil service staff survey provides hard evidence to back up such anecdotes bemoaning poor leadership and morale. The largest of its kind in the UK, the annual survey conducted towards the end of the Spending Review process reflects the views of 325,119 civil servants, some 62% of the total workforce. From the figures we find new DCLG permanent secretary, Sir Bob Kerslake, already has his work cut out improving staff morale. His department witnessed the greatest decline in staff feeling ‘the executive management group has a clear vision for the future of the organisation' and the ‘organisation as a whole is managed well'. Staff confidence in senior managers plummeted from roughly one-third to less than one-quarter between 2009 and 2010. Although insulated from cuts affecting other departments, the ring-fenced Department of Health and Department for Education saw some of the largest declines in staff having a clear understanding of their organisations' purpose and objectives. Bucking the trend, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) saw the largest increase in staff having a clear understanding of their organisation's purpose and objectives, 10% and 9%respectively. The ministry achieved this despite major upheavals to the justice system and an austere settlement. What trickery did they conjure with? By all accounts, the MoJ began planning for the likely implications of the Spending Review 18 months in advance of the general election. Staff were directly and openly engaged in the process. Perhaps honesty is the best policy, after all. Jonathan Werran is editor of Governetz Public Property

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WHITEHALL

Inside View

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