Govt default is not to settle severance claims -- even if the costs might exceed the payout acc Treasury guidance assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6926c5... #Mandelson
11.03.2026 15:23
👍 12
🔁 4
💬 1
📌 3
Govt default is not to settle severance claims -- even if the costs might exceed the payout acc Treasury guidance assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6926c5... #Mandelson
Lots of v good points in this from @neildotobrien.bsky.social - civil service performance management is rubbish.
But important not to think that's unrecognised inside CS. It's the complaint you hear most often, at all seniorities - the problem is making fixing it a priority & sticking with it!
Rhun ap Iorwerth on stage at the IfG
Starting now Rhun ap Iorwerth is speaking on stage at the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk stream online via the link below
Yes it's really quite astounding that DHSC morale has gone all the way back down.
DESNZ was the other morale win last year (7 ppt increase) and has very much held on to that improvement. We did wonder whether both depts got a 'mission' boost in 2024, but clearly that has played out...differently..
Worth saying that DHSC was one of the morale success stories last year - engagement went up by 5 ppt between 2023 and 2024
🚨 Results from the 2025 Civil Service People Survey have been published
Last year these showed deteriorating morale at the Office for National Statistics – especially around change management
The 2025 results show a slight further dip in overall morale - but bad results again on change mgmt (1/3)
A line chart from the Institute for Government of civil servant engagement, 2010 to 2025, where engagement rises from just under 50% to a peak in 2020. It then falls slightly for three consecutive years before rising slightly again in 2024 and staying the same in 2025.
New data! Looks like civil servants were about as happy in 2025 as they were in 2024 (which I think is quite impressive given big exit schemes happening)
@instituteforgovernment.org.uk will be digging into the new civil service people survey scores to get under the skin of how CS are feeling...
How Should the UK Scrutinise Its Aid Spending?
Come discuss with us at tomorrow @cgdev.org in Westminster Tue 24th at 5pm
with @sarahchampionmp.bsky.social
@hannahkeenan.bsky.social @instituteforgovernment.org.uk
@ianmitchell1.bsky.social
www.cgdev.org/event/future...
Looking forward to speaking on this panel next week - so much shifting so quickly at the foreign office at the moment and there's a big and (I think) v interesting convo in there about how we scrutinise aid spend.
Antonia Romeo, as well as being the first female cabinet secretary, will also be the fourth person to hold the position in the last 8 years. As the chart shows, such short recent tenures are atypical - and not ideal for enabling a permanent, impartial civil service. 1/
This is a great first message to the civil service from the new cab sec - and I think is a good start in getting the narrative balance of 'this is not working right now, but also come with me and together we can fix it'
New piece from @hannahkeenan.bsky.social, @hcdunlop.bsky.social and me.
Our take on the task facing the new cabinet secretary 👇
Been thinking about the balance Romeo now needs to strike - which is somehow making civil servants (and politicians) really feel how bad things are in the civil service and how sorely needed reforms are, while also convincing them that she is the person that can change it. Quite the tightrope...
So the new cabinet secretary will indeed be Antonia Romeo
Here’s what we think she needs to prioritise
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/next...
Antonia Romeo appointed as cabinet secretary - @alexgathomas.bsky.social and I wrote last week about the challenges ahead for her and what lessons need to be taken from Wormald's tenure: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/next...
It's complicated because the civil service is not a homogenous blob! Ailbhe Rea's great article today goes into it much better than I can here: www.newstatesman.com/the-politics...
This is so good
"Appointments can be good, bad or indifferent, but it is wishful thinking to believe good people can overcome a bad system. When the problem is structural, the PM can feed all the good ... people he wants into the machine and it will ... deliver the same outcomes again and again."
The prime minister has all the powers he would need to do this! Obviously needs support / drive from civil service etc. but ultimately a thing for the pm
More detail on our proposal here if you're interested! www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/commission-c...
This is v good on how lots of the civil service are feeling and it's both bad and complicated!
“All of the worst tendencies of the civil service thrive on ambiguity" is so right, so when things like 'rewiring' are just left as soundbites it's not surprising we don't get the state reform we need
Screenshot from the Future Governance Forum's In Power report that reads: The centre also needs to be set up so that it can operate at the distinct rhythms that governing a country requires. This means moving on from the dominant mode of crisis management, to intentionally having different groups of people in the centre working to short, medium, and long-term time horizons respectively, and doing so in harmony with one another.
I really like this bit in @futuregovforum.bsky.social's great report on the centre of government (In Power) about how No.10 needs to be able to operate at distinct rhythms, and it's just so far away from that right now.
Have written about how the below is one symptom of a really bad set-up at the centre of government. It makes sense that in the moment prime ministers keep trying to find a different person to do various jobs, but the problem is also a structural one, and the dysfunctional structure keeps on winning
👏"When the problem is structural, the prime minister can feed all the good (or not so good) people he wants into the machine and it will chew them up, spit them back out and deliver the same outcomes again and again."
As Jack says - anyone telling you that the civil service is trying to 'block' Chris Wormald's payout is not really engaging with how this stuff works in government.
If you want to transform how Whitehall works, an avowed priority of this government, then it does matter who you appoint to lead that and it does matter if you are carrying the staff who need to implement it with you.
Philip Rutnam on R4 just now talking about Chris Wormald. Lots of good points but all I can think about is former perm secs standing under umbrellas giving very intense statements. Is this a requirement to talk about new cab sec? Are there more to come? Is this the future? Do I need a new umbrella?
Chart from the institute for government showing the tenure of cabinet secretaries from 1916 to 2026, showing a clear trend of shorter tenures over time
this is bad for the post of cabinet secretary and so bad for the civil service / good government / everyone.
Expedited process for new cab sec obviously fine and good if happening (don't want interim situ to drag on) but whatever process they do must must must be totally geared around helping Starmer make the right judgment call on this appointment
V good that no10 have not left the 'we have a cabinet secretary but we can't tell you who it is' farce continue for more than a few hours. Ultimately think it's right there's a bit of breathing space for Starmer before new cab sec appointment - big judgment that he needs to get right.
This is absurd