If government doesn’t work, whose fault is it?

The apparently eternal battle between politicians and bureaucrats for control of the government machine has been better for TV comedy writers than for the governance of Britain. Ministers complain that officials obstruct their plans to implement election promises; officials complain that special advisers drive a short-term media-obsessed agenda, and everyone objects to interference from the centre (except at the centre where everyone complains about off-message barons pursuing personal agendas).

The first big divide that any minister faces is between policy advice and operational capacity. I will start with policy, because it is where the British Civil Service has always prided itself on providing a Rolls-Royce service. In most areas their pride is fully justified. As a minister it is normally true that if you are not getting good advice it is your fault.

Much less satisfactory than the policymaking area is the ability of departments to run day-to-day operations, especially those which demand large numbers of transactions.