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New Civil Service chief to streamline 'Blair bureaucracy'

Andrew Grice
Tuesday 03 September 2002 00:00 BST
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Sir Andrew Turnbull, the new head of the Civil Service, is to streamline the centralised system of running Whitehall introduced by Tony Blair.

Sir Andrew, who took over yesterday as Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil Service, is worried that the plethora of units established by the Prime Minister has created too much duplication and bureaucracy at the heart of the government machine.

Mr Blair, who has become frustrated by the Civil Service's response to his drive to improve public services, has been accused of setting up a "prime minister's department" by forming several units aimed at forcing through this central objective.

One source said: "Andrew Turnbull wants to return to a more traditional approach in which No 10 speaks with one voice to ensure that its writ runs throughout Whitehall.

"At present, there are too many cooks at the centre and government departments can play one unit off against another."

In a letter sent to civil servants yesterday, Sir Andrew said: "We must have clear relationships between the centre, departments and the wider public sector and understand who is responsible for what to avoid duplicating effort."

Sir Andrew, the former permanent secretary at the Treasury, has already shown his intentions by merging the Performance and Innovation Unit, Mr Blair's personal think-tank, and his Forward Strategy Unit, in charge of "blue skies" thinking, into a single Strategy Unit.

In his circular to staff, Sir Andrew said officials must work more closely with ministers when they develop policy. He said: "We all need to know from the start what we want to achieve and be clear that our policies are going to make a difference to people when they are put into practice. And, we must be honest with ministers – letting them know well in advance if there is likely to be a problem so that we can prepare to deal with it together."

Some senior civil servants are worried that a closer relationship between neutral officials and ministers would fuel concerns about the politicisation of Whitehall.

But Sir Andrew sought to allay these fears, listing his goals before he retires in 2005 as creating a service valued for "integrity and trust, impartiality and readiness to serve all citizens and governments."

He also pledged to bring in recruitment and promotion on merit and to ensure the Civil Service had "a make-up that reflects the society it deserves" – a reference to more black recruits and more women reaching the top.

Sir Andrew said that he wanted a "Civil Service respected as much for its ability to deliver as for its policy skills." He is to devote his own energies to Mr Blair's drive to modernise public services and has given up some of the tasks traditionally handled by the Cabinet Secretary.

Sir David Omand, previously the permanent secretary at the Home Office, takes up a new post as Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator and will also act as Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office. These roles were previously held by Sir Richard Wilson, who has retired as head of the Civil Service and will become master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, next month.

Sir Andrew, a former principal private secretary to Margaret Thatcher and John Major, worked closely with Gordon Brown at the Treasury and his promotion is seen as boosting the Chancellor's already powerful position at the heart of the Government.

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