Sir Bob Kerslake and Sir Peter Housden taking questions from staff
One of the real joys and privileges of my job is that I get to see civil servants in action the length and breadth of the country. I get through a great deal of paperwork every day but none of it gives me the depth of insight I can get from a visit – so getting out and about, whether to Southampton or Sheffield, is an opportunity I always relish. And each visit reinforces my belief in the excellence and dedication of civil servants.
Last week’s visit to Scotland was no exception. I last visited around this time in 2012, speaking to staff in the Scottish Government and at the Department for International Development in East Kilbride, and I have been keen to go back ever since. Scotland is particularly interesting because of the context of civil servants working for two governments but cooperating effectively on their every-day business; and of course it’s fascinating and informative to take a moment to view the UK through a Scottish lens, and to compare innovations in devolved policy areas with our own ideas in England and the other devolved administrations.
I began the day in Bathgate at an HMRC contact centre which deals with tax credits and child benefits. It was great to have the chance to sit in on a “buzz” meeting, where the team analysed their recent performance and suggested ways to improve their results. I was impressed by the insights the team had on its own performance, and how the discussion really invested each member in improvement. A lively Q&A session followed and I was pleased that there was real engagement with the key elements of Civil Service Reform.
Later in the day I spoke with staff from the Scotland Office and the Scottish Government. With the referendum taking place next year there was plenty of interest in the role of the Scottish Civil Service in the process. As I said when I was there, many civil servants in Scotland have plenty of experience adapting to different circumstances. Those of them nearer my vintage may well have served a majority Conservative Government and a majority Labour Government before devolution, a Labour/Lib Dem coalition under devolution, an SNP minority administration and now an SNP majority. Change seems to have been the constant in Scotland.
I won’t pretend that managing the situation within and between the Governments in a single civil service is going to be easy. Ministers in the Scottish and UK Governments will want and deserve first rate Civil Service support for their Government work and I know that is what all of us will give them. But whilst the debates abound about independence, thousands of civil servants across Scotland continue to deliver key services. Those staff at HMRC working on tax and those at DFID working to reduce global poverty are evidence of this commitment to getting results for the public in Scotland, the UK and beyond.
