Dr Reid the Bike Crusher

For those of us concerned about the state of the Home Office, worry not.

Put aside the failure of the department to tackle immigration, prison overcrowding, sentencing policy and the probation service, because we will soon be rid of the worst menace society has ever faced - small motorbikes.

I know that we are into the silly season, but this classic case of Home Secretary initiative-itis surely should not have been given the press coverage that it received. At one point, the BBC News website front page had no less than three separate articles on this massively important issue.

And the enormous support given to local authorities by the Home Secretary to deal with this menace? £200k split between 28 local authorities. So an initiative that gives some local authorities just £7,000 each to tackle mini-motorbikes has managed to capture headlines across the UK, and divert attention from the real inadequacies of the Home Office.

Dr Reid must be delighted. £200k for a day's worth of good news stories about his department. That must be cheaper than paying for TV advertising space.
2.8.06 20:36


Review of Party Funding

The independent review of party funding, chaired by ex-civil servant Hayden Phillips, has come up with the wheeze of having an online forum to provide the public with a means to vent its spleen.

This could prove very interesting (if it genuinely provokes debate), or very tedious (if hijacked by party activists).

More on this later - I've signed up. Despite being a member of the Labour Party, I am less than convinced about the position of the Trade Unions on this one.

 

 

 
3.8.06 12:16


ID cards in the manifesto

The PM's pronouncement on ID cards today is just about the last straw for me. As a party member, I simply cannot campaign on a manifesto which includes ID cards.

I have no trust in the technology that will deliver it, the government department that will run it, or future politicians, who might abuse it. There has not been a single good argument put up in its favour, and it'll cost a fortune.

It must be stopped.
3.8.06 14:48


ID cards again

Decided to stick something on LabourHome about ID cards to see if there is any sign of opposition to the scheme within the Party.

4.8.06 11:29


No price for failure

As a former Whitehall civil servant, the IPPR’s report comes as no real surprise to me.

Those with longer memories will recall that the Foreign Office was similarly slammed for its lack of professional management back in March. I have the following personal perspectives, many of which I was pleased (though not surprised) to see mirrored in the IPPR report.

  • There is no prestige in Whitehall for delivering services; the bright and ambitious head for the policy work and Ministers’ private offices
  • The traditional culture of public duty and service to the country has all but evaporated, leaving many questioning why they put up with relatively low wages, long hours and poor working conditions
  • The Freedom of Information Act is increasingly opening up the work of the civil service, threatening its much-loved anonymity. At the same time, retiring senior civil servants appear increasingly willing to lift the lid on things through the publication of lucrative (and, on the whole, dull) memoirs
  • Too much is put down to the initial recruitment process – picking the next generation of senior Whitehall mandarins primarily on how they perform as 21 year-olds. The expectation that people will work for the civil service for the whole of their working lives flies in the face of clear evidence that the labour force is increasingly mobile
  • The generous civil service pension scheme ‘end-loads’ the career, making it hard to persuade the unexceptional to leave beyond the age of 40. Not enough new blood comes in at higher levels
Much of the above is necessarily generalisation. There are, of course, many bright, dedicated and honourable people in the civil service. Indeed, I think it's less about the people - it's the organisational flaws of the British civil service that are to blame.

In my experience, civil servants are not afraid of more robust personal performance assessment. One of the frustrations for me was certainly the lack of a professional judgement from someone else of my own performance.

The most important issue, however, is the almost total absence of the final sanction an employer has against poor performance – sacking. Dismissal runs counter to the 'gentleman's club' atmosphere that still pervades Whitehall. Fear also has a part to play - in the case of those in sensitive or high profile policy areas, I suspect that the risk of a disgruntled ex-civil servant heading for the press is regarded as worse than retaining a useless civil servant in their department. There is far too little consideration of the message this sends to other civil servants in appearing to reward failure, negligence and stupidity.

The FCO of couse has at least one additional remedy for poorly-performing members of staff that other departments do not – exile. It is not unheard of for the hapless to spend a considerable amount of their career in obscure corners of the former empire. But rest assured, they're on decent allowances.
8.8.06 22:25


Is terror the answer to climate change?

There has been an interesting irony to the news this week regarding air travel.

On Monday, the Commons Environment Audit Committee published their report on Reducing Carbon Emissions from Transport. While it rightly praised the Government for a number of inititatives (such as being the first in Europe to introduce a vehicle tax based on carbon dioxide emission levels), it was scathing about progresss on air travel. Air travel is the fastest-growing source of carbon emissions, and is particularly damaging given the altitude at which the gases are deposited.

For the Government, however, air travel is a sacred cow. Its reaction to the Committee's suggestion of raising air travel tax - that it would hit the poorest passengers - was particularly lame. On that basis, the Government presumably plans to scrap the flat tax on car fuel. I can't see Gordon going for that one.

Then, on Thursday, suspected terrorists made an impact that environmentalists can only dream of. By planning an attack on airlines, they have unwittingly cut dramatically the UK's air transport emissions.

It is not clear yet whether the current security scare will mean a tougher regime at airports in the long term. But it would certainly be ironic if security was the cause of reduced air travel, rather than the need to protect the environment.

Seriously, the Government has a creditable (but by no means perfect) track record on climate change policy. The fact that David Cameron has had to respond in this area suggests that the Government is having some success. It also indicates that it is rising up the public's agenda.

The Government should be looking to maintain the high ground by doing much more. The absence of any movement on air transport emissions damages its environmental credentials and looks increasingly ludicrous.

No one is suggesting that it will be easy - unilateral action would be economically damaging - and it's unlikely to be a vote-winner. But on this one, the Government has a duty to consider the well-being of future generations.
11.8.06 09:53


Great minds. . .

Deadbrain makes a similar, more light-hearted, point about terrorism and carbon emissions. 
11.8.06 17:49


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