Since the election there has been much talk about the government’s “blue collar” agenda, with the announcement of a “living wage” in the Budget featuring prominently on the comment pages.
On this agenda, the civil service may benefit from being closer to the ministerial levers of power (although there aren’t that many areas where this is the case, in my experience). If you can forgive Matt Hancock his “One Nation civil service” political rhetoric, I do not doubt that his support for a more diverse and representative cadre of senior public servants is genuine.
The minister for the Cabinet Office’s comments came in response to the publication of the latest civil service Fast Stream annual report, which featured the news – hopefully broadly welcomed – that the diversity of successful applicants had improved on a number of measures.
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For me, this is really important. Not only does it just feel right that the senior leadership of the civil service should broadly reflect the makeup of the public it serves, but it’s also part of the solution when looking to improve public services.
By its nature, the civil service does a lot of important stuff. If we are to get that stuff right, we will need civil servants from a range of backgrounds and experiences to improve the creation of policy and the delivery of services to citizens. While growing up on a council estate doesn’t necessarily make you a guru on social housing policy, does anyone really think a policy discussion on the issue wouldn’t benefit from at least some of those around the table having real life experience of the issue? I’m not advocating a requirement for this in any given policy team, but what each of us brings to the table is always shaped by our experience, and the broader that experience the better.
But it’s also about ensuring that we genuinely get the best talent and leaders that are available. If any group of potential candidates, for whatever reason, does not believe that a leadership role in the civil service is for them, then we are missing out on a significant talent pool.
So the report is good news, but more needs to be done. At the FDA we don’t just talk the talk – oh no. Between 2011 and 2013 we ran a Public Sector Mentoring Scheme (PSMS) in conjunction with new universities that had a more diverse population. We matched undergraduates with fast streamers to provide mentoring opportunities. Fast streamers gained valuable mentoring experience, while undergraduates had an insight into a career path that many of them would not have even considered. When the programme started, half the undergraduates had said they would not consider employment in the public sector. But after the PSMS, 96% said that they would, while 88% felt more confident about their career prospects. This is good for fast streamers, good for the FDA (as they will hopefully join if they’re successful in their Fast Stream application), and also good for the civil service.
Our project was partly funded by the Union Learning Fund, but this source dried up in 2013. Not to be put off, we’ve since been working with a number of civil service diversity networks to help mentor groups of candidates for in-house schemes, including one where every individual who accessed our support for an HMRC Tax Professional Development scheme was successful. We’ve also been working with the Government Economic Service and Coventry University on a similar mentoring scheme that is showing impressive results, with a third of those accessing a civil service job, development opportunity or scheme.
The FDA’s work has also developed to focus on supporting current civil servants who may not have the qualifications necessary but can satisfy other criteria to apply for the Fast Stream. Our experience has shown that there’s an almost insatiable thirst for this type of support, and we have run development centres for hundreds of HEOs and SEOs who are crying out for guidance and training to help them progress their careers. This experience has, in part, led to the FDA extending membership to HEO/SEO grades, through an initiative called Keystone, which has a strong skills element as part of the offer.
So while there may be a temptation to seek external solutions to the diversity problem at senior levels, or to bring in crude targets, we firmly believe that part of the solution lies with the civil service itself: in the thousands of talented individuals who may not have had the chance to get the right educational qualifications, but who can show that they have the ability.
The civil service needs to continue to attract the brightest minds – graduate or otherwise – as its future leaders. This is not about dropping the high standards that have served us so well. It’s about ensuring that the most talented have the opportunity and encouragement to be part of what is still an exciting and hugely rewarding (though unfortunately not in every sense of the word) career.