70-620: The Civil Service Commission regulates recruitment to the United Kingdom Civil Service , providing assurance that appointments are on merit after fair and open competition, and hears appeals under the Civil Service Code . The commission is independent of government and the Civil Service. The Civil Service Commission was established by Gladstone through an order in council on 21 May 1855 following
140-560: A commercial approach to their tasks. However, the Government conceded that agency staff would remain civil servants, which diluted the radicalism of the reform. The approach seems somewhat similar to the Swedish model, though no influence from Sweden has ever been acknowledged. The Next Steps Initiative took some years to get off the ground, and progress was patchy. Significant change was achieved, although agencies never really achieved
210-411: A new approach to delivery featuring clear targets and personal responsibility. Without any statutory change, the managerial functions of Ministries would be hived off into Executive Agencies , with clear Framework Documents setting out their objectives, and whose chief executives would be made accountable directly (in some cases to Parliament) for performance. Agencies were to, as far as possible, take
280-460: A number of bystanders. On 7 February 1991, the IRA launched a mortar attack on 10 Downing Street in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Prime Minister John Major and his cabinet. By the time the palace was destroyed, separation of crown and state had become important, with Parliament being necessary to control military requirements and pass laws. The government wanted to be some distance from
350-607: A refurbishment and modernisation programme. Statues and memorials have been built on and around Whitehall, commemorating military victories and leaders. The Cenotaph was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and erected at the southern end in 1919, commemorating victory in World War I and later used as a memorial for both World Wars. It is the main war memorial in Britain and an annual service is held here on Remembrance Sunday , led by
420-590: A row of houses along the street around 1680 leading west from Whitehall. Following a number of terrorist attacks, the road was closed to the public in 1990, when security gates were erected at both ends. On 7 February 1991, the Provisional IRA fired mortars from a van parked in Whitehall towards No. 10 , one of which exploded in the gardens. Additional security measures have been put in place along Whitehall to protect government buildings, following
490-470: A series of bombings by Irish Nationalists in 1883, and an explosion from a Fenian terrorist attack on 30 May 1884 blew a hole in Scotland Yard's outer wall and destroyed the neighbouring Rising Sun pub. The headquarters was moved away from Whitehall in 1890. Downing Street leads off the south-west end of Whitehall, just above Parliament Street. It was named after Sir George Downing , who built
560-517: A £25 million streetscape project undertaken by Westminster City Council . The project has provided wider pavements and better lighting, along with installing hundreds of concrete and steel security barriers. Richmond House , at No. 79, has held the Department of Health since 1987. The building is scheduled to be a temporary debating chamber from 2025, while the Houses of Parliament undergo
630-967: Is a set of regulations that govern the conduct of civil servants in the UK. The regulations are broadly based on the Seven Principles of Public Life . First introduced in 2006 and later updated in 2015, the code has four main principals that public sector workers must be held accountable to: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. Civil Service (United Kingdom) King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee In
700-460: Is marked with "SMF" and "StMW", and denotes the boundary between St Martin-in-the-Fields and St Margaret's church parish boundaries. During the 19th century, as private leases ran out on residential buildings, ownership reverted to the Crown, which began to use them as public offices. The name "Whitehall" is now used as a metonym to refer to that part of the civil service which is involved in
770-713: Is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Square . The street is recognised as the centre of the Government of the United Kingdom and is lined with numerous departments and ministries, including the Ministry of Defence , Horse Guards and the Cabinet Office . Consequently, the name "Whitehall" is used as a metonym for the British civil service and government , and as
SECTION 10
#1732772079175840-657: Is the only surviving portion of the palace after it was burned down, and was the first Renaissance building in London. It later became a museum to the Royal United Services Institute and has been opened to the public since 1963. Oliver Cromwell moved to the street in 1647, taking up residence in Wallingford House. Two years later, Charles I was carried through Whitehall on the way to his trial at Westminster Hall . Whitehall itself
910-586: Is to the south of this, on Horse Guards Avenue to the east of Whitehall. Whitehall is also home to six other monuments. From north to south, these are of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge ( Commander-in-Chief of the British Army ), Liberal Party , Liberal Unionist Party and Unionists leader Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire , Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (known as the Earl Haig Memorial ), Field Marshal Montgomery (commander of
980-478: The 8th Army , the 21st Army Group and Chief of the Imperial General Staff ), William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim , Commander of the 14th Army and Governor-General of Australia , and Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke , Chief of the Imperial General Staff . The Whitehall Theatre opened in 1930 at the north west end of the street, on a site that had previously been Ye Old Ship Tavern in
1050-731: The Acts of Union 1800 abolished the Parliament of Ireland , the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was retained in formal charge of the Irish executive based at Dublin Castle . The Irish Office in Whitehall liaised with Dublin Castle. Some British departments' area of operation extended to Ireland, while in other fields the Dublin department was separate from the Whitehall equivalent. Following
1120-630: The Central Policy Review Staff (CPRS), and they were in particular given charge of a series of Programme Analysis and Review (PAR) studies of policy efficiency and effectiveness. But, whether through lack of political will, or through passive resistance by a mandarinate which the report had suggested were "amateurs", Fulton failed. The Civil Service College equipped generalists with additional skills, but did not turn them into qualified professionals as ENA did in France. Recruits to
1190-836: The Department for International Development at No. 22, the Department of Energy and Climate Change at No. 55, the Old War Office , the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel at No. 36, the Horse Guards , the Ministry of Defence Main Building , Dover House (containing the Scotland Office ), Gwydyr House (containing the Wales Office ), the Cabinet Office at No. 70,
1260-735: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Government Offices Great George Street ( HM Treasury , HM Revenue and Customs and parts of the Cabinet Office). Scotland Yard , the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police Service , was originally located in Great Scotland Yard off the north-eastern end of Whitehall. The buildings had been lodgings for the Kings of Scotland, on part of
1330-495: The Houses of Parliament and Vauxhall Bridge . It runs south from Trafalgar Square , past numerous government buildings, including the old War Office building, Horse Guards , the Ministry of Defence , the Cabinet Office , and the Department of Health . It ends at the Cenotaph , the road ahead being Parliament Street. Great Scotland Yard and Horse Guards Avenue branch off to the east, while Downing Street branches off to
1400-629: The Houses of Parliament ; employees of the National Health Service (NHS); or staff of the Royal Household . As at the end of March 2021 there were 484,880 civil servants in the Civil Service, an increase of 6.23 per cent on the previous year. The Northern Ireland Civil Service is a separate civil service in the United Kingdom. the incorruptible spinal column of England The Offices of State grew in England, and later
1470-715: The Office of Works and the Navy Board grew large. Each had its own system and staff were appointed by purchase or patronage. By the 19th century, it became increasingly clear that these arrangements were not working. Under Charles Grant , the East India Company established the East India Company College at Haileybury near London, to train administrators, in 1806. The college was established on recommendation of officials in China who had seen
SECTION 20
#17327720791751540-723: The Property Services Agency and the Crown Suppliers , were being dismantled or sold off. Next, shortly after Thatcher left office, in July 1991, a new programme of market-testing of central government services began, with the White Paper Competing for Quality (Cm 1730). Five-yearly or three-yearly policy and finance reviews of all agencies and other public bodies were instituted, where the first question to be answered (the "prior options exercise")
1610-792: The United Kingdom , the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government , the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government , which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . As in other states that employ the Westminster political system ,
1680-586: The government of the United Kingdom . The street's central portion is dominated by military buildings, including the Ministry of Defence , with the former headquarters of the British Army and Royal Navy , the Royal United Services Institute , the Horse Guards building and the Admiralty , on the opposite side. Government buildings on Whitehall, from north to south, include The Admiralty Buildings,
1750-525: The imperial examination system. In government, a civil service, replacing patronage with examination, similar to the Chinese system, was advocated a number of times over the next several decades. William Ewart Gladstone , in 1850, an opposition member, sought a more efficient system based on expertise rather than favouritism. The East India Company provided a model for Stafford Northcote , private Secretary to Gladstone who, with Charles Trevelyan , drafted
1820-488: The "fast stream" recruitment process for accessing the upper echelons should be made more flexible, to encourage candidates from less privileged backgrounds. The new Department was set up by Prime Minister Harold Wilson's Labour Government in 1968 and named the Civil Service Department , known as CSD. Wilson himself took on the role of Minister for the Civil Service (which has continued to be a portfolio of
1890-404: The 17th century. The revue Whitehall Follies opened in 1942, which drew controversy over its explicit content featuring the stripper and actress Phyllis Dixey . The theatre became known for its series of farces , reviving a tradition on Whitehall that had begun with court jesters at the palace during the 16th century; these included several plays featuring actor-manager Brian Rix throughout
1960-561: The 1950s and '60s, and 1981's satirical Anyone for Denis , written by John Wells and Private Eye editor Richard Ingrams . The venue was Grade II listed in 1996 and renamed the Trafalgar Studios in 2004. Because of its importance as the centre of the British government, several political comedies are based in and around Whitehall. These include the BBC television series Yes Minister and The Thick of It . Whitehall
2030-564: The Civil Service consisted of essential services, and that the "mandarins" (senior civil servants) needed to focus on efficiency and management rather than on policy advice. In late 1981 the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the Civil Service Department, transferring power over the Civil Service to the Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet Office . The Priestley Commission principle of pay comparability with
2100-523: The Civil Service — often known by the metonym of Whitehall — forms an inseparable part of the British government . The executive decisions of government ministers are implemented by the Civil Service. Civil servants are employees of the Crown and not of the British parliament . Civil servants also have some traditional and statutory responsibilities which to some extent protect them from being used for
2170-762: The Prime Minister), while the first Minister in Charge of the Civil Service Department was Cabinet Minister Lord Shackleton, also Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal. The first Permanent Secretary was Sir William Armstrong, who moved over from his post as Permanent Secretary at the Treasury. After the 1970 General Election, new Conservative Prime Minister Ted Heath appointed Lord Jellicoe in Lord Shackleton's place. Into Heath 's Downing Street came
Civil Service Commission (United Kingdom) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2240-466: The Second World War demands for change grew again. There was a concern (illustrated in C. P. Snow 's Strangers and Brothers series of novels) that technical and scientific expertise was mushrooming, to a point at which the "good all-rounder" culture of the administrative civil servant with a classics or other arts degree could no longer properly engage with it: as late as 1963, for example,
2310-480: The Treasury had just 19 trained economists. The times were, moreover, ones of keen respect for technocracy, with the mass mobilisation of war having worked effectively, and the French National Plan apparently delivering economic success. And there was also a feeling which would not go away, following the war and the radical social reforms of the 1945 Labour government, that the so-called " mandarins " of
2380-471: The United Kingdom centred around the street Whitehall , hence the metonym. Initially, they were little more than secretariats for their leaders, who held positions at court . They were chosen by the king on the advice of a patron, and typically replaced when their patron lost influence. In the 18th century, in response to the growth of the British Empire and economic changes, institutions such as
2450-543: The appointment of the First Civil Service Commissioner is made by Government after consultation with the leaders of the main opposition parties. They are then appointed by the King under royal prerogative . The First Civil Service Commissioner is appointed for a fixed term of five years, although another commissioner may act as an interim First Commissioner when necessary. The Civil Service Code
2520-488: The citizens". The name Whitehall was originally only used for the section of road between Charing Cross and Holbein Gate ; beyond this it was known as The Street as far as King Street Gate , then King Street thereafter. It had become a residential street by the 16th century, and had become a popular place to live by the 17th, with residents including Lord Howard of Effingham and Edmund Spenser . The Palace of Whitehall, to
2590-517: The east of the road, was originally named York Palace, but was renamed during the reign of Henry VIII . The palace was redesigned in 1531–32 and became the King's main residence later in the decade. He married Anne Boleyn here in 1533, followed by Jane Seymour in 1536, and died at the palace in 1547. Charles I owned an extensive art collection at the palace and several of William Shakespeare 's plays had their first performances here. It ceased to be
2660-501: The efficiency scrutiny programme and with a wider focus on corporate planning, efficiency and objective-setting. Progress initially was sluggish, but in due course MINIS-style business planning became standard, and delegated budgets were introduced, so that individual managers were held much more accountable for meeting objectives, and for the first time for the resources they used to do so. Performance-related pay began in December 1984,
2730-479: The fast stream self-selected, with the universities of Oxford and Cambridge still producing a large majority of successful English candidates, since the system continued to favour the tutorial system at Oxbridge while to an extent the Scottish Ancient universities educated a good proportion of recruits from north of the border. The younger mandarins found excuses to avoid managerial jobs in favour of
2800-480: The geographic name for the surrounding area. The Palace of Whitehall previously occupied the area and was the residence of Kings Henry VIII through to William III , before it was destroyed by fire in 1698; only the Banqueting House has survived. Whitehall was originally a wide road that led to the gates of the palace; the route to the south was widened in the 18th century, following the destruction of
2870-452: The higher civil service were too remote from the people. Indeed, between 1948 and 1963 only three per cent of the recruits to the administrative class came from the working classes , and in 1966 more than half of the administrators at undersecretary level and above had been privately educated. Lord Fulton 's committee reported in 1968. He found that administrators were not professional enough, and in particular lacked management skills; that
Civil Service Commission (United Kingdom) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2940-601: The holder of certain other offices in respect of whose tenure of office special provision has been made; [or] a servant of the Crown in a personal capacity paid from the Civil List ". As such, the civil service does not include government ministers (who are politically appointed); members of the British Armed Forces ; police officers ; officers of local government authorities ; employees of some non-departmental public bodies ; officers or staff of either of
3010-485: The key report in 1854. The Northcote–Trevelyan Report recommended a permanent, unified, politically neutral civil service, with appointments made on merit, and a clear division between staff responsible for routine ("mechanical") and those engaged in policy formulation and implementation ("administrative") work. The report was not implemented, but it came as the bureaucratic chaos in the Crimean War demonstrated that
3080-417: The level of autonomy envisaged at the start. By 5 April 1993, 89 agencies had been established, and contained over 260,000 civil servants, some 49 per cent of the total. The focus on smaller, more accountable, units revived the keenness of Ministerial interest in the perceived efficiencies of the private sector. Already in the late 1980s, some common services once set up to capture economies of scale, such as
3150-664: The military was as backward as the civil service. A Civil Service Commission was set up in 1855 to oversee open recruitment and end patronage as Parliament passed an Act "to relieve the East India Company from the obligation to maintain the College at Haileybury". Prime Minister Gladstone took the decisive step in 1870 with his Order in Council to implement the Northcote-Trevelyan proposals. This system
3220-566: The monarch, and the buildings around Whitehall, physically separated from St James's Palace by St James's Park , seemed to be a good place for ministers to work. The Horse Guards building was designed by William Kent , and built during the 1750s on a former tiltyard site, replacing an earlier guard-house erected during the Civil War. The building includes an archway for coach traffic and two pedestrian arches that provide access between Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade . The central archway
3290-539: The more prestigious postings. The generalists remained on top, and the specialists on tap. Margaret Thatcher came to office in 1979 believing in free markets as a better social system in many areas than the state: government should be small but active. Many of her ministers were suspicious of the civil service, in light of public choice research that suggested public servants (as well as elected officials themselves) tend to act in ways that seek to increase their own power and budgets. She immediately set about reducing
3360-485: The old Palace of Whitehall's grounds; by the 19th century, Little and Middle Scotland Yard had been merged into Whitehall Place, leaving only Great Scotland Yard. No. 4 Whitehall Place had become vacant by the 1820s, which allowed Sir Robert Peel to use it as the main headquarters when forming the police in 1829. It was formally named the Metropolitan Police Office, but became quickly known as Great Scotland Yard, and eventually Scotland Yard. The buildings were damaged in
3430-412: The palace, and the area was largely rebuilt for government offices. As well as government buildings, the street is known for its memorial statues and monuments, including the UK's primary war memorial, the Cenotaph . South of the Cenotaph the thoroughfare becomes Parliament Street. The Whitehall Theatre (now the Trafalgar Studios ) was formerly associated with a series of farces . The name Whitehall
3500-432: The parent Citizen's Charter programme itself. The position of Minister for the Civil Service is not part of the Civil Service as it is a political position which has always been held by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster , Central London , England. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea . It
3570-444: The plague, while Samuel Pepys remarked in his diary on 29 June, "By water to Whitehall, where the Court is full of waggons and people ready to go out of town. This end of town every day grows very bad with plague". By the 18th century, traffic was struggling along the narrow streets south of Holbein Gate, which led to King Street Gate being demolished in 1723. Holbein Gate, in turn, was demolished in 1759. Meanwhile, Parliament Street
SECTION 50
#17327720791753640-412: The political advantage of the party in power. Senior civil servants may be called to account to Parliament. In general use, the term civil servant in the United Kingdom does not include all public sector employees. Although there is no fixed legal definition, the term is usually defined as a " servant of the Crown working in a civil capacity who is not the holder of a political (or judicial ) office;
3710-415: The position of technical and scientific experts needed to be rationalised and enhanced; and that the service was indeed too remote. His 158 recommendations included the introduction of a unified grading system for all categories of staff, a Civil Service College and a central policy planning unit. He also said that control of the service should be taken from the Treasury, and given to a new Department, and that
3780-424: The private sector was abandoned in February 1982. Meanwhile, Michael Heseltine was introducing a comprehensive system of corporate and business planning (known as MINIS) first in the Department of the Environment and then in the Ministry of Defence . This led to the Financial Management Initiative , launched in September 1982 ( Efficiency and Effectiveness in the Civil Service (Cmnd 8616)) as an umbrella for
3850-424: The publication of the Northcote–Trevelyan Report by Charles Trevelyan and Stafford Northcote that advocated the decoupling of appointments of senior civil servants from ministers to ensure the impartiality of the Civil Service . Following a report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life , "Defining the Boundaries within the Executive: Ministers, special advisers and the permanent Civil Service" in 2003,
3920-464: The reigning monarch and leading politicians. In 2005, a national Monument to the Women of World War II was erected a short distance north of the Cenotaph in the middle of the Whitehall carriageway. The Royal Tank Regiment Memorial is at the north east end of Whitehall, where Whitehall Court meets Whitehall Place. Erected in 2000, it commemorates the use of tanks in both World Wars and depicts five World War II tank crew members. The Gurkha Memorial
3990-399: The royal residence after 1689, when William III moved to Kensington Palace for his health to escape what had become dense urban surroundings. The palace was damaged by fire in 1691, following which the front entrance was redesigned by Sir Christopher Wren . In 1698, most of the vast palace burned to the ground accidentally after a fire started by a careless washerwoman. Wallingford House
4060-408: The size of the civil service, cutting numbers from 732,000 to 594,000 over her first seven years in office. Derek Rayner , the former chief executive of Marks & Spencer , was appointed as an efficiency expert with the Prime Minister's personal backing; he identified numerous problems with the Civil Service, arguing that only three billion of the eight billion pounds a year spent at that time by
4130-476: The west at the southern section of the street. The nearest tube stations are Charing Cross at the north end, and Westminster at the south. Numerous London bus routes run along Whitehall, including 12, 24, 88, 159 and 453. There has been a route connecting Charing Cross to Westminster since the Middle Ages ; the 12th-century historian William Fitzstephen described it as "a continued suburb, mingled with large and beautiful gardens, and orchards belonging to
4200-442: Was a side road alongside the palace, leading to the Palace of Westminster . After the Palace of Whitehall was destroyed, Parliament Street was widened to match Whitehall's width. The present appearance of the street dates from 1899 after a group of houses between Downing Street and Great George Street were destroyed. On 8 March 1973, the IRA detonated a bomb in front of the Ministry of Agriculture building in Whitehall, injuring
4270-424: Was a wide street and had sufficient space for a scaffold to be erected for the King's execution at Banqueting House. He made a brief speech there before being beheaded. Cromwell died at the Palace of Whitehall in 1658. During the Great Plague of London in 1665, people boarded coaches at Whitehall, then at the edge of urban London, in an attempt to escape. The King and court temporarily moved to Oxford to avoid
SECTION 60
#17327720791754340-468: Was believed with the Thatcher reforms that efficiency was improving. But there was still a perception of carelessness and lack of responsiveness in the quality of public services. The government of John Major sought to tackle this with a Citizen's Charter programme. This sought to empower the service user, by setting out rights to standards in each service area, and arrangements for compensation when these were not met. An Office of Public Service and Science
4410-432: Was broadly endorsed by commissions chaired by Playfair (1874), Ridley (1886), MacDonnell (1914), Tomlin (1931) and Priestley (1955). The Northcote–Trevelyan model remained essentially stable for a hundred years. This was attributed to its success in removing corruption, delivering public services, even under stress of war, and responding effectively to political change. Patrick Diamond argues: The Northcote-Trevelyan model
4480-428: Was built on thereafter, and continues to this day, though the sums involved have always been small compared to the private sector, and the effectiveness of PRP as a genuine motivator has often been questioned. In February 1988 Robin Ibbs , who had been recruited from ICI in July 1983 to run the Efficiency Unit (now in No. 10), published his report Improving Management in Government: The Next Steps . This envisaged
4550-427: Was characterised by a hierarchical mode of Weberian bureaucracy; neutral, permanent and anonymous officials motivated by the public interest; and a willingness to administer policies ultimately determined by ministers. This bequeathed a set of theories, institutions and practices to subsequent generations of administrators in the central state. The Irish Civil Service was separate from the British Civil Service. Whilst
4620-428: Was constructed in 1572 by William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury along the western edge of Whitehall. The Duke of Buckingham bought the house in 1622, and it was subsequently used by Charles I. During the reign of William III, it was bought for the Admiralty . The Old Admiralty Buildings now sit on the house's site. Banqueting House was built as an extension to the Palace of Whitehall in 1622 by Inigo Jones . It
4690-418: Was greeted with some derision, and it is true that the compensation sometimes hardly seemed worth the effort of claiming, and that the service standards were rarely set with much consumer input. But the initiative did have a significant effect in changing cultures, and paradoxically the spin-off Chartermark initiative may have had more impact on local organisations uncertain about what standards to aim for, than
4760-441: Was set up in 1992, to see that the Charter policy was implemented across government. By 1998, 42 Charters had been published, and they included services provided by public service industries such as the health service and the railways, as well as by the civil service. The programme was also expanded to apply to other organisations such as local government or housing associations, through a scheme of "Chartermark" awards. The programme
4830-433: Was used for several buildings in the Tudor period . It either referred to a building made of light stone, or as a general term for any festival building. This included the Royal Palace of Whitehall , which in turn gave its name to the street. The street is about 0.4 miles (0.64 km) long and runs through the City of Westminster . It is part of the A3212 , a main road in Central London that leads towards Chelsea via
4900-448: Was why the function should not be abolished or privatised. In November 1991 the private finance initiative was launched, and by November 1994 the Chancellor of the Exchequer had referred to it as 'the funding mechanism of choice for most public sector projects'. In 1995 the decision was taken to privatise the Chessington Computer Centre , HMSO , the Occupational Health & Safety Agency and Recruitment & Assessment Services. It
#174825