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Civil Service: Impartiality

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, for securing this short but important and timely debate.

As we have heard, impartiality is the bedrock of our Civil Service. We have also heard that it is fraying, and that has been well illustrated. My experience as the former First Civil Service Commissioner from

2000-05 convinced me that, while the Civil Service needs to constantly change and evolve to meet the challenges and changes in society, its values of honesty, objectivity, impartiality and integrity, allied with flexibility, sensitivity and commitment, remain crucially important, perhaps even more so at a time of enormous upheaval. They must remain the guiding principles.

These principles not only root the Civil Service but engender trust, a word more important than ever before when change runs deep in the environment of the Civil Service and in the very definition of public service. Development of policy, delivery of services and explanation of policies are taking place against low levels of trust in government, politicians and institutions, and in a less cohesive society. Integrity of the process is therefore crucial. It is for this reason that these values are essential and not an impediment.

The Civil Service, while by no means perfect, has come under a great deal of criticism and scrutiny. It is an organisation and institution under strain. Reforms, particularly since the 1980s, have been driven in response to external pressures, perceived dilemmas and political drivers, rather than any continuous systematic assessment of the organisation. The Civil Service is a national asset. It is held in trust by the Government of the day for the next Administration. Capability, capacity and the constitutional position of the Civil Service should not become just the domain of the Government of the day; it is a matter of national interest.

Over the past four decades, a view has developed that the values of the Civil Service are a hindrance to reform. This is a misconceived view. Reform of the Civil Service and these values are not incompatible. Understood and applied properly, they enable change and do not hinder it. These concerns led to the publication in 1995 of the Civil Service Code, which has been updated several times and will, I understand, be updated against the background of the review that has been initiated. This update should not be a paper exercise but an opportunity to clarify, reaffirm, reinforce and reassert these values, and explain what they mean in practice. It should be an opportunity to convey to the politicians, civil servants and public servants their utility and how they assist in restoring the self-worth and identity of the Civil Service as a professional and impartial service.

I hope the Minister is aware of the Governance Project report, which was published in 2024. I should declare an interest as a member. The report recommended that the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 should be amended to make explicit that civil servants have a legal obligation to act in compliance with the responsibilities under the code and that Ministers cannot direct them to act in opposition to the code. This recommendation should be acted upon, to ensure that we do not have the sort of issues that have been raised in the debate today.

2.42 pm