Analyse the Major Changes That Have Taken Place in the Uk Civil Service over the Last Twenty Years
Analyse the major changes that have taken place in the
UK civil service over the last twenty years'
The civil service is very much the backbone of UK government, underpinning Britain's governmental system. This essay will aim to explain and analyse the changes in the civil service over the past twenty years, starting with an overview of just what the civil service is.
The civil service differ from the government and the ministers within it in that they are politically neutral and are permanent they do not change when governments do. There are two types of civil servant, they being generalists and specialists. Generalists have the ability to adapt to the needs of different departments and often move from one department to another. Specialists on the other hand are just as the name suggests. They specialise in one area (department). They are unlikely to change departments through out their career, meaning there is little possibility for their careers to progress to the highest level of civil service.
Most civil servants fit the stereo type of having been educated at public school, and of having been to Oxbridge, with this ringing true for the past twenty years. However, the last two decades has seen a shift in both the backgrounds of civil servants and the skills civil servants require. They now require in depth managerial skills, as well as the traditional mandarin skills that are associated with the job of being a civil servant, including managing political interference, political nous and a thorough knowledge of governmental and parliamentary processes(Dunleavy et al, 2000, Pg. 64).
This shift towards the need for managerial skills is a consequence of the changes that were made by the Conservative government in the 1980's. In 1968, a report commissioned by the government of the time, known as the Fulton Report, concluded that changes were needed in the way in which the civil service was run. However it wasn't until the 1980's when Margaret
UK civil service over the last twenty years'
The civil service is very much the backbone of UK government, underpinning Britain's governmental system. This essay will aim to explain and analyse the changes in the civil service over the past twenty years, starting with an overview of just what the civil service is.
The civil service differ from the government and the ministers within it in that they are politically neutral and are permanent they do not change when governments do. There are two types of civil servant, they being generalists and specialists. Generalists have the ability to adapt to the needs of different departments and often move from one department to another. Specialists on the other hand are just as the name suggests. They specialise in one area (department). They are unlikely to change departments through out their career, meaning there is little possibility for their careers to progress to the highest level of civil service.
Most civil servants fit the stereo type of having been educated at public school, and of having been to Oxbridge, with this ringing true for the past twenty years. However, the last two decades has seen a shift in both the backgrounds of civil servants and the skills civil servants require. They now require in depth managerial skills, as well as the traditional mandarin skills that are associated with the job of being a civil servant, including managing political interference, political nous and a thorough knowledge of governmental and parliamentary processes(Dunleavy et al, 2000, Pg. 64).
This shift towards the need for managerial skills is a consequence of the changes that were made by the Conservative government in the 1980's. In 1968, a report commissioned by the government of the time, known as the Fulton Report, concluded that changes were needed in the way in which the civil service was run. However it wasn't until the 1980's when Margaret
Bibliography: Books Budge, I et al, (2001), The New British Politics, Great Britain Coxall, B et al (2003), Contemporary British Politics, Hampshire, England Dunleavy, P et al (2000), Developments in British Politics, Hampshire, England Driver, S & Martell, L (1998), New Labour: Politics after Thatcherism, Oxford, England Jones, B et al (2001), Politics UK, Harlow, England