Reforming the Civil Service and revising the role of the mandarin in Britain: A view from the perspective of a study of eight permanent secretaries at the Ministry of Education between 1976 and 2011

Abstract

This article summarises some problems currently faced by the Civil Service and considers how the June 2012 Reform Plan would address them. It focuses on what the Plan might mean for permanent secretaries and their future role in policy making. It seeks to supplement the research on which this aspect of the Plan and its recommendations can be reviewed. For this purpose it draws on a longitudinal study of the eight permanent secretaries at the Department for Education between 1975 and 2011. All were interviewed twice along with 35 relevant others involved in the policy process in education nationally. Following a discussion of the limited literature on permanent secretaries, aspects of the background and career of the eight are examined. Given the importance of “dual leadership” to the Plan, the time in office they had with the 16 Secretaries of State they served was often short – 8 less than a year. To facilitate scrutiny of such issues an analytical framework of types is proposed varying according to how far a permanent secretary takes an active or passive part in policy. Examples of each type – making, resisting, shaping, sharing and taking – are discussed. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.