The proposals support the improvements outlined in the government’s own Declaration on Government Reform.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, has welcomed the publication of two independent reports, which set out innovative ideas to help improve the way Government works.
Last year, the Cabinet Office asked former Minister, Lord Maude, to carry out a short review of the Government functions and Cabinet Office spending controls. At the same time, the Cabinet Office and Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport invited members of the Digital Economy Council to look at the government’s delivery of digital services.
Both reports have now been published, and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has welcomed their innovative thinking and ideas.
He said:
I want to thank Lord Maude and the members of the Digital Economy Council for their very thoughtful and detailed investigations into the work of the Cabinet Office and the wider government.
Both reports bring up some key issues which we must address, such as improving civil service recruitment to make sure the people we employ better reflect the people we serve, tackling our history of outdated IT systems and transforming the way we use data across government.
Much of this work is already underway, but there is more to do and no time to waste.
Among the recommendations in Lord Maude’s report are suggestions for ways to improve civil service recruitment principles, proposals for tougher controls of major government projects and the development of improved training standards for civil servants.
Both the Maude report and the Organising for Digital Delivery report also highlight the need to tackle legacy IT systems across government and make better use of the data government holds to improve services.
The publication of the two reports follows the launch of the government’s own Declaration on Government Reform, which was published in June.
The Government Reform plan includes measures to help ensure the country builds back better from COVID-19, by following policies such as investing in new training for civil servants and ministers to strengthen their digital skills, making the civil service more open to external applicants, moving 22,000 civil service roles out of London by 2030 and improving the delivery of major projects across government.
The Declaration on Government Reform can be read here.
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