What Cabinet Office is really for
Senior Researcher
In a PACAC session on the role of the Cabinet Office last week, Permanent Secretary Cat Little told MPs that Cabinet Office is the department where things end up “if you want something done” but other departments don’t “put their hand up”. She also argued, rightly, that organisations work best when they focus on a small number of clear priorities.
Today, the Cabinet Office announced a welcome move in this direction, aiming to cut 400 jobs through voluntary redundancies and hone in on a smaller and clearer structure — hopefully, in turn, building a more strategic operating model.
Re:State has heard time and again that the Cabinet Office tries to do too much. Overseeing national security coordination, crisis management and preparation; public appointments; constitutional reform and reform of the Civil Service; functions like evaluation, property, procurement and major infrastructure; public inquiries; and now, of course, coordinating mission-led government.
A senior civil servant interviewed for our Reimagining Whitehall programme described the Cabinet Office as having a “split personality” because of the dual roles it has to fulfil, focused on advising the PM and supporting cabinet government, and at the same time acting as a ‘Corporate HQ’ and secretariat for the whole of government. A former permanent secretary told us that it is a “uniquely dysfunctional organisation”.
The move today provides an opportunity to reset the Cabinet Office’s focus. Alongside voluntary redundancies, some functions and staff will be moved into a separate arm’s length body.
This is a useful way of reducing the size of the department; it must also be done with caution.
As the NAO highlights, oversight of arm’s length bodies is patchy, with unclear lines of accountability between many ALBs and their sponsoring department. In moving responsibilities out of Cabinet Office and into ALBs, it is important government does not lose visibility or grip over them.
Finally, though the jobs cut is small in comparison to the Cabinet Office’s overall headcount (around 6,000), it is nevertheless vital this is carried out with a view to improving the overall performance of the workforce. Voluntary redundancies, unless concentrated on particular teams or areas of work risk the most capable staff leaving because they are confident they can get work elsewhere while leaving the worst performers in post. The focus should instead be on removing unnecessary roles and poor performers (per recommendations on performance management in our paper ‘Making the Grade’).
A lot rides on the performance of the Cabinet Office. Having it prioritise only the work it can do best will help it succeed.