SOME of the biggest government departments are failing to motivate staff, provide leadership or deliver services effectively, according to the first Whitehall league tables.

A detailed scrutiny of four of the main departments conducted by the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit shows that top civil servants are good on strategy but poor on implementation and human resources. Senior officials think they are good at managing people, but their staff disagree, the reports show.

The six-month reviews of the Department for Education and Skills, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Home Office also conclude that Whitehall needs more private sector recruits and more professional skills. They fail, however, to look at the crucial link between ministers and civil servants and the relevant lines of accountability.

The reviews, which are the first tranche of a Whitehall-wide scrutiny, were conducted by teams of civil servants, public sector chiefs and external advisers. A five-strong review team was sent into each of the four departments to question staff and managers and assess working practices.

They were commissioned by Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, after Tony Blair expressed concerns that Whitehall was not delivering policy fast enough and there was a lack of accountability at the top.

The Home Office comes off much the worst, with dismal ratings in at least two categories, but the three other departments all have to improve performance in several areas and achieve top marks in only one category each. Only the Home Office has published a proper action plan, with the three other departments promising more nebulous proposals.

Sir Gus said that permanent secretaries would be held accountable for their plans, with failings reflected in performance-related pay.

In a foreword to the overview report, the Prime Minister says that Whitehall needs to transform the way it delivers services to meet growing public expectation. “The departments’ responses form the basis of the Civil Service’s side of the public service reform bargain,” he says. “As this document makes clear, Civil Service leaders expect to be held to account for delivering the plans.”

Ministers would have to provide leadership, set priorities and be accountable to Parliament, but they would not micro manage services, he said.

Mr Blair said that as a result of the reviews all four departments would transform their central headquarters to focus on “high-level strategy and priority setting, managing performance and tackling failure and building up skills”.

Extra skills were needed in the Civil Service in policy and strategy, operational delivery and corporate services such as finance, people management, procurement and information technology. “This emphasis has already been reflected in the arrival of many senior officials with expertise in delivery from the private and voluntary sectors; nearly half of all senior civil servants have worked in the private sector during their careers . . . This is a trend which must and will continue.”

Mr Blair also urged civil servants to get more frontline experience. “As one of the reviews found, a day on the front line is worth a month in Whitehall,” he said.

EDUCATION UNDER SCRUTINY

WORK AND PENSIONS

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

The department has already put 250 officials through a rigorous assessment centre to ensure that they have the right skills and two thirds of the new senior appointments have come from outside the DCA

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