Sir Keir Starmer has set out his ambition to reshape the British state in a major policy speech. This intervention came hot on the heels of the government unveiling radical plans for Civil Service reform.
Speaking in Hull last Thursday, the Prime Minister’s most eye-catching announcement was the abolition of NHS England, bringing management of the service back under the direct stewardship of the Department of Health and Social Care. The move follows the resignation of NHS England’s chief executive Amanda Pritchard last month.
Yet beyond the headlines about structural changes to the public sector, the Prime Minister also made a case for an active role for the state. He said the UK state had not just become weaker over the last decade and a half but had also grown less focused.
This was a significant intervention, clearly establishing the Prime Minister’s credentials as a reformer and putting flesh on the bones of his ‘Plan for Change’ and his government’s ‘mission-led’ approach. He is known to take inspiration from his experience as Director of Public Prosecutions when he ensured that the Crown Prosecution Service embraced efficiency and the benefits of technological advances.
Sir Keir is convinced that technology is central to delivering the government’s growth mission and in transforming public services, particularly for improving the NHS and fighting crime.
Traditionally, Labour is seen as the party of the big state and government intervention, whereas the Conservatives incline towards a smaller state that intervenes less. In contrast to this binary choice, the Prime Minister made the case for a smaller, more efficient state that nonetheless plays an active role in delivering for working people. He called for the tearing down of regulation, which he described as a barrier to growth. These are the principles that the Prime Minister and his closest advisers aspire to follow in reshaping the machinery of government.
Why did the Prime Minister feel he had to make this speech? In the context of a continuing tricky economic backdrop and difficult decisions expected at the Chancellor’s Spring Statement later this month, the Government has little choice other than to try to squeeze as much efficiency out of the state as possible. After a busy few weeks on the international stage, the Prime Minister and his team want similar momentum on the domestic front.
Much has been made recently of criticism of the Civil Service by Sir Keir and some of his senior ministers. In his speech, the Prime Minister sought to qualify this, drawing on specific examples of where he considers that Whitehall is failing. He pointed to arm’s length bodies holding back growth potential such as an environmental regulator blocking clean energy reforms.
Questions will be asked as to whether the Prime Minister’s desire to reduce the Civil Service headcount is deliverable. Indeed, his government has already established new bodies such as GB Energy, Great British Railways, Skills England and the Regulatory Innovation Office which all require civil servants to run them.
Sir Keir’s blueprint for the future of the state should be seen in the context of the need for increased productivity from the public sector. The measure of success will be whether the Government can reduce the size of the Civil Service while still delivering on Labour’s missions.
