Opinion: Dave Penman, FDA

The referendum offered a neat demonstration of the civil service’s capabilities. Now we must learn from its experiences


By Dave Penman

20 Oct 2014

And so, after all the hullabaloo, the people did in the end make a decision. The nightmare scenario of a very close vote was avoided, and a clear decision was made… for now. I was in Scotland on the day of the referendum, though as an ex-pat Glaswegian I didn’t get a vote.

It is hard to describe the emotion of the day and the strength of feeling and passion on both sides of the debate. It was astonishing to see citizens voting in such large numbers and, I have to say, I met many an articulate 16-year-old keen to use the franchise that had been granted them.

Whilst the issue in question was unique and fundamental to every aspect of life and national identity, the level of engagement in the political process was still amazing. I doubt we’ll see the number and standard of debates in town halls and schools around next year’s general election that we witnessed in this campaign.

It seems clear that the constitutional genie is well and truly out of the bottle as the debate rages in England on devolution to regions and cities, and across the country on the long-unanswered West Lothian Question (see feature, p16). So, as politicians grapple with what they did and did not promise, what now for our civil service?

Firstly, despite all the mudslinging in the heat of the debate, I believe the civil service can be justly proud of the role it played. Civil servants – all working for the UK-wide civil service, remember – were able to serve two governments with diametrically-opposing policies. Of course there were tensions – some real, some exaggerated – but both governments were served well by their civil servants.

The people of Scotland can also be proud of how civil servants worked tirelessly to support the extraordinary levels of democratic engagement that we witnessed, resulting in a phenomenal turnout.

Further constitutional change now seems inevitable. In Scotland, as more power is devolved, many institutions will be considering how they organise and fund themselves when large swathes of domestic policy will now be determined in Edinburgh.

As those powers devolve, so the Scottish government will grow. Should it have its own civil service, as is the case in Northern Ireland? Would that make any meaningful difference to how government works? Some staff may well look at how issues such as pay and job security have been dealt with in Westminster and wonder whether a fully-devolved civil service – including the SCS – would get more fair treatment.

The test, however, must be whether it provides for better government. I genuinely believe that during this referendum debate, it has been helpful that civil servants have viewed themselves as being part of a unified civil service.

However, that does not mean that change in the future may not be justified or desirable, nor that some links with the wider UK shouldn’t remain. 

I also believe that the experience of Scottish Government civil servants can help the broader civil service learn from and deal with the change that seems inevitable in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Whatever the constitutional and political landscape that emerges post-election across the UK, governments, regions or cities will need to work in harmony rather than in competition if they are to serve the best interests of their citizens.

That requires the support of dedicated, professional, and politically impartial civil and public servants, building trust and positive working relationships between institutions of government. The civil service has just neatly demonstrated that it is capable of doing this very well.

To many in Scotland, it feels like the rest of the UK only just woke up to the fact that government works differently there and in the other devolved administrations.

For example, Scotland abolished the traditional departmental structure nearly a decade ago. Perhaps Whitehall itself may find that it has something to learn, particularly given the fiscal challenge it faces over the next Parliament and the familiar complaints of a silo mentality. And as consideration is given to devolving further powers, Whitehall should think about how it taps into the wealth of experience that exists among those that have already set up and run devolved government.

So like many a Scot, I’m glad we seem to have got through it all and come out the other side in one piece. And, hopefully like others, I’ll raise a stereotypical wee dram to the civil service that played such a pivotal role – on both sides of the border – in delivering that outcome.

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