Govern-mental

­­­Govern-mental

For the past two weeks (and next ten) I have been working in a central government department on a short term contract to manage a project that will improve integration between the department and stakeholders.

I have joined the department with my eyes wide-open. I know what the department does, who heads it and how they have come into power. I made the decision to apply for the job because I thought it would be interesting, I could do it and make a difference whilst doing it. I made the conscious decision before undertaking the role that I would not let my political views and persuasions have any governance over my performance at work. I thought it necessary for me to draw the line between my work –something I do to the best of my abilities in return for money. And my political views, which are something I hold dear and are something I choose to invest a lot of my time and effort into formulating.

If anyone reading this are anti-coalition/cuts/conservatives/lib dems and could not imagine working for this Government, I can empathise however cannot entirely agree. The job I am doing is to help senior civil servants engage with industry and public sector organisations. Whatever your political persuasion you cannot disagree that this is a good thing for the economy and the department itself. The department, as with all public sector departments is under-going a process of cuts. These cuts are taking place in every area possible. From my perspective; a temporary employee working under contract I can say that the cuts are coming into action a little too quickly and very drastically. The department will play a crucial role in the future success or failure of the country and if you cut it too deeply you will stifle potential growth that it can create. In my personal view this department should be given the same budget as previous years if not a bigger one. This is because central government departments’ role in the UK is an integral one and an extra £200 million invested here may result in an extra £700 million being produced in the private sector. At the moment the department are waiting to hear who is to be made redundant, approximately a quarter of the staff will go. The department are expected to do the same job – if not more than before but will be drastically understaffed. This will result in disgruntled staff over stretched, stressed and unable to give projects the attention and effort they deserve. I foresee that projects which come under this departments remit will suffer a.) because of the lack of support the department will be able to give because of the lack of staff and b.) the lack of investment the department will be able to make.

I believe that the government are under pressure to make these huge internal cuts for their public image rather than any strategic savings reasons. As the money they will save from cutting the size of departments won’t scratch the surface of the immense deficit. I believe that a little more investment or sustaining previous amounts will, in the long run be better for the economy and therefore the country as a whole. Especially in the departments that are actively involved in the economy, business and creating growth. However, if the Government do not cut its spending in all departments there will be public outcry not least from members of the general population but from the government departments that have been cut. So I think the governments hands are tied in terms of selecting who and what to cut. As local authorities really start to feel the pinch from the cuts they will be watching central governments budgets very closely. Both local and central government play imperative roles, however it is generally considered that local authorities provide more of a front line service whereas central departments do a lot of work ‘behind the scenes’ for the economy as a whole. Therefore, the voting public will be much more aware of cuts to local government rather than central as they will be affecting the front line service they are exposed to on a daily basis. However, central government departments are looked at with a lack of understanding as to what it is they actually do. Many view it as ‘Whitehall Boys Club’ where favours are exchanged between those who went to the same outrageously expensive Boarding Schools, an elitist club if you like. I am yet to make up my mind about this. Yes the top positions in the department are filled with aristocrat-like public servants all speaking identical versions of the Kings. However, there is a good mixture of people within the department with varying local accents many of whom fill the lower paid roles. So is there a glass ceiling in central government to keep the peasants where they should be? I have yet to experience this, however I strongly expect there is.

I conclude that certain reductions in spending, people power and investment will lead to a reduced growth rate in the future. Furthermore, it will lead to a reduction of the top level staff in the public sector as many will migrate to the private as working conditions become worse. This will leave the department with a skills gap not able to perform at the level it should be at and once was.

*The views expressed in this blog are my own and in no way reflect the views of my employers or any government department.*