the Civil Service Flashcards
What is the civil service?
This is the administrative or bureaucratic arm of government whose members are traditionally servants of the Crown
How have civil servants traditionally been divided?
Into those who work on specific areas of policy and those who work across the service
What was the civil service criticised for?
for being inefficient and obstructive
In recent years what 2 key developments have affected the civil service?
1) the ‘hiving off’ of many responsibilities to semi-autonomous agencies known as ‘executive agencies’ or ‘Next Step agencies’
2) The rise of special advisers (“spin doctors”)
What have some argued the creation of executive agencies and rise of special advisers have lead to?
the politicisation of the service
What does the politicisation of the civil service threaten?
its traditional principles of impartiality, anonymity and permanence
What were the 3 traditional principles of the civil service?
- impartiality
- anonymity
- permanence
Which report criticised the civil service’s amateurish approach
the Fulton Report 1968
Under who’s government did the civil service undergo major changes between 1979-1990?
Margret Thatcher
What did the Financial Management Initiative sought to introduce?
a more business-like culture to the service
What led to the Financial Management Initiative?
Derek Rayner’s Efficiency Unit
What did civil service staff number fall from in 1979 to 1990?
1979-750,000
1990-600,000
What did the Next Steps programme from 1988 result in a process of?
agencification
From what year was the Next Steps programme?
1988
What resulted in the agencification?
the Next Steps programme from 1988
