The report, ‘Accountability at the Top’, published on Monday, says that currently the reasons behind top officials’ departures and sideways movements are “almost entirely opaque”, leaving it unclear whether they’re due to performance issues or “on the basis of ministerial whim”.
This, the report adds, creates the perception that “good performance is treated as irrelevant if a minister decides for personal reasons that they want to force a change”.
The report’s recommendations include a call for perm secs’ objectives to be set on appointment, rather than “half-way through the financial year”, as now – a system the report describes as “laughable”.
It also calls for some appraisal targets to be made public, and appeals to perm secs to flag any concerns they might have about policies’ feasibility.
IfG director Peter Riddell (pictured above) said the report "recognises the anxieties and the tensions between some ministers and some senior civil servants".
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “This is an interesting report from the IfG... We agree that the accountability of the civil service needs to be sharpened”.