There is such a thing as 'the good bureaucrat' according to 'Living on the frontline - A future for the civil service', a new pamphlet by The Work Foundation and Inland Revenue Group of the Public and Commercial Services union. Three landmark reviews, Lyons, O'Donnell and Gershon represent the most widescale changes to the civil service for 150 years. The Government aims to reduce the 'tax gap', increase the use of and possibilities afforded by ICT and to manage the ever spiralling public expectations that money should be invested in frontline services - health, education and policing - rather than 'wasteful' bureaucracy.
Political pressure is growing to demonstrate that the extra billions spent on public services are generating desirable social outcomes. The bureaucratic burden must be addressed if the public services are to be made efficient.
At the same time as public services are exhorted to be more efficient, they are also under pressure to become more customer focused, further raising people's expectations. But greater choice and personalisation - two slightly different strategies - may conflict with efficiency.
Bearing the brunt of the drive towards efficiency are the civil servants in the 'non-essential frontline'. Compared to doctors and teachers, tax collectors and benefit administrators are undervalued by the public. Nobody likes the taxman, but without efficient tax collection for example, there would be less money for health and education. Many civil servants perform a critical social and economic role.
Current changes will have profound implications for the employment contract between frontline civil servants and the state over the next five years. New skills and attitudes will be in demand, but with an already poor employment brand, the combined effect of O'Donnell, Lyons and Gershon may be to reduce some waste and further diminish the attractiveness of working as a frontline civil servant in the new Revenue Department.
The pamphlet recommends:
Efficiency savings should be made insofar as the changes enhance the effectiveness of key public services and do not diminish the ethos of those working in the civil service 'frontline'.
The Government and Trade Unions should work jointly in rethinking the 'employment deal' for those working in the new Revenue Department, focusing on skills and career development, so that it becomes a national and local employer of choice for future civil servants
Graham Steel, senior national officer for the Inland Revenue, PCS, commented: 'Delivering efficient, quality public services for communities, business and employers is exactly what the modern civil servant wants to do. Success for Government lies not with headhunted chief executives or fantastical ICT solutions. Success will come through developing the skills of the staff who deliver the services. As the Prime Minister said, "It is the staff that makes the difference".'
Louise Horner, senior researcher, The Work Foundation, said: 'Cuts alone will not improve efficiency in the long term. The Government - as an employer - needs to think about offering a better deal to those who stay, with an eye on where the recruits in 5 years from now will come from'.
The research authors, Louise Horner and Alexandra Jones, are part of The Work Foundation Public Services Unit. For further information, visit www.theworkfoundation.com/research/psu/index.jsp
Background information to this article:
PCS, the Public and Commercial Services Union is the union representing civil and public servants in central government. It has 300,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies. It also represents workers in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS is the UK's sixth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president is Janice Godrich.
The Work Foundation is an independent, not-for-dividend, evidence-based research organisation & consultancy. The Work Foundation exists to inspire and deliver improvements to performance through improving the quality of working life. It believes that productive, high performance organisations are those committed to making work more fulfilling, fun, inspirational and effective, and through engaging their workforce succeed in integrating the many aims crucial to organisational success.
Quelle: PublicTechnology, 03.06.2004
