The quiet revolution at the heart of the civil service

Dominic Cummings always saw civil service reform as an essential prerequisite to reforming the country itself. A year and a half after his departure, the Prime Minister has a new chief of staff who agrees. While different in temperament and style, both Dominic Cummings and his de facto replacement Steve Barclay have one under-appreciated similarity: a commitment to reforming government itself.

Last week, we saw the evidence of this commitment. With attention focused on plans to cut more than 90,000 civil servant jobs, Barclay quietly announced the most radical overhaul of civil service recruitment rules in over a decade. From now on, every single senior civil service vacancy will be advertised to external candidates.

All senior jobs are meant to have been advertised ‘externally by default’ since 2016. However, until last week, permanent secretaries had the authority to deviate from this rule. As my think tank, Policy Exchange, has highlighted, there was also a powerful incentive for senior officials not to advertise vacancies to external applicants, especially for positions that are highly prestigious.