How Was The Civil Service Reformed?

The drive for reform was managed from Downing Street. Sir Derek Rayner was given a small unit within the Cabinet Office (the Efficiency Unit) whose job was to scrutinise the civil service from within. As a result of this initiative, civil servants were to become the equivalent of line managers in a business by being held directly responsible for particular policy in their departments. They were to be given a clear view of their objectives and encouraged to use their initiative to make the best use of resources available to them. In addition, the Ibbs Report worked under Margaret Thatcher and continued when John Major became Prime Minister. The Report made three points.

First, it argued that the civil service was too vast both in scale and in size to carry out its role in an efficient manner. Secondly, it criticised civil servants for playing safe rather than taking an enterprising outlook. Third, it complained that the civil service was still spending too much and not providing value for money.

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