Is Universal Credit on the brink of disaster? It’s rather too early to tell whether this mammoth reform of the benefits system really is doomed, in spite of last week’s warning from the Major Projects Authority. But whether it sinks or swims will not be because of the current structure of the Whitehall machine. I’ve written about the problems with the civil service, and how reforming ministers have to perform bypass surgery just to get things done in this week’s magazine. But it’s worth considering the five things that would make a big difference to the ability of the machine to deliver big projects. They are:
1. Responsibility. As Bernard Jenkin explains in the piece, private sector workers can make one project their entire career. In the civil service, officials move around. This leads not just to poor institutional memory, but also a lack of accountability when things go wrong.
2. Skills part I. One of the problems in big delivery departments like DWP is that the officials don’t know what they don’t know, one insider told me. The worries about the IT demands for universal credit have received more attention, but the problem is as much about ensuring that big operational departments are led by those who have experience in big operational delivery. This is something the government’s civil service reform plan addresses.
3. Skills part II. The government has set up a Major Projects Leadership Academy at the Saïd Oxford Business School, which anyone who is going to be the senior reporting officer on a major project must go through. The aim is to teach the signs of problems with a project so that civil servants do know what to look for.
4. Transparency. The fuss last week about the Major Projects Authority’s annual report that gave universal credit a red/amber rating rather obscured the fact that this report is a good thing. It means civil servants can’t spend money on projects willy nilly without anyone realising they have serious problems. If a big project does have flaws, it’s better to be honest about them early, rather than when it is behind schedule, horrendously over budget, and causing real mayhem.
5. Appointments. This was something that many ministers want to change. They might not be keen on the full-blown American-style political appointments system, but they are clear that any attempt to reduce the number of special advisers is entirely unwise. The government is already giving ministers greater say over civil service appointments, which will help this.
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