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Latest News Headlines
MOD to break financial rules
Friday 16 May 2008 11:39
A number of defence deals are to be re-examined as the government gives the go-ahead to a £4bn contract for two aircraft carriers.
NHS technology 'will be late'
Friday 16 May 2008 0:22
An electronic system for patients' records will be introduced four years behind schedule, the government’s spending watchdog has said.
FDA defends members' hard work
Thursday 15 May 2008 12:55
Ministers should not blame civil servants for their troubles, according to the head of the civil service manager’s union.
Tricky tax forms ‘cost millions’
Thursday 15 May 2008 0:05
Overly complicated self-assessment tax forms are costing HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) £330 million a year in revenue, according to the Commons public accounts watchdog.
PM promises slimmer civil service
Wednesday 14 May 2008 14:20
The prime minister has called for civil service numbers to be cut to their lowest level since 1945, suggesting that thousands of jobs could be cut.
MPs demand say on Whitehall changes
Wednesday 14 May 2008 12:34
MPs have insisted that the government relinquish its “absolute power” over how departments and agencies are organised.
Bourn calls for Whitehall reform
Wednesday 14 May 2008 12:16
The whole culture of the senior civil service must change if public services are to improve, the former auditor-general has warned.
Pundits Corner
The issues facing today’s senior civil service are both diverse and challenging. But what do top pundits and commentators think? Find out here...
Michael White
Guardian assistant editor (politics)
I had a noteworthy exchange with a former Whitehall warrior when I rang him the other day to discuss Chris Smith’s appointment as the new chairman of the Environment Agency, the regulator for flooding and industrial waste among other things.
“That’s a strange appointment at this stage in the political cycle,” remarked my friend. What did he mean by that? Not that Lord Smith of Finsbury, as Tony Blair’s ex-culture secretary (1997-2001) became, is unsuitable for the job.
Far from it. He was an advocate of green policies long before they became mainstream politics and greened up Labour’s 1992-7 manifestos in ways that pleased the eco-lobby.
He was president of Sera, the left environment group, from 1992-2007, a former president of the Ramblers Association too. A good guy then by the standards of often-picky environmentalists, who rarely spot a wind farm they actually like. What’s more he’s still only 56, a mere lad.
No, my friend’s problem was that the outgoing chairman of this important body, whose control over flood protection funds also makes it a significant influence in house-building, was Sir John Harman, a pillar of Labour local government.
Moreover, the chief executive is the redoubtable Barbara Young, Baroness Young of Old Scone, who also takes the Labour whip. Lord Smith has resigned that whip to become a crossbencher. But you get my point. The Agency is independent of government yet risks accusations of partisanship at a time when the Tories are again a rising force.
We can expect more such raised eyebrows as the political cycle shifts.
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