Ex-DfE civil servant condemns Whitehall’s ‘disconnect’ from reality

The former permanent secretary at the Department for Education has said that Whitehall is “too often disconnected from reality” and shows “surprisingly little interest” in how the public feel about public services.

Jonathan Slater, who was sacked from his role at the DfE in 2020 following the debacle over exams, said that policymaking in the civil service was divorced from how to “deliver change on the ground”, adding that during the pandemic both the DfE and wider Government were unable to “put ourselves in the public’s shoes”.

He said that the elegant handling of “tricky issues” for ministers was more highly valued in Whitehall than producing real change, which contributed to the issue of “churn” where policymakers moved too quickly from job to job.

The lack of diversity in the civil service had also led to an “emotional detachment” and class bias which meant “not really caring whether or not your efforts achieve anything positive at all”, Mr Slater added.

Civil servants arrive in Whitehall wanting to make a difference, but they soon learn that the way to get promoted is to demonstrate elegance and political handling skills, and inevitably start to
act accordingly, he said.

“This will only change once promotion opportunities depend on what you achieve on the ground.”

He described his experience at the DfE as “revealing”, adding: “I inherited a well-designed school immersion programme for civil servants – which amounted to three days in a school. But what about the other 362 (minus weekends and holidays)?”

Mr Slater added that he had “no doubt that the forthcoming Covid-19 inquiry will show how the inadequacy of the Whitehall machine contributed to the huge death toll”.

And he said that prior to his departure from the DfE during the pandemic, “there was a huge disconnect between the conversation in Whitehall on subjects like who should go to school, when and how, and the reality on the ground”.

“It is all very well for ministers and senior civil servants to announce, say, that pupils with special educational needs should continue going to school, or that primary schools should reopen to all pupils while the rest of us are socially distancing, but will it really happen?” he added.

In a paper published by the Policy Institute at King’s College London, where he is a visiting professor, Mr Slater argued that while public engagement is a core part of working in local government, it is not seen as important by Whitehall and that more transparency and accountability is needed from the civil service so it can respond to the public’s needs.

He said that leaders in the civil service must challenge the culture of “emotional detachment”, while employees must be rewarded for the real changes they make on the ground.

At the time of Mr Slater’s departure from the DfE, a former head of the home civil service, Sir Bob Kerslake, called the sacking of Mr Slater a “disgrace” and said senior civil servants were “carrying the can for the failure of ministers”.

And he said that career progression within the service must be managed so that policymakers have the opportunity to learn on the frontline early in their career, and cannot get promoted without it.

Speaking on Times Radio in 2020, Sir Bob said: “I know Jonathan Slater well. He is an extraordinarily experienced and capable civil servant. And I believe there was nothing wrong with the quality of his advice – there’s everything wrong with the quality of the minister receiving it. And this is really not good stuff.”

Mr Slater said on Tuesday: “I’ve worked with many civil servants and ministers, past and present, who are desperate for change. Let’s bring the world of policymaking blinking into the light, putting the needs of the public front and centre.”

A government spokesman said: “We regularly engage with the public, businesses and civil society so that policies and public services work for citizens.

“Through our reform plans we are moving 22,000 roles out of London to ensure we better reflect the communities we serve.”

The Government said its recent diversity and inclusion strategy had set out how it would include a wider range of insights in central decision-making, while the creation of high priority delivery units would ensure greater accountability and transparency.